• 30 Rock
• The Big Bang Theory
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Louie
• New Girl
• Modern Family

Sorry, guys: Girls skews a little young for this crowd. All of the shows on this list are essentially perma-nominees at this point, but for Louie, which is so well-regarded among the establishment that its nomination seems likely, and New Girl, which is youngish but is sort-of, kind-of an actual hit on broadcast TV (unlike possible nominees like Parks and Recreation).

Best Drama

• Breaking Bad
• Downton Abbey
• Game of Thrones
• The Good Wife
• Homeland
• Mad Men

The Good Wife sneaks in just so broadcast TV is represented somehow; the rest are the five TV shows (yes, Downton is a series now, not a miniseries) that combined critical acclaim with your co-workers asking if you were caught up yet. (Poor, not-quite-loved Boardwalk Empire.)

Best Actress, Comedy

• Laura Dern, Enlightened
• Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
• Lena Dunham, Girls
• Tina Fey, 30 Rock
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
• Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

We stand by our prediction!

Best Actor, Comedy

• Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
• Louis C.K., Louie
• Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
• Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
• Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Now that perpetual bridesmaid Steve Carell is no longer on TV, there's a spot open, and perhaps it'll go to the guy who helped keep Two and a Half Men on the air, if in attenuated form. Mr. Cryer's already won an Emmy as a supporting actor, anyhow.

Best Actress, Drama

• Claire Danes, Homeland
• Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
• Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey
• Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
• Jessica Paré, Mad Men

Lots of turnover in this category! But presumably Ms. Hargitay will remain, constant, impassive, immovable.
Best Actor, Drama

• Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
• Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
• Kelsey Grammer, Boss
• Hugh Laurie, House
• Damian Lewis, Homeland
• Jon Hamm, Mad Men

With the exception of Hugh Laurie (whose show just ended), this is a party of all the ill-behaved men of cable TV.

Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes (Getty Images)

Welcome to New York Observer's Golden Globe coverage of the 2012, where you'll be able to read (and participate!) in real time as Drew Grant and Dan D'Addario take bets on which acclaimed actor will be the first to slap that lopsided grin right off Ricky Gervais' face. Let the fun begin!

Whitney Cummings in her new show about lady stuff.

Ouch. Here we thought were in the post-Bridesmaid era of empowering female comedy, what with TV's new fall lineup revolving around such quirky leading ladies as Zooey Deschanel (Fox's New Girl), Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs (CBS' 2 Broke Girls) and Whitney Cummings (NBC's Whitney). But maybe America just isn't ready to have a sitcom where boys aren't the main focus, since despite not airing until September there is already an online petition to get Whitney canceled.

In an open letter to NBC titled "Cancel NBC's "Whitney" Before It Cancels Us," (which...what?), the argument reads:

This is a petition asking NBC to cancel "Whitney" before it airs, and to make a big spectacle about how they were only just kidding and that they'll keep looking for good programs to put in that time-slot.

Reasons "Whitney" Already Sucks:

1. It's multi-cam and filmed in front of an audience encouraged to laugh.
2. She considers herself one of those "edgy" comics.
3. It might as well have Paul Reiser in it.

Please, let's get rid of this show before we have to live knowing that something like this happened on television, forcing us to give up on having and raising our children because it's all gone to shit, it's all shit anyway man... I can't even do this anymore... Somebody put money behind this shit.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

So far there are only nine signatures to cancel Ms. Cummings debut program, which deals with a character named Whitney (d'uh) and her boyfriend who aren't married but live together. Okay, so that concept seems pretty thin, but so is the argument that a multi-cam sitcom with canned laughter is by itself a reason to nix a program. (How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men are still doing pretty well, right?) And yikes...using the word edgy as an insult for a female comedian is the equivalent of saying Barack Obama is articulate.

And yes, the previews for Whitney are pretty cringe-worthy, mostly because Ms. Cummings is an observational stand-up comedian, not a comedy actress. Though the show's scenarios are based on bits from her act, watching the premiere one gets the sense that at any point Whitney may just turn to the camera and mug, "Am I right, ladies?"

We're willing to give Whitney the benefit of the doubt...it's certainly doesn't look worse than the twee-tastic New Girl, in which we're supposed to believe that Zooey Deschanel is too awkward to land herself a boyfriend. Because hey, when we're not crying about periods or boys, there is nothing us ladies like to do more than make jokes about them. Alex Borstein know what I'm talking about!