All About Awards Show Season

Remember when Jim Carrey was funny? I do. I also remember going to see one of his first dramatic roles in Man in the Moon and thinking, he's so much better doing what he's naturally good at: making America laugh by pretending to talk with his butt cheeks.

These days it seems like every actor is hopping off the comedy bus and catching the drama train.  Maybe that's because a recent joint study by UCLA and Harvard found that an actor is nine times more likely to be nominated for an Oscar if they appear in a drama. In fact it found that "the single greatest predictor of a nomination proved to be a serious subject matter," after examining thousands of awards nominations. Think about it: if you were an actor who just had to cry a few times on screen about overcoming adversity to be guaranteed a trip down the red carpet and a free Cartier watch in one of those swag bags you'd it to!

The cast of 2007's Best Picture nominee Little Miss Sunshine.
© Fox Searchlight

Now I know you're thinking to yourself, "but last year the Oscars, Golden Globes and SAG awards recognized comedies like Little Miss Sunshine, The Devil Wears Prada and Borat with significant nominations, didn't it start a trend?"

I'm afraid not. Sure Juno and breakout star Ellen Page have been nominated for an Oscar for best film and best actress respectively (and deservedly so), but they were also given the same nod at the Golden Globes earlier this year, only to come up empty-handed. And the outlook isn't promising for them to take home the Oscar either as both film and star are up against some serious heavyweights. (Ever hear of Cate Blanchett? I thought so)

But the news isn't all bad for nominated comedies. For example, even if Juno comes up short against fellow Best Picture nominees like There Will Be Blood and Atonement, the buzz generated from the nomination alone has made this little indie film a box office giant. It has already pulled in over $100 million and it's just getting started. So even if it loses, it wins. At the end of the day a financial windfall is really all the filmmakers want. It's called show business for a reason.

Ryan Gosling in Lars and the Real Girl.
© MGM

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney in The Savages.
© Fox Searchlight

That being said, four of the five movies nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Oscar this year are comedies and a win might give comedy writers some hope their hard work isn't all for naught, like when Sideways won in 2005. Unlike Juno and Ratatouille, nominees Lars And The Real Girl and The Savages are more darkly comic than ha-ha funny. The Academy typically prefers dark comedies to traditional ones since they're not really comedies at all, but films the Academy can point to and say, "what are you talking about, we honor comedies," when people say, "the Oscars hate funny films." Word to the wise: do not head into The Savages thinking you're going to be rolling in the aisles. Knocked Up it is not. 

Golden Globe nominee John C. Reilly.
© Columbia Pictures (Sony)

Many people feel the Golden Globes has the right idea by hosting separate categories to honors lighter fare like Comedies & Musicals. However, nobody's perfect. These are the same people who nominated John C. Reilly for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical for Walk Hard. Was I the only one who didn't think that movie was funny? It was a strange choice, seeing as so many other actors in legitimate comedies (like Michael Cera in Superbad) were far more deserving.

Even though the Globes has this specialized category, it unfortunately doesn't mean that the comedy genre is a guaranteed win. At the Globes this year, the award was given to the dramatic musical Sweeney Todd.  Funny people just can't catch a break.

For now dramas seem to be what the Academy wants to honor. But with the recent crop of R-rated blockbuster comedies in the past few years, one has to imagine future Academy members who have grown up with these films won't even think twice about nominating them in the years to come. Until then, when it comes to awards, comedies apparently will have to be happy always being a bridesmaids.

Eddie Murphy stars in Norbit.
© Paramount & Dreamworks Pictures

But the news isn't all-bad, lest we not forget Norbit was nominated for an Oscar for Best Make-up, so maybe there's some hope for comedy yet.