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NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > SAG AWARDS HANDED OUT DESPITE TOTAL LACK OF INTEREST

SAG AWARDS HANDED OUT DESPITE TOTAL LACK OF INTEREST

January 25 2009

Hollywood, CA – The glitz and glamour of Hollywood was on display Sunday night as the 15th annual Screen Actors Guild awards ceremony took place in Los Angeles. ‘Doubt’, ‘Milk’ and ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ lead the pack with the most nominations in the film categories, leaving many viewers as unimpressed with the awards shows as they were with the movies themselves.

The television nominations are of equally low visibility with only one show, ‘The Office’, a bona fide ratings success. The lack of visibility for the nominated shows and films though did little to affect the voting of the Actors guild, who are reportedly on the verge of a strike, many of whom believe that their profession is immune to the effects of the economic decline.

“While voting for awards should never be a popularity contest, that’s exactly what it is and always has been throughout the history of celebrity awards. Rarely do quality and recognition collide in any of the major Hollywood awards and as a result the popular or political choice wins. For some reason they aren’t even trying this time,” said Scrape TV Entertainment analyst Tracey Temple. “I mean who saw ‘Doubt’? Or ‘Milk’? Awards have always been about popularity which is why there are so many winners that confound observers, but this time around they have completely ignored what interested the public. Of course, no one watches the SAG awards anyway. It is on E! after all.”

Aside from Heath Ledger’s nomination for ‘The Dark Knight’ none of the nominations came from shows or films with a significant public profile. Some are blaming the output of movies themselves, while others place the blame directly on the guild itself for being increasingly culturally isolated from their fans.

“Sure there was never going to be a raft of awards for ‘Twilight’ or ‘Get Smart’ but there were excellent performances in movies that the public actually know about. If they were going to go with obscure movies then go totally unseen like ‘Synecdoche, New York’ or ‘My Winnipeg’. It’s not like anyone is actually watching anyway so they could have gone all the way,” continued Temple. “Generally the SAG awards are a barometer for the Oscars. And that applies not only to the awards themselves, but also to the ratings. E! of course has very limited penetration, which I suppose is fitting, but you can sort of multiply the number to approximate the ratings. Of course multiplying anything by 0 you still end with 0 so it might not matter a whole lot.”

Reportedly ABC, the network broadcasting the Academy Awards when they are presented on February 24 is unhappy with the lead in that the SAG awards are giving the big show. Observers are expecting a record low ratings take for the 81st annual award show which has suffered declining ratings for a number of years and had been hoping for a stronger take this year.

“No one expects much in the way of ratings for the Oscars and it’s getting to the point where one of the most prestigious awards shows in the world will be itself relegated to a cable station like E!. The high profile of the show doesn’t pay the bills and it does nothing for advertisers to be affiliated with something prestigious if no one is watching,” continued Temple.

“There’s no way for the network to really affect the nominations but they could at least help a little. Having Hugh Jackman host isn’t going to help, but at this point there may be no saving the awards. The way the economy has gone many people have had to sell their TV’s to pay for things like food. Those still with basic cable probably aren’t going to jumping all over themselves to see rich people do rich people things. The reality as well is that film and television is a declining medium, losing ground to things like videogames and the internet. They need to be careful with that strike vote; they may find themselves without a job to come back to. Just like the rest of the country.”

Scrape TV news has decided to not list the winners here due to lack of interest.

Samantha Dryden, Entertainment Correspondent

NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > SAG AWARDS HANDED OUT DESPITE TOTAL LACK OF INTEREST

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