The weirdest Golden Globes nominees ever

One of the more unpredictable awards shows, the Golden Globes earned a reputation for honoring surprising — if not underserving — nominees. As the contenders vie for gold at the 2020 ceremony, catch up with some of the weirdest Golden Globe nominations of years past.

Butterfly is a film that never exactly reached classic status — that is, if it ever could've been deemed truly good in the first place. And yet, Pia Zadora’s role as Kady, whose father is on trial for accusations of incest with his daughter, somehow earned the then-unknown actress the award for Best New Star of the Year. —Megan Lewis

Sure, hindsight's 20-20, but Disney's propensity to turn all of its beloved animated classics into bland live-action films probably should have been cut off at the pass before it was too late. Instead, a live-action 101 Dalmatians (the dogs didn’t even talk!) got a Golden Globe nod. Glenn Close has played plenty of complex roles deserving of recognition, but a hysterical Cruella de Vil was not one of them. —Christian Holub

Hey, Jim Carrey as a father who has to tell the truth for 24 hours is an amusing shtick, don’t get us wrong. But was that really the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical in 1998? Must’ve been a dry year. —Megan Lewis

The Golden Globes were always very kind to Robin Williams, even granting him the ceremony's prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2005. But that still doesn’t excuse award nominations for what is easily one of Williams’ worst films (and maybe one of the worst of its decade). Widely detested (even by its real-life subject), Patch Adams remains a sloppy, tonal mismatch. —Christian Holub

Legally Blonde helped launch Reese Witherspoon to Hollywood stardom and soon became a classic girl power movie. Frothy and fun films aren’t typically showered with prestigious accolades, so no doubt some were surprised that the film nabbed a nomination for Best Motion Picture in 2002. What, like it's hard? —Danielle Zhu

At the time of the 2001 Golden Globes, Zellweger was already a well-known actress thanks to Jerry Maguire and Empire Records, but she had yet to release the films for which she is most famous: Bridget Jones’s Diary, Chicago, and Cold Mountain. But with all these recognizable titles, Zellweger’s first Golden Globe win came from a quirky little black comedy called Nurse Betty. Although the somewhat forgotten film had an all-star cast — Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock, Greg Kinnear — the odd story about a delusional, love-struck nurse who chases the soap opera star with whom she invents a relationship while hit men try to kill her was definitely a bizarre choice for the Golden Globes to honor. The plot also seems to resemble Sandra Bullock's disappointing 2009 comedy All About Steve, which is somewhat ironic in that Zellweger beat out Bullock for the much better remembered film Miss Congeniality to win the 2001 Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Golden Globe. —Dylan Kickham

In Kate and Leopold, Hugh Jackman plays a duke from 1876 who time travels to 2001 New York. It’s predictable, forgettable, and nowhere near as great as a classic Meg Ryan rom-com, but Jackman was just charming enough to receive an unexpected Best Actor — Musical or Comedy nomination. —Danielle Zhu

The Golden Globes honored some truly clever and memorable performances in its Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy nominees for 2004. Jack Black was up for his gleefully hilarious part in School of Rock, Jack Nicholson made a notably touching comedic turn in Something’s Gotta Give, and Johnny Depp introduced the world to one of his most beloved roles: Captain Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film. All these famed characters lost out to the category's winner: Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. Among said titans, however, is Billy Bob Thornton, who was nominated for Bad Santa. Now, many people love Bad Santa, but the raunchy Christmas comedy definitely does not have the critical clout nor mass appeal of its competitors. Thornton’s performance was fun, but not on the engaging and nuanced level of Murray, Depp, and even Black. —Dylan Kickham

Based on the premise of the late U.S. Senator, Bobby could’ve been a legitimate award season contender. The Emilio Estevez-directed film takes on the final hours before Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1968. But even with a star-studded ensemble cast of more than 20 actors — including Demi Moore, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Ashton Kutcher, and Lindsay Lohan — the film received negative reviews and a questionable Golden Globe nomination. —Danielle Zhu

We all know that Meryl Streep can do no wrong, but even she couldn’t save the karaoke spectacle that was the Mamma Mia! movie in many viewers’ eyes. The musical adaptation received very mixed reviews — most of the positive ones, though, admitted that the film was just two hours of meaningless fun, with the negative ones critiquing the decision to cast movie stars without a singing background in a musical. In the end, Mamma Mia!’s flashiness couldn’t distract the Hollywood Foreign Press enough to actually win the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy, but its inclusion in the nominees still has us scratching our heads. —Dylan Kickham

