Fantasy and sci-fi have posted a fairly strong showing in the movie categories of this year's People's Choice Award nominations, which were opened up for public voting this week at the , and there's a sci-fi TV show category as well for viewers to show their muscle and choose their favorite program. Unlike the Oscars or the Golden Globes, in which nominees and winners are selected by industry peers, the People's Choice Awards are determined solely by the viewing public.
The movie categories are dominated by the third Pirates of the Caribbean film and the sci-fi fantasy Transformers, as well as the thriller Bourne Ultimatum. The presence of both of these third-parters may have inspired the new "favorite prequel" category, which also includes Spider-Man 3. A slightly surprising nod went to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix under "Favorite Movie Drama," alongside Premonition and disturbia.
Still in the movie realm, acting nods went to Johnny Depp and Keira Knightly (Pirates of the Caribbean, each in both the "Favorite Movie Star" and "Favorite Action Star"), Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer), and Sandra Bullock (Premonition). As with the Teen Choice awards, Kirsten Dunst and Toby Maguire get a shout out under "Favorite Match-Up." Another comic book film, 300, was nominated under "Favorite Action Movie." (My personal vote for best movie of the year, Ratatouille, was nominated only under "Favorite Family Film," which is less than it deserves.)
On TV, the sci-fi/fantasy presence isn't nearly as strong. The good news is that there's a "Favorite Sci-Fi Show" category. There are only three nominees, though: Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, and Stargate Atlantis – all Sci Fi channel properties in this country, incidentally, and two of them Sci Fi originals, so NBC Universal must be pretty happy. Each has an energized fan base, but the Atlantis fans may be too unsettled by recent developments to drive their show to a win, and the American Doctor Who fan base still includes a lot of people who love the classic show too much to fully accept the new incarnation (a dwindling number, fortunately, since the advent of David Tennant's Tenth Doctor). Look for Battlestar to walk away with this one, especially given the impressive volume of promotion Sci Fi is putting into Battlestar Galactica: Razor (about which more to come). As a big fan of both shows I'd be just as happy to see Doctor Who pull an upset, but frankly Battlestar is brilliantly made from top to bottom and deserves to win.
In the "New Shows" categories, all of the new programs, are name-checked, so no news in seeing the genre debuts among them. And the rest of the TV categories totally ignore genre shows. The new "Scene Stealing" category and the "Favorite TV Star" categories are all devoted to the usual suspects over at 24, CSI, Grey's Anatomy, Two and a Half Men (seriously?), and so on. Not to be bitter or anything, but what does Patrick Dempsey have that Edward James Olmos doesn't? The fact remains that some of the best writing and innovation on TV this season are being done in sci-fi and fantasy, from Battlestar to Journeyman, and the PCAs turning a blind eye is all the more ironic given their willingness to recognize sci-fi and fantasy on the big screen (where, unlike on TV, it brings in big American dollars).
Following is the full list of nominees (minus the music categories -- which feature familiar names like Fergie, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, and what is in my opinion this year's most overrated song, "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's). Final winners to be revealed at the 35th Annual People's Choice Awards, which will be broadcast live on Jan. 8 on CBS.
2008 People's Choice Awards Nominees
- Favorite Female Movie Star Halle Berry | Sandra Bullock | Reese Witherspoon
- Favorite Male Movie Star Johnny Depp | Denzel Washington | Bruce Willis
- Favorite Leading Lady Jessica Alba | Drew Barrymore | Queen Latifah
- Favorite Leading Man Jamie Foxx | Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson | Joaquin Phoenix
- Favorite Female Action Star Jessica Alba | Jodie Foster | Keira Knightly
- Favorite Male Action Star Johnny Depp | Matt Damon | Bruce Willis
- Favorite Movie The Bourne Ultimatum | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | Transformers
- Favorite Threequel The Bourne Ultimatum | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | Spider-Man 3
- Favorite On-Screen Match-Up Jackie Chan & Chris Tucker, Rush Hour 3 | George Clooney & Brad Pitt, Ocean's Thirteen | Kirsten Dunst & Toby Maguire, Spider-Man 3
- Favorite Action Movie 300 | Bourne Ultimatum | Transformers
- Favorite Independent Movie Becoming Jane | A Mighty Heart | Sicko
- Favorite Movie Drama disturbia | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Premonition
- Favorite Movie Comedy Knocked Up | The Simpsons Movie | Wild Hogs
- Favorite Family Movie Evan Almighty | Ratatouille | Shrek the Third
- Favorite Sci-Fi Show Battlestar Galactica | Doctor Who | Stargate Atlantis
- Favorite Animated Comedy Family Guy | King of the Hill | The Simpsons
- Favorite New TV Comedy Aliens in America | Back To You | The Big Bang Theory | Carpoolers | Cavemen | Chuck | Reaper | Samantha Who?
- Favorite New TV Drama Big Shots | Bionic Woman | Cane | Dirty Sexy Money | Gossip Girl | Journeyman | K-Ville | Life | Life is Wild | Moonlight | Private Practice | Pushing Daisies | Women's Murder Club
- Favorite Scene Stealing Star Richard Belzer, Law & Order: SVU | Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother | Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy
- Favorite Funny Female Star Ellen DeGeneres | Whoopi Goldberg | Wanda Sykes
- Favorite Funny Male Star Will Ferrell | Adam Sandler | Robin Williams
- Favorite TV Comedy Two and a Half Men | The King of Queens | My Name Is Earl
- Favorite TV Drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | House | Law & Order: SVU
- Favorite Competition/Reality Show American Idol | Dancing with the Stars | Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
- Favorite Female TV Star Sally Field | Katherine Heigl | Jennifer Love Hewitt
- Favorite Male TV Star Patrick Dempsey | Charlie Sheen | Kiefer Sutherland
- Favorite Talk Show Host Ellen DeGeneres | Jay Leno | Oprah Winfrey
