Published : Dec. 15, 2021 - 18:17
“Squid Game” (Netflix)
“Squid Game” is racking up nominations at US TV awards, as it continues to write new Korean TV history.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association on Monday announced the nomination of Netflix’s South Korean megahit in three categories at 79th Golden Globes -- actors Lee Jung-jae in best television actor in the drama series, Oh Young-soo in best supporting actor and “Squid Game” in the best drama series.
“Squid Game” also earned three nominations at 27th Critics Choice Awards.
The series is competing for best drama and will also be competing for best foreign language series.
Lee Jung-jae, who plays Seong Gi-hun on the show, will vie for best actor in a drama series against Sterling Brown of NBC’s “This Is Us,” Mike Colter of Paramount+’s “Evil,” Brain Cox and Jeremy Strong of HBO’s “Succession” and Billy Porter of FX’s “Pose.”
“Squid Game” wrote the first chapter of new TV history with the win in the breakthrough series’ long format category at the 2021 Gotham Awards in November.
In his acceptance speech, director Hwang Dong-hyuk, who was behind the Korean thriller, said that winning an award in the international stage and becoming the first Korean series to win at Gotham Awards was a “miracle.”
However, that miracle was a signal of things to come.
In this year’s People’s Choice Awards, which was held on Dec. 3, “Squid Game” won the bingeworthy show of 2021 award against six shows –- Disney+’s “Loki,” Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso,” Netflix’s “Sex/Life” and HBO’s “Mare of Easttown.”
While announcing the top 10 movies and TV series created in the US, the American Film Institute awarded a special honor to “Squid Game,” along with “Belfast” and “Summer of Soul,” to recognize the “works of excellence that fall outside of the Institute’s criteria of American film and television.”
The nine-part series has topped global Netflix charts since its release and posted a total of 1.65 billion hours of streaming in the first four weeks of release, becoming the most-watched Netflix show of all time.
By Lee Si-jin (
sj_lee@heraldcorp.com)