I’m guessing Ricky Gervais will not be asked to host another awards show after this performance.
Reader Interactions
96Comments
Comments are closed.
Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.
“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.
“Loving your country does not mean lying about it’s history.”
You cannot shame the shameless.
Republicans do not pay their debts.
There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.
Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.
Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.
… gradually, and then suddenly.
Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.
Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.
It looks like winning debates is a black job!
The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.
It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.
Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.
The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris
If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.
‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’
Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.
Bark louder, little dog.
Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.
Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.
Innocent people don’t delay justice.
M. Bouffant
No one has a sense of humor any more.
Linda Featheringill
He was funny. I enjoyed the clip you showed us.
Of course, I don’t like award shows in general. I mean, if you want me to be an audience for you, you have to give me something more than how wonderful you think each other is.
But I enjoyed the monologue. Thanks.
eastriver
I missed it. Damn. He killed. Thanks for the clip.
kerFuFFler
Two thumbs up!
debbie
I remember the audience being unhappy with Gervais last year, particularly Steve Carrel, but they brought him back again anyway. I wonder if it’s the foreign press association giving a bit of a poke to the big, bad U.S. in the only way they feel they can,
cmorenc
Why should we watch the Golden Globes? None of us are going to get invited to any of the fun parties afterward where you get to lock people up naked in closets.
morzer
Award shows for third-rate movies aimed at hormonal teenagers are a waste of time anyway. But good for Gervais for mocking the “entertainment” industry cudlippery.
Morbo
Yes, well, I said the same thing last year, but here we are nonetheless.
Father Tyme
It was kinda like wikileaks for Hollywood. Make fun of others but when it comes to your own you see the true hypocrisy coming out.
It wasn’t like anything he said wasn’t spot on and I’ll bet the last ticket stub not one Hollywooder will criticize DeNiro for doing a nastier and funnier bit later.
I guess those Hollywood O-poligist types really do support Obama, right or wrong.
henqiguai
Well, hell, on the ads leading up to the show, he did specifically say he was going to be troublesome. He even included the tag line “What’re they gonna do ? It’s live TV.” with a wicked grin. The few minutes I saw he was living up to his “threat”. And yeah, he was funny (so was Robert Downey).
Morbo
Oh yeah, and then there was his closing. That had to be worth a few spit-takes.
cathyx
Oh my! That was something. I’ll bet all those people in the audience were hoping the camera didn’t pan over them catching them laughing on live TV.
Hawes
Now THAT is some civility in the public discourse that I can get behind!
cathyx
The clip ended before he was done. Did he go much longer and did we miss some more uncomfortable moments?
jeff
Is “cudlip” going to be a thing around here now? ‘Cause people will stop visiting the blog, if so. It’s intolerable.
c u n d gulag
I refuse to watch any award shows until I’m nominated for an Oscar or a Tony!
Harumph!!!
Gervais is great!
Jon H
A bit of ‘Tourist’ backstory: the film was up for an award in the Comedy or Musical category.
It’s my understanding that it is neither a comedy, nor a musical. Thus it’s somewhat perplexing that it was nominated at all.
Punchy
What’s the joke at the 1:01 minute mark? Cant understand with his accent. Something about “everything’s 3-dimensional, except the love of taurus”, or something like that? why is that funneh?
Jon H
@debbie: “I wonder if it’s the foreign press association giving a bit of a poke to the big, bad U.S. in the only way they feel they can,”
Gervais gave the head of the FPA a strong poke, saying he’d pulled the man off the toilet and put his teeth in for him.
Agoraphobic Kleptomaniac
Next year it will be a boring host, then, when ratings drop again, they’ll bring back someone else more risque.
Jon H
@Punchy: “everything’s 3-dimensional, except the love of taurus””
except the characters in The Tourist, the Johnny Depp / Angelina Jolie film.
Villago Delenda Est
Chris Noth seemed to be enjoying himself.
I guess he’s in trouble too…
bjacques
Heh. Indeedy. I watched the whole thing.
Napoleon
@Jon H:
And that guy seemed very pissed at Ricky. Did you hear the crowd chattering on as he spoke after what he said about Ricky?
Johnny B
I’ve never understood why entertainers paid millions of dollars a year can’t take a few jokes directed their way. But more perplexing is the large numbers of regular Americans who will be offended that a comedien offended people of wealth and privilege. Hollywood celebrities truly are America’s version of the Royal Family.
