By Tenley Tuschman
New year, new awards! The run of the 2020 award show season was kicked off on January 5th with NBC’s annual Golden Globes. As always, the night began with an opening monologue by the host and it was … disappointing, to say the least. Ricky Gervais returned as the host for the fifth time and it appeared as if he didn’t even try. With a glass of beer on the lectern, Gervais looked a little tired when he opened the show, reminding viewers he didn’t care anymore (and never really did). With the exception of a slicing Jeffrey Epstein remark and a Felicity Huffman prison slag, he had an unimaginative, lazy parade of jokes. The host was weakly cheeking rather than cutting at the 77th annual Globes ceremony. But as Gervais said, “They’re just jokes, we’re all gonna die soon, and there’s no sequel.” Glad to know he is really done after this time.
Overall, the night was very underwhelming. Yes, