Our forums moderator Chris "Boomer" Beachum notes a curious Emmy fact. There's been surprising turnover of winners in the category of best lead comedy actress over the last decade. That's in contrast to other Emmy races that often look like a TV repeat. Consider the other top series acting categories — the winners all repeated over the last two years: Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock"), Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad") and Glenn Close ("Damages").

However, nine women won best comedy actress over the last nine years. The last repeat was Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond") in 2000 and 2001.

2009 — Toni Collette ("United States of Tara")
2008 — Tina Fey ("30 Rock")
2007 — America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty")
2006 — Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("New Adventures of Old Christine")
2005 — Felicity Huffman ("Desperate Housewives")
2004 — Sarah Jessica Parker ("Sex and the City")
2003 — Debra Messing ("Will & Grace")
2002 — Jennifer Aniston ("Friends")
2001 — Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond")

Photos: Toni Collette and Tina Fey. Credit: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

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The success of "Sex and the City" virtually guarantees it a spot in the comedy/musical movie race at the Golden Globe Awards. After all, during the TV series' seven-year run, it took best comedy series at the Globes three times out of six consecutive nods.

"Sex" star Sarah Jessica Parker is even more popular with the Golden Globes. She won four of her seven bids for best actress in a comedy series. And she even picked up an unexpected nod for "The Family Stone," her first starring role in a movie after the series ended in 2004.

The big competition for both movie and star could come in the form of the long-awaited update of the 1939 classic comedy "The Women." Judging by the trailer, this female-only film looks to be a lot of (catty) fun. And it marks a comeback for star Meg Ryan, who hasn't had even a modest hit since "Kate and Leopold" in 2001.

Ryan is a three-time Golden Globe nominee for best actress in a comedy or musical movie. Though she has yet to be nominated for an Academy Award, she lost two of those Globe races to women who went on to win the Oscar. In 1989, Ryan was up for "When Harry Met Sally" but was bested by Jessica Tandy in "Driving Miss Daisy." Her 1998 bid for "You've Got Mail" was edged out by Gwyneth Paltrow in "Shakespeare in Love." Her other loss, in 1993 for "Sleepless in Seattle," was to Angela Bassett, who went on to an Oscar nom for "What's Love Got to Do with It?".

The remake of "The Women" is written and directed by Diane English, best known for creating TV's "Murphy Brown." During that sitcom's decade on the air, it won one of its five Golden Globe bids for best comedy series while star Candice Bergen took two of her eight tries for best actress in a comedy series. Five-time Emmy Award winner Bergen is featured in "The Women" as Ryan's less-than-helpful mother, who berates her daughter over the breakup of her marriage.

Also appearing in "The Women" is Annette Bening as the tart-tongued Sylvia Fowler, the role that made Rosalind Russell a star in 1939. Like Russell, who was a four-time bridesmaid at the Academy Awards, Bening failed to win any of her three Oscar bids. However, Roz was the queen of the Globes, going five for five there. While Annette has only one Globe to show for her five movie nods, it was in the comedy/musical race ("Being Julia," 2004).

A trio of award winners feature in supporting roles in "The Women." Emmy award winner Debra Messing looks like she could steal the movie as the perpetually pregnant Edith. Messing lost six straight Golden Globe races for "Will and Grace" (four of those to Sarah Jessica Parker) and picked up a seventh nod just last year for "The Starter Wife."

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"Sex and the City" opened this weekend to mixed reviews but boffo box office of $56 million . While some critics hailed the return of Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis, others found the film, four years in the making, not worth the wait. However, loyal female fans flocked to the film, which pushed past "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" to claim the top spot.

While the movie's audience may be made up mainly of women, film reviewers are mostly men. The two-hours-plus comedy scored a middling 54 at both Meta Critic and Rotten Tomatoes. Though the film will no doubt continue to heat up the box office this summer, will it be frozen out of awards races next winter?

The divided opinion among critics was not due to gender. For example, Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly graded the movie a B+ and Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times was as impressed. But Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times awarded the film only two stars while Manohla Dargis of the New York Times delivered one of her most withering reviews of the year.

Without the wholehearted backing of key scribes, the film is unlikely to figure in any of the various critics awardsfests. Remember the TV show was snubbed by the Television Critics Assn. despite four nominations. And just as the small screen edition failed to strike it rich at the Emmy Awards (winning best comedy series only once), don't expect the big screen version to make much of an impression at the Academy Awards (save for a nod for costumer Patricia Field).