Napoleon
By the way this site still displays all screwed up on the computer I use with IE8.
Ija
@Morbo:
Yeah, but did he make fun of the Hollywood Foreign Press last year? Making fun of actors is okay, it’s when you mess with the boss that you get in trouble.
Ron
I didn’t watch the golden globes, but this was just funny. I don’t see how this is much different than the usual jokes at celebrity roasts though.
cathyx
@Ron: At celebrity roasts they are expecting it.
West of the Cascades
@Napoleon: Let’s review: the SITE is not “all screwed up,” rather, THE USE OF IE8 is “all screwed up.”
Joey Maloney
@jeff: What exactly is a cudlip? After an unfortunate experience with “dirty sanchez” I refuse to google these things anymore.
Violet
I thought Ricky was great. I’ve gotten to where I far prefer the Golden Globes to the Oscars because the Globes are much more freewheeling. If they want people to watch they should consider turning it into a roast, although they’d need to make it a funny roast. It’s hard to do to walk the line between mean and funny.
Ricky’s very last line of the night was a thing of beauty.
Ron
@cathyx: Bah, if they can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Dan
Johnny B – “I’ve never understood why entertainers paid millions of dollars a year can’t take a few jokes directed their way.”
Problem was, there were no jokes. Just nasty comments. Calling someone a jerk or a drunk is not a joke, it’s an insult.
DecidedFenceSitter
@Joey Maloney: It is from a line of Transhumanism SF – basically we’re all cattle, “Cudlips”, to the insulters more enlightened/advanced world view. Here is where it is used in context of Richard Morgan’s works. Which are pretty good if you enjoy good sci-fi of the noir or thriller sort.
Or to put it another way, it is the geeky version of “Ya’ll are sheep! Baaaaa, sheep, baaaaa!”
Tattoosydney
@Joey Maloney:
It’s just kokomo_chan’s way of telling us how cool we aren’t.
I’m not sure if I would be calling people “cudlips” if I were her, particularly if I had named myself after a song best known for the appearance of a pink singleted and disturbingly buff John Stamos in its film clip.
artem1s
@Dan:
Problem was, there were no jokes. Just nasty comments. Calling someone a jerk or a drunk is not a joke, it’s an insult.
yes, this. jerk or drunk or ‘I slept with’ just.not.funny. Robert Downey was especially sad. He used to be witty. last night I found myself wondering if he was stoned again. Gervais was just awful. I changed the channel ever time he was on screen. couldn’t even watch the train wreck.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Napoleon:
Good. Now pick a REAL browser. :)
RickyG rocks, end of story! Hollywood royalty can stuff it where the sun don’t shine.
NeenerNeener
I thought it was pretty funny when he introduced Bruce Willis as “Ashton Kutcher’s dad”.
Kryptik
That felt like a Roast more than an awards show intro. Man.
mikefromArlington
Too funny.
AxelFoley
@morzer:
Co-sign.
Billy K
As usual, he was very funny. This is a great format for Gervais. I must be out of touch with real ‘murika, because I don’t see what all the hub-bub is about.
timb
@NeenerNeener: didn’t you hear, an observation is not a joke, it’s just an insult. Apparently, comedy is now illegal or nonexistent in the minds of some or comedy died when Bill Cosby hung his sweater up for the last time.
Dan
The hub-bub is about he sucked, he just insulted people and he wasn’t even clever (except for the Ashton Kutscher’s dad line). This was 3rd rate Don Rickles crap. He sucked the life out of the room and the show. He even recycled a bit about Carrell owing him for The Office, and got called on it.
He had a lot to work with, but he didn’t do the work. Just think what Jon Stewart or Jeffrey Ross or Greg Giraldo (RIP) could have done.
Gervais can be funny. He just wasn’t.
GregB
The muckity mucks can only tolerate gentle ribbing. They can’t stand to have a court jester show them what they are hiding behind the curtain.
Bravo to Gevais. The best skewering since Colbert at the Press Club.
timb
@artem1s: Yeah, I agree. Full House is real comedy.
