Today's announcement of the nominations for the 64th annual Golden Globes offered intrigue and a bit of head-scratching in the TV category.

The Worthy
The drama category was all over the place, with predictable entries like ABC's Lost (still a good drama, but certainly not one of the best five on TV), and the hmmmm inclusion of Big Love. The HBO polygamy drama about one really big family under three connected roofs was one of those oddball series I could never love, but couldn't stop watching.

The Really, Really Worthy
Give any prize you can to Gillian Anderson for her role as doomed, haunted Lady Dedlock in the BBC miniseries Bleak House. Helen Mirren scored three Best Actress nods for playing two different British monarchs and one regal British detective (in the feature film The Queen, plus TV's Elizabeth I and Prime Suspect: The Final Act). She should land at least one win — I vote for her screeching, imperious, girlish, wise turn as Elizabeth I. Thankfully, also, Alec Baldwin is being recognized for his whispery blowhard on 30 Rock — although the show itself, one of the best comedies on TV, got shut aside for the likes of....

The Perplexing
ABC's Ugly Betty, which I find to be the most overrated show on TV. America Ferrera is a likable, beaming presence (she'd be my third-place vote among the current comedic actress nominees, after perfectly hammy Julia Louis-Dreyfus and sly Mary-Louise Parker). But as for Ugly Betty itself — the mystery subplot is tedious, the jokes are rarely laughable, and too often a great set design is asked to take the place of smart plots and dialogue. A really cool coffee table can do only so much.

The Missed
Everyone on Sci Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica could have earned a nod; Kyle Chandler of Friday Night Lights should have been recognized for his low-key work as a decent, taciturn coach — the series itself was overlooked too, which is unfortunate because it's a hell of a drama. In the comedy category, Anne Heche was doing much looser, game work than either of the nominated Desperate Housewives, Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman, who failed to make murder and pedophilia wacky.

The Criminal
HBO's The Wire is the best acted, best drama on TV. To snub it is to court outright foolishness.

For Dave Karger's analysis of the Globes' movie nominations, click here. To see the entire list of Golden Globe nominees, click here.