The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the nominees for the 73rd annual Golden Globes on Dec. 10, and for the most part, it has restored faith in awards season. On Dec. 9, the Screen Actors Guild Awards revealed a surprising and baffling list of nominations, which ignored many perceived front-runners; many assumed that to be the same case for the Golden Globes. Instead, it was the complete opposite.
How the Golden Globes works is that the movies, shows, actors and actresses are all selected and voted on by 100 foreign journalists and photographers who have no affiliation with the academy, which votes for the Oscars. The Golden Globes is often a reliable predictor on what and who will be nominated for — and maybe win — the Oscars.
Like every year, there are always expected nominations and a few pleasant surprises, and unfortunately, some productions are completely forgotten. But, that is the excitement that comes with the Golden Globes. For the film industry, the Golden Globes are part of this intricate Oscar prediction scheme. Whereas for TV, it’s not that important, and it is used more as a platform to honor shows and performers that, in all honesty, will never win an Emmy. Many movies and shows received surprising nominations, while the Golden Globes snubbed some traditional favorites.
Here are some of the biggest snubs and surprises of the 2016 Golden Globes.
SNUB: “Mad Men”
Although it hasn’t been nominated in the best drama series category since 2011, many hoped “Mad Men” would’ve been nominated as a sentimental sendoff, but that isn’t necessarily the case. Star Jon Hamm, who portrays Don Draper, was nominated for the sixth time for best actor, which he won back in 2008.
 
SNUB: Johnny Depp, “Black Mass”
For some reason, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was not impressed with Depp’s notable and gritty performance as the infamous gangster Whitley Bulger in “Black Mass.” Yet, back in 2010, Depp was nominated for best actor in “The Tourist,” which is still hard to grasp. Will Smith was snubbed for the SAG, and Depp was robbed from the Golden Globes; this leaves a better chance for Leonardo DiCaprio to win the Oscar for his work in “The Revenant” because he is nominated in both groups, making him the front-runner in this category.
 
SURPRISE: Lady Gaga, “American Horror Story: Hotel”
In my opinion, this is a classic nomination of the Golden Globes because having Gaga show up will make headlines and is sure to bring in viewership. Not saying that Gaga doesn’t deserve this nomination, but before the awards, buzz for her role weren’t really deafening.
 
SNUB: Michael B. Jordan, “Creed”
Surprisingly, “Creed” scored only one nomination for best supporting actor for Sylvester Stallone’s role in the film. I believe that Jordan was completely ignored in the best actor category as well as Ryan Coogler for best director. The film was completely overlooked.
 
SURPRISE: First-time nominations
Congratulations to all the newcomers on their first nominations. Some are expected, such as Taraji P. Henson for “Empire” and Rami Malek for “Mr. Robot.” While some remain a delightful surprise, such as Aziz Ansari for “Master of None” and Eva Green for “Penny Dreadful.” Another first-time nominee in best actress in a TV comedy is Rachel Bloom, for her work in “My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” Bloom is the only person in this category that has never won a Golden Globe before.
 
SNUB: Best Original Song, “Earned It” by The Weeknd
I was shocked to learn that The Weeknd didn’t receive a nomination for his song “Earned It” from the film “50 Shades of Grey.” With all of the Grammy buzz this song and artist has received, I thought it was a definite. Instead, Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do” from the same film was nominated, and it has also received a Grammy nomination.
 
SNUB: Straight Outta Compton
Universal’s biopic on the rap group NWA earned $200 million at the box office, but despite its huge success, the film hasn’t even made a dent in award shows. Its failure to win over the Hollywood Foreign Press Association makes any chance of winning an Oscar very slim.
 
SURPRISE: Netflix’s eight nominations
Netflix swept the TV competition with eight nominations for series such as “Narcos,” “House of Cards,” “Orange is the New Black,” “Grace and Frankie,” “Bloodline,” and “Master of None,” which all earned a nomination of some sort. Amazon and Hulu also had nominations, which showed how strong of a presence streaming platforms now have.
 
SURPRISE: Cable networks lack of nominees
NBC, the station that hosts the Golden Globes, didn’t receive a single nomination. CBS only managed one nomination for “The Good Wife” star Alan Cumming in the best supporting actor in a drama series category. The CW performed a little better with two nominations total.