Frankly, it’s a disgrace that the great Australian TV audience who vote for the Logies can find only one woman worthy of a Gold Logie nomination this year.

They’ve got to be kidding if they think that blokes like Peter Helliar and Grant Denyer (while undoubtedly good at what they do) are better than some of Australia’s leading female actors who were also in the running.

Yes, it’s nice that Jessica Marais was nominated for Love Child and the rather disappointing The Wrong Girl. But what about the extraordinary Deborah Mailman who was in four amazing series this year – including the ABC’s revolutionary Cleverman and Stan’s Wolf Creek?

Mailman’s other shows – Offspring and Jack Irish – drew bigger audiences so there’s no reason why the voters didn’t know what she does.

Jessica Mauboy played the lead in one of the year’s most successful dramas – The Secret Daughter on Channel 7 – but where is she in the nominations? Similarly, Marta Dusseldorp was in three major series – A Place to Call Home, Jack Irish and Janet King – but not good enough for the voters to nominate her for a Gold Logie.

Secret Daughter‘s Jessica Mauboy was overlooked for some reason. Photo: Channel Seven

Seriously! Are we heading back to 1968 when there was no Logie for Most Popular Female because no one was good enough to be nominated?

Host Bert Newton was appalled and hit out at the Logie organisers at the time, saying that should never happen again.

So why did voters this year decide that only one woman would be chosen from a long list of eligible female actors they could have voted for? After all, they found two male actors – Rodger Corser for Doctor Doctor and The Doctor Blake Mysteries and Samuel Johnson for his outstanding performance in Molly. Why not the women?

TV Week – which runs the awards – reckons the Gold Logies reflect what the voting audience wants so we just have to live with it. This year, it seems they want a bunch of blokes (half of them studio-based show hosts) who are good enough at what they do – at the expense of excellent, talented women.

At least The Project‘s Peter Helliar got his wish after being overlooked last year. Photo: Channel Ten

That’s not to say talk shows and quiz show hosts don’t need talent. Of course they do – but do they deserve half of the Gold Logie nominations? Helliar (bless him) made no secret last year that he was devastated he was the only The Project host not to have received a Gold Logie nomination.

Well, he got one this year, along with Waleed Aly and Denyer – probably because shows like theirs do a great job at motivating their audiences to vote. And, because they are in our faces week in week out, they have a huge advantage over actors in short-run TV series.

But are they really the best talent Australian TV has to offer? The cream of this year’s TV crop? Absolutely not!