However, the movie might make a better impression on Golden Globe voters. Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes have separate categories for dramas and comedies/musicals and lead performers. The TV show won three of its six nominations for best comedy series (2000, 2001, 2002), while Sarah Jessica Parker went four for seven in the race for best lead comedy actress (2000, 2001, 2002 , 2004).

Parker's costars didn't enjoy the same success, perhaps because of increased competition. At the Golden Globes, supporting stars of comedy and drama TV series are combined into one category. Cattrall won only one of her four Globe TV nods (2003), Nixon went 0 for 4, and Davis lost her sole nomination. As the Globes do the same with supporting stars of movies, it will be an uphill battle for any of these three to get a nomination.

The four of them did better at the SAG Awards, earning five ensemble nods with two wins (2002, 2004) and a single win for Parker out of her four solo nods (2001) though Cattrall lost both of her bids.

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"Sex and the City," Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon are all real winners. Back when TV viewers were hot for "Sex," the series swept so many showbiz awards that we must now wonder: How will the new film version do at the Oscars?

TV series "Sex and the City" had its best luck striking awards gold at, of course, the Golden Globes, where voters track the hottest trends in Hollywood. Given the timing of those kudos, six seasons of the TV series were eligible over seven years. "Sex" won three of its six nominations for best comedy series (2000, 2001, 2002), while star Sarah Jessica Parker went four for seven in the race for best lead comedy actress (2000, 2001, 2002 ,2004).

Parker's costars didn't have the same good luck because of increased competition. At the Globes, supporting stars of comedy and drama series are combined into one category. Nonetheless, Cattrall won one of her four Globe TV nods (2003), Nixon went 0 for 4, and Davis lost her sole nomination.

At the Emmy Awards, the show won only one of its six bids for best comedy series (2001), while Parker lost five consecutive battles for best actress up until her final Emmy derby.

That's when — OK, I confess here and now — I conducted one of my rare Emmy interventions. Normally, I don't get involved in award races as a matter of policy, but back in 2004, when the superstar of one of TV's most celebrated series faced her final season, Emmyless, I could not stand witnessing the tragedy anymore and so I advised her on strategy.

It was quite obvious that Parker was afflicted with a serious case of the Susan Lucci Disease. She kept picking lousy episode samples to give to Emmy judges. In 2004, when I heard that Parker planned to submit "The Post-It Always Sticks Twice," I knew she'd lose again. As terrific as her performance in that episode was — and, indeed, it was — her character, Carrie Bradshaw, was too whiny, unsympathetic, downright annoying. There was no way Sarah could win with that.

The cure for what ailed her: I told Sarah to submit part two of the series finale. She gave me a bit of a fight at first, noting that she'd be asking judges — many of whom are not regular viewers of a TV series they're weighing — to join a story midway through, but I prevailed on her, she caved and she ended up winning, of course.

Gold Derby, by the way, also helped Cynthia Nixon win during her final season, but that was because our forums moderator Chris "Boomer" Beachum recommended a different strategy of episode submission from the one she had planned. Cattrall never sought our advice and — ah, well, too bad —she lost five consecutive Emmy bids.

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Hugh Jackman is considering a return to Broadway in a new stage adaptation of the 1954 film classic "A Star Is Born," according to Michael Riedel of the New York Post. He would play the alcoholic movie star whose career spirals downward while his wife's skyrockets.

The Aussie hunk won a Tony Award in 2004 for "The Boy From Oz," a tuner take on the life of singer-songwriter Peter Allen. That musical covered the bisexual Allen's many loves, including his short-lived marriage to Liza Minnelli. Both she and her mother, Judy Garland, were pivotal characters in the piece.

"A Star Is Born" was Garland's big screen comeback, five years after she had been fired by MGM. While she wanted Cary Grant for her co-star, she ended up with another suave Brit, James Mason. As the doomed Norman Maine, Mason would earn the first of his three Oscar nominations. And, as awards fans know, Garland — in one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history — lost her only best actress bid to Grace Kelly, who played against type as the drab wife in "The Country Girl."

While the stage show is set to include all of the music from the movie, including the Oscar-nominated "The Man That Got Away," Mason did not sing any of them. Should the show be able to mine the musical treasure trove of composer Harold Arlen and lyricist Ira Gershwin, Jackman will no doubt have many a standout number. He made many fans on Broadway, hosting the Tony Award festivities for three years running, picking up an Emmy for his efforts along the way. This charismatic star would certainly be welcome back on the Great White Way.

(Photo: CBS)