If you’re looking for someone to host an entertainment awards ceremony that doesn’t have quite the prestige as the Oscars or the Emmys, then it helps to have someone known for a sharp wit and a lack of Hollywood pretentiousness. And so it makes complete sense to anyone paying attention that next year’s Golden Globes will once again be hosted by the snark-driven comedian and filmmaker Ricky Gervais. If someone wants to pull an acoustic guitar out from under a nearby desk and sing a song about it, I’d be okay with that.
An event that’s known for being populated with alcohol-juiced celebrities, the Golden Globes went without a host for many decades before giving John Larroquette and Janine Turner the gig in 1995. Viewers had to wait another 13 years before getting another host, and that’s when Gervais was first brought to the stage. He ended up hosting it for the next two years before passing the baton to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, the duo that hosted the show for the past three years. So if you can say anything about the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, it’s that they’re loyal.
Here’s what the HFPA president Lorenzo Soria had to say about it.
Ricky Gervais left us with a lasting impression and we are thrilled to have him back in our show as we honor the best in film and television. His off-the-cuff wit and quirky charm will surely have the room and audiences around the world at the edge of their seats.
While it’s not a very realistic image, I like to think about people perched on their sofas and biting their nails waiting to see what Gervais has to say about True Detective Season 2.
Gervais predictably had his sense of humor at the ready after the announcement was made. Here’s what he had to say on his Twitter page:
Gervais, whose Netflix series Derek just hit Blu-ray/DVD in its entirety in the U.K., was a big draw to the Golden Globes during the years he hosted. For each of the ceremonies form 2010-2012, the awards averaged a 5.2 rating for the 18-49 demographic and around 17 million total viewers, which was an increase over the previous years. We’ll have to wait and see how many people return this go-around.
Expect all the snubs and surprises imaginable when the 73rd annual Golden Globes will air on NBC on January 10, 2016. Hopefully it’ll be enough to tide us over until the David Brent feature Life on the Road is released next August.