I was so disgusted by Ricky that I turned the channel to a re-run of America’s Funniest Home Videos on WGN, usually much more funny. But, the host was way too mean to a cat who fell down, so I turned off the TV and tried to figure out how to live in a world so cruel that Tom Cruise and Steve Carrell can mocked on live TV….
such sadness
GregB
Gervais.
Mr. Furious
DeNiro looked to be having a good time…
ChrisZ
Fact: Gervais was funny in that monologue. Any differing subjective experiences have been disproven by science.
Mr. Furious
Seriously, before I clicked through to watch the video I was expecting something horrendous like opening with a Tuscon joke. This was exactly what anybody showing up to a Gervais-hosted event should have expected. If they can’t handle it, or the audience can’t handle it, the problem is not with Gervais.
Chris M
As a person who loves a good skewering, and eagerly awaited the show on the expectation of some brutal snipes, I was disappointed in Gervais’ performance.
You don’t have to be a sparkle-eyed babe in the woods to know that a good thing (weaponized wit) taken too far and applied too indiscriminately becomes flat and embarrassing.
Turning point for me was Gervais’ introduction of Steve Carell – the funny dies when it’s overwhelmed by the stench of unclever resentment.
Dan
@ChrisZ: Cite?
ChrisZ
@Dan
You’ve caught me in my lie!
beergoggles
that was awesome.. but he dissed Cher! zomg he’s dead to me.
Dan
@ChrisZ: AHA!
Elizabelle
I thought Gervais was hilarious. And the occasion deserved it.
Far better than the usual preen and bleat show.
Plus didn’t notice him taking potshots at anyone new or young.
Last, the august Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated “The Tourist” as best comedy/musical — it was unintentionally the first, and definitively not the second — and nominated Johnny Depp as best actor in two separate categories.
How to take this group seriously?
Gervais walloped its president, saying he’d had to help the guy off the toilet and pop in his teeth.
Still laughing.
Elizabelle
Also thinking some of the harsh criticism is generational.
The Jon Stewart/Comedy Central demographic is still laughing this morning.
Dan
It wasn’t biting commentary. It just bit.
Jules
I guess we are a mean and cynical folk at my house cause the only part of the show worth watching last night was Ricky.
…and yeah, RDJ…though the hair and stalker eyeglasses did diminish his normal hotness.
Brachiator
Fine by me, although I suspect that if the ratings are high, Gervais would not only be invited back, he would be able to have live sex onstage with a Scientologist.
Gervais just wasn’t funny. His jokes were all one note, and utterly predictable. Mocking celebrity. Wow. And it wasn’t just Gervais. Many of the other presenters, and even award winner Robert DeNiro, were encouraged to be snarky. But there is a huge difference between snark and wit.
I cringed when Gervais mocked the upcoming award for best foreign film, noting that Americans don’t give a shit about the category. The winners were not pampered stars, but relative unknowns who worked hard to get their film done, and who were happy to get some recognition for their achievement. What exactly, is the point of throwing rhetorical dirt on them?
Ultimately, Gervais or somebody like him will be asked to host again because the level of the humor hits the sweet spot of low expectations of the show’s biggest audience, Americans.
harokin
I wasn’t horrified, I just thought it was tired and lame, and Gervais seemed bored and desperate to get it over with.
Speaking of whether something is funny or not funny, what is with all the love for Big Bang Theory? The few times I have seen it, I thought it was just another formulaic sitcom.
JC
Huh, taste really is in the eye of the beholder. I’ve just seen this clip, not the rest – this clip was awesome, and funny.
snarkypsice
@Brachiator:
He wasn’t throwing dirt on the film makers – he was throwing dirt on Americans for not caring about anything that happens outside their country.
If you didn’t get that, I can see why you wouldn’t have liked the rest of it.
debbie
Gervais was funny, but it was so one-note. Mix it up a bit, toss in the zingers instead of everything being so barbed. He reminded me of Benny Hill, and that was decades ago!
At one point, the camera cut to an unhappy-looking Tom Hanks. I wish I could read lips because his were really flying.
snarkypsice — he was throwing dirt on Americans and on Hollywood. He’d have gotten tons of support from all those “elitist liberals” if he’d stuck to slamming America.
Dan
Writing some jokes would have been more entertaining that throwing dirt, no matter who the target was.
Tony J
Just not funny. They should have gone with George Will. Now he’s a funny guy.
