For the second year in a row, the critically-acclaimed SciFi Channel series led nominations, but was completely shut out once again in the seventh SyFy Genre Awards, this time playing second fiddle to a show that hasn't even been on the air for more than two years: "Firefly."
That short-lived series from Joss Whedon moved into the nominations this year because SciFi Channel broadcast previously unaired episodes from the Fox series, qualifying it for all major category nominations, and ended up walking away with five awards, including Best Series/Television.
Nathan Fillion was named Best Actor/Television, beating out runner up Matthew Fox from ABC's "Lost" 41 percent to 24 percent. Fillion's co-star, Adam Baldwin took home honors in the Best Supporting Actor/Television category, finishing ahead of another "Lost" actor, Terry O'Quinn, 43 percent to 27 percent.
Christina Hendricks, who played Saffron in the "Firefly" episodes "Trash" and "Our Mrs. Reynolds," defeated longtime SyFy Genre Awards darling Claudia Black for Best Special Guest/Television. The episode she was nominated for, "Trash," easily won Best Episode/Television, beating out its closest competitor, "Dalek" from "Doctor Who," 55 percent to 18 percent.
"These types of wins shows how important fan bases are, and how effective they can be in fan-voted awards such as this," said Michael Hinman, founder of SyFy Portal. "While some might question how much power these fanbases have, it is the fanbases that ultimately helps decide the fates of television shows and movies. That's why we let the fanbases decide what's best, and not just a few of us sitting around and talking about it over cigars and cupcakes.
"I know that in the coming days people will debate, as they have in previous years, how effective fan-choice awards are in determining favorites such as this, but we had a very talented slate this year and whether they were winners or nominees, this is a great way to earn much deserved recognition ... something that always seems to be missing from the Emmy awards," Hinman said.
"Firefly" didn't take all the television categories. Evangeline Lilly, who plays Kate in "Lost," won Best Actress/Television honors over "Battlestar Galactica's" Mary McDonnell. And Amy Acker from "Alias" won her third Genre Award, beating out both Rachel Luttrell from "Stargate: Atlantis" and Katee Sackhoff from "Battlestar Galactica," who were in the runners-up positions.