In the moment that ensured "dude comedy" movies would flood the box offices into the second decade of the 21st century, The Hangover took home the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy in 2010. While the absurd Vegas romp was a wild turn for Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, and Ken Jeong, and was one of the biggest comedies of 2009, it was still bizarre to see it nominated for a Golden Globe, which usually honors more subtle, thought-provoking comedies. Though the obvious black sheep against the sweet and beloved (500) Days of Summer, the musical Nine, and a Meryl Streep one-two punch of both It’s Complicated and Julie & Julia, The Hangover won the award. The praise may have been deserved for the sheer ubiquity of the movie, but the two sequels that the success spawned are unforgivable. —Dylan Kickham

A poster with a presumably naked Jennifer Love Hewitt draped in a cheetah print blanket doesn't necessarily scream "Golden Globe." Hewitt plays a beauty queen-turned-masseuse who quickly learns that she works in a parlor that frequently hears the term "happy ending." This role somehow earned her a nomination for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television. —Megan Lewis

The Best Motion Picture — Drama category in 2011 was full of eventual Oscar nominees, but the Comedy and Musical category was less than stellar. Nominee Burlesque premiered to lukewarm reviews. Starring Cher and Christina Aguilera, it received a C- review from EW and a 36 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Apparently, it was so bad it was good enough for the HFPA. —Danielle Zhu

The action movie version of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel finds Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and other elder statesmen as retired spies teaming up for (you guessed it) one last mission. It’s a fun romp, but certainly not the best comedy of 2010 (or, you know, any year). —Christian Holub

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when Johnny Depp went from America's favorite actor to the less successful star of Mortdecai, but a possible turning point was the year he starred in two movies (The Tourist and Tim Burton’s epic fantasy mismatch of an Alice in Wonderland adaptation). Even The Tourist's director couldn't say whether the movie was really a comedy or not, and to this day the only really funny thing about it is the comical lack of chemistry between Depp and Angelina Jolie. —Christian Holub

Adam McKay made some of the funniest movies of the 2000s, from Anchorman to Step Brothers, but somehow the first one to get a Golden Globes nomination was his most serious movie ever. For some reason, The Big Short’s witty depiction of the Wall Street greed that created the greatest financial crisis of the 21st century was more of a hoot for Golden Globes nominators than any of Will Ferrell’s antics. Even Vice, McKay’s follow-up to The Big Short about the life of former Vice President Dick Cheney, had more outrageous comedic moments than this one. —Christian Holub

Superhero movies had occasionally been recognized by the Golden Globes before (most notably, Heath Ledger earned a posthumous award for his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight) but Deadpool was the first to earn a nomination in this category. The Ryan Reynolds vehicle was certainly funny, though it definitely had a lot more gruesome violence than its fellow nominees — and certainly less music than La La Land (the winner) or Sing Street. —Christian Holub

Get Out was the directorial debut of Jordan Peele, who until that point was known as a comedic actor for his work on Key & Peele and elsewhere. There are indeed lots of funny moments in the movie, typically thanks to Lil Rel Howery’s incredible performance. But even so, Get Out is a brutally honest look at racism in America that had a real shot at winning Best Picture at the Oscars that year. Nominating it as a comedy still feels somewhat demeaning. —Christian Holub

The Golden Globes’ use of different genres can sometimes be confounding, but last year’s ceremony provided a unique example of confusion. Somehow, Green Book (a heartwarming drama with a few light-hearted moments) earned the top Comedy/Musical award, while Bohemian Rhapsody (a biopic of Queen singer Freddie Mercury with lots of musical performances) took home the straight-laced Drama trophy. Don’t ask us why. —Christian Holub

Traditional TV networks just can’t keep up with the quality of shows offered by streaming platforms and cable channels — at least according to the Golden Globes. TV network shows were completely shut out of the TV nominations this year. Almost every nominee belongs to a streaming platform like Amazon Prime (Fleabag, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) or newcomer Apple TV+ (The Morning Show). HBO is keeping up thanks to the likes of Barry and Succession, networks aren’t so lucky. —Christian Holub