Brachiator
@snarkypsice:
The impact was the same. It soured the presentation of the award.
Gervais’ quip was an unjoke. It wasn’t funny, it was out of place, and it directed attention away from the filmmakers.
And for the record, the winning film was In A Better World, written and directed by Susanne Bier.
Agoraphobic Kleptomaniac
Ok, Dan doesn’t appreciate Ricky Gervais, we get it. Most people don’t like Bill Hicks either.
Short Bus Bully
1) Any chance to take down the supreme silliness that is an awards show for the already pampered, coddled, spoiled, and mostly untalented hacks is good by me. They need to be taken down a notch or 200.
2) Ricky G is teh funny. There is no disputing this.
3) Again, remember the target. Charlie Sheen? Tom Cruise? Johnny Depp? Pay me their money and Ricky G. can laugh about my small dick all damn day.
4) “Fuck Hollywood” – Public Enemy
That is all.
Tim
Ricky Gervais was, in my opinion, hilarious; all the more so for being offensive and insulting.
I love movies and Hollywood and all that shit, including the bogusness and bullshit that is a huge part of it, and anyone who can’t take a few hilarious low brow insult jokes a couple of times a year, right along with their millions of dollars of cash, needs to fuck off.
I love Steve Carell and was disappointed that he seemed to go all sensitive/hurt on us. Please.
Dan
Although I DO usually appreciate Ricky Gervais, he just sucked last night.
And, really, Ricky Gervais at his best, is not worthy to carry Bill Hicks’ cigarette butt.
And Steve Carell didn’t go all sensitive/hurt on us. He was probably tired of hearing about how he owes his career to Ricky Gervais for the 200th time in 6 years.
Brachiator
@Agoraphobic Kleptomaniac:
I love Bill Hicks. But doing comedy at a club is not the same as injecting one note humor into an awards show. If Bill Hicks showed up at my sister’s Christmas dinner, it would probably not have been accepted well. Of course, he would also be dead, so it would be kinda awkward as well.
This just in: the ratings for the Golden Globes were flat, so it’s neither a slam nor a plug for a Gervais return:
And another Brit, notes that Amurrikins are sarcasm challenged.
Brits like to take the piss out of celebrities, but then again, they still kiss up to aristocrats and their royal family. Go figure.
Sputnik
I think Ricky may be getting a poisonous snake in his mailbox very soon.
trollhattan
Heat, kitchen, etc. Reminded me a bit of Colbert at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The scientoIogist crack was the funniest. Much squirming in the audience.
Anybody who was surprised hasn’t been paying attention.
Alex
I thought he was fucking brilliant.
Maybe they can get Sarah Silverman to do it next year.
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
Hahahahahaha. I missed the globes yesterday. Oh that was so mean-spirited. And hilarious. Thanks for sharing.
Admiral_Komack
“He’s dead, Jim.”-Leonard McCoy.
Cris
Reader’s Digest is considering publishing two of my jokes.
Tony J
@Brachiator:
Let’s be clear about this, Piers Morgan is a truly horrible little shit. You don’t get to sit next to Simon Cowell on a televised talent-show unless he thinks you’re so unpopular that you’ll make his sneering, profit-driven blandness look good in comparison. Why anyone in the States though it was a good idea to give him a talk show just baffles me.
And this –
Is so alien to the real world that fully contemplating the wrongness of it would cause my brain to implode and my eyeballs to become dangerous projectiles.
Tony J
@Cris:
Where competition is so stiff the local undertaker has it on speed-dial.
I know, I know, not a career choice I should make.
LunarMovements
@Brachiator:
Really? All Americans have the same sense of humor? A five year old might actually believe that, but an intelligent adult human being?
It never ceases to amaze me how some people seemed to assume that the American culture is completely homogenous. Why would any sensible person believe that a nation of approximately 310 million people would be filled with individuals who all think the same way, all have the same opinions about every topic, and all behave the same way towards each other and the rest of humanity?
I’m sorry, but that is simply not logical. What it is, actually, is an attempt to dehumanize hundreds of millions of people just to serve one hateful purpose or another.
It would be refreshing sometime to see someone criticize an aspect of American culture with even the slightest nod toward accuracy. “Some” Americans think this way, or “many” Americans believe this to be true, or “a sizeable portion” of Americans will view the issue in this fashion.
Instead, all too often, many people just smear their negative generalizations over the entire US population. In my more forgiving moments, I see this as intellectual laziness. At other times, it’s just nationalist bigotry rearing its ugly head. And of course, the saddest intellectual failing of all is when it’s an American who is doing it.
asiangrrlMN
I thought the clip was funny as hell, and it made me almost wish I had watched the rest of the show. Almost.
scot
Laughed my ass off.
polyorchnid octopunch
I thought it was funny. Taking the piss out of the top of the food chain is a treasured british tradition. A hell of a lot better than the Oscars, pretty much any time anyone other than Stewart has done them. Award shows are self-important puffery… nice to see some deflation there.
LarsThorwald
@Dan: Actually, he was brilliant.
Resident Firebagger
@debbie: Not proud of it, but I read some article on the Golden Globes where Hanks said of Gervais (I paraphrase): “He used to be slightly chunky and very, very nice. Neither is true now.”
Me-ow…
Dan
@LarsThorwald: Brilliant? His delivery was lazy and his writing was even lazier.
Charlie Sheen is a mess? Robert Downey Jr. is a drug addict? Hugh Hefner is old? The Tourist was a flop?
Jeez, he’d barely get the late spot on open mike night with this material.
elle
@Dan
I don’t understand your argument. Isn’t Charlie Sheen a mess? Wasn’t the Tourist a flop? What did he say that wasn’t true? (mostly)
I thought it was over the top, mean, and horrifyingly funny. What was even funnier was the reactions of some offended people….really? he’ll never work in this town again… really? he hurt your fee-fees so he’s out of a job. indeed.
Brachiator
@LunarMovements: RE:…the level of the humor hits the sweet spot of low expectations of the show’s biggest audience, Americans.
Of course, the marketing folk behind the Golden Globes, who may not be intelligent adult human beings, target shows to certain demographics. They don’t care about the wide diversity of the American population. They care about getting the most butts in seats to watch their programs.
And award shows, from the Golden Globes to the Oscars, have become dumbed down to a common denominator viewer who wants to watch empty spectacle. Before he became ill, Roger Ebert would do one of the Oscar pre-shows, and because he knew film, cared about film, and knew the work of the actors and directors, he would sometimes talk about not only their nominated film, but other work. The powers that be thought this was boring.
The template for the shows now is to have the parade of beauty of the suits and dresses of the celebrities, followed by endlessly inane interviews about how they feel, who the designer is, interspersed with whose dress is hot, who is the fashion nightmare and other craptastic stuff. After the awards, especially here in Southern California and for the various entertainment shows, there are post “how do you feel interviews” and stupid shots of reporters standing outside where ever a party is going on to which they have not been invited.
The next day, all the entertainment shows feature puff pieces on the speeches, who didn’t thank their spouse, a recap of the pretty and ugly dresses, with tie ins to how you can buy a knock off of your favorite award show dress.
And since I noted in another post in this thread that the audience for the show was 17 million viewers, I could hardly be suggesting that the show was reaching anywhere near all Americans.
So, to be more precise, the Golden Globes and the humor is aimed low, and chases away viewers who might want something more. But this is the awards show that Americans get, and the awards show that they are expected to react to.
Michael57
And now, the news for the funny impaired: “YES, GERVAIS WAS FUNNY!”
debbie
@Resident Firebagger:
Hanks said that while he was presenting with Tim Allen.
I don’t know. When I compare last night to stuff I’ve seen from Chris Rock — who also makes fun of others — it’s like day and night. Did he really have to resort to poopy pants jokes?
Twisted_Colour
@Brachiator: but then again, they still kiss up to aristocrats and their royal family. Go figure.
Ha, ha. It’s funny because you think that statement couldn’t apply to Yanks. Gervais wouldn’t have made that mistake. Try again.
Jaim
Twas incredibly entertaining.
A Humble Lurker
Hm…generally I find Gervais smarmy and kind of annoying…but making fun of Hollywood elite = yes. But scraping at the skin for the most obvious instead of going under the skin for the jugular = meh. I can’t tell which he did.
Phoebe
Are you sure Steven Carrel wasn’t just pretending to be offended? Hasn’t he done that before? Isn’t this a “bit” of theirs?