Golden Globe Winners 2009

Nudging her way into the veterans’ club was Anna Paquin, a winner for Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama, for HBO’s freshman vampire series True Blood.

HBO, as tends to be the case, was the most-winning network of the night, with seven awards, while NBC took three (all for 30 Rock) and AMC brought up the rear, thanks to its repeat Best TV Series, Drama, win for Mad Men.

Also coming out on top was Europe, which, in addition to the one-woman dynamo that was Winslet, fielded a great share of the evening’s Globe recipients, including Best Actress, Comedy or Musical, winner Sally Hawkins, whose tirelessly cheerful schoolteacher powered Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky’; Dubliner Colin Farrell, who took the male counterpart of that honor for the caper comedy-thriller In Bruges; and absentee Irishman Gabriel Byrne, who swooped in (figuratively) to snatch the award for Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama, for his role as an overly involved psychiatrist in HBO’s In Treatment.

“Thank you, [director Martin McDonagh], for not listening to me when I asked you to cast someone else. I’ve never been so at peace with being ignored in my life,” said Farrell, no longer reeking from the stench of Miami Vice and Alexander. “This is at least half yours,” he said to In Bruges costar Brendan Gleeson. “I’ll cut if for you when I get offstage and you can have a hemisphere.”

The hot ‘n’ steamy Vicky Christina Barcelona, not really an Oscar contender but a solid effort from Woody Allen, was the Hollywood Foreign Press’ choice for the Globe-specific category of Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical.

Jeremy Piven also fell prey to the international onslaught, missing out on his second consecutive win for Supporting Actor in a Series/Miniseries/TV Movie to John Adams’ Tom Wilkinson.

The seven-part HBO event about the second U.S. president, which scored 13 Emmys in September, duly won the Globe for Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV, as well, while Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney followed up their Emmy wins with two more respective trophies for Best Actor and Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie to help make John Adams the most winning program of the night.

“This was hell of a job, this thing, this was a hell of a job,” Giamatti said. “This little costume drama we put on—it seems there were thousands of people who saved my ass…every minute of every day.”

While Slumdog Millionaire and John Adams tied with the most wins with four, the three leading nominees coming into the evening were completely shut out. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon and Doubt each went 0-for-5. But at least the drinks were free.