Homeland leads old favourites in Golden Globes TV race

LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - Cable shows got more Golden Globe nominations for television than traditional network programmes on Thursday as HBO's political movie Game Change and Showtime's psychological thriller series Homeland, - one of last year's big winners - led the race.

Homeland led the TV drama category with four nominations including best drama, best actor for Damian Lewis and best actress for Claire Danes in her role as a bi-polar Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent tracking down a home-grown Muslim extremist.

The show faces stiff competition from British aristocratic drama Downton Abbey, which also won an acting nod for Michelle Dockery, along with Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, and newcomer The Newsroom.

"Homeland fans seemed to be a little more split on whether creatively the second season was as successful as the first season so it'll be curious if that ends up impacting the show's chances in terms of taking home the awards," James Hibberd, senior staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, told Reuters.