‘Carol,’ ‘Spotlight,’ ‘The Big Short’ lead Golden Globes

The 2016 Golden Globe nominations were announced Thursday, and this year is shaping up to be very interesting.

Popular streaming shows that earned nods included last year’s victor, Amazon’s “Transparent” (3 noms), as well as Amazon’s “Mozart in the Jungle” (2), Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black” (2), Netflix’s “Narcos” (2), Netflix’s “House of Cards” (1), Netflix’s “Master of None (1)”, Netflix’s “Bloodline” (1), Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie” (1), and Hulu’s “Casual” (1).

Grand total for digital on-demand outlets: 15.

And despite generating Oscar buzz and picking up Golden Globe nominations for best picture, best screenplay and best director, the ensemble cast for Boston Globe investigation drama “Spotlight” came up empty.

“On the other, it’s silly to ignore the profile boost that certain films and performances get from recognition on a highly-rated televised awards show”. Broadcast networks were completely shut out.

Two of Amazon.com’s original video series, transgender comedy Transparent and behind-the-scenes classical music series Mozart in the Jungle, earned five nods.

The nominees for best TV drama are Empire, Game of Thrones, Mr. Robot, Narcos, and Outlander. The premium-cable network and its period-piece, European co-productions such as “The White Queen” and “Dancing on the Edge” have fared well at the Golden Globes in recent years. It has seven nominations, down from 15 past year.

Some of this is not the Globes’ fault – it’s just a deep year for dramas. Vikander was nominated for a Golden Globe award for best supporting actress for her role in the film on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015.

That said, the comedy film category is not almost as crowded as the drama one, so that’s one way to get your film nominated. “Mad Men” only got one nomination for its final season – Jon Hamm is up for best actor in a TV drama series.

But it failed to join the dramatic best picture nominees, which, along with “Carol” and “The Revenant”, are: “Mad Max: Fury Road”, “Room” and “Spotlight”.

The nominees for best motion picture comedy or musical are The Martian, Trainwreck, The Big Short, Joy, and Spy.

The Globes’ lead actor group options Bryan Cranston for “Trumbo”, Leonardo DiCaprio for “The Revenant”, Michael Fassbender for “Steve Jobs”, Eddie Redmayne for “The Danish Girl” and Will Smith for “Concussion”.

The film, directed by Lenny Abrahamson, also picked up Golden Globe nominations for best film drama and best film actress in a drama for Bree Larson, who plays the child’s mother. Also, Al Pacino for his performance as an aging rock star in Bleecker Street’s Danny Collins and Mark Ruffalo the manic-depressive dad in Sony Pictures Classics’ Infinitely Polar Bear. Lead actresses Amy Schumer and Melissa McCarthy also scored acting noms. Idris Elba also spanned both film and TV with nods for his West African rebel commander in “Beasts of No Nation”, as well as the British crime series “Luther”.

Jennifer Jason Leigh – Nominee for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture “The Hateful Eight” & Best Animated Feature “Anomalisa”: “Thanks to the Hollywood Foreign Press for recognizing two projects that mean so much to me”.

In the best foreign movie category, four European films and one from Latin America made the cut – The Brand New Testament (Belgium/France/Luxembourg), The Club (Chile), The Fencer (Finland/Germany/Estonia), Mustang (France) and Son of Saul (Hungary).