“I want to thank Amazon, Jeff Bezos…”
Those words were spoken at a Hollywood awards show for the first time on Sunday as Amazon’s comedic television series “Transparent” picked up a Golden Globe award, beating shows from HBO, Netflix and the CW.
The award was an affirmation of the widening television landscape, as streaming services like Amazon Prime Instant Video are beginning to play host to award-worthy programs just like television networks.
The best comedy award was accepted by “Transparent” creator Jill Soloway on behalf of the cast and crew. Soloway thanked Amazon CEO Bezos immediately after thanking the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which holds the annual Golden Globes ceremony in Beverly Hills.
In “Transparent,” Jeffrey Tambor plays a transgender woman — a father, Mort Pfefferman, who comes out as a woman, Maura, to his family. (Tambor was also nominated for best actor in a television comedy.)
“This award is dedicated to the memory of Leelah Alcorn, and too many trans people who died too young,” Soloway said while accepting the award.
Alcorn was a transgender teenager from Ohio who died last month in an apparent suicide.
Soloway also dedicated the award to her father, who came out as a woman much like Tambor’s character on the show.
“If you’re watching right now, I just want to thank you fro coming out,” she said. “Because in doing so, you made a break for freedom; you told your truth; you taught me how to tell my truth and make this show; and maybe we’re going to be able to teach the world something about authenticity and truth and love.”
She held up her statue: “To love.”
“Transparent” premiered on Amazon Prime Instant Video in September to rave reviews — with some critics calling it the best new show of 2014, regardless of network or platform. The reviews immediately spurred speculation about awards.
Amazon could pick up Emmy nominations for “Transparent” later this year, too.
Amazon wasn’t the only streaming service entrant on Sunday night. In the best comedy category, it beat Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black.”
Earlier in the evening, Amazon Studios chief Roy Price and Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos posed for a photo inside the hotel where the awards were presented.
Netflix’s “House of Cards” is also up for best drama for the second year in a row. (That prize hasn’t been presented yet.)
Last year, “House of Cards” star Robin Wright won an acting award, but the series lost to “Breaking Bad” in the best drama category. Wright and her co-star Kevin Spacey are nominated again this year.
Pretty soon, TV award nominations for shows on Internet streaming services will stop turning heads. But for the time being, it’s a source of intrigue, partly because it remains to be seen how accepting the judges are — or are not — at the arrival of Netflix and Amazon.
Also nominated in the best drama category, along with “House of Cards,” were HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” CBS’s “The Good Wife,” PBS’s “Downton Abbey” and Showtime’s “The Affair.”
Netflix and Amazon are also going head to head in the category for best actor in a comedy — Tambor’s competition includes Ricky Gervais, who plays the title character in Netflix’s “Derek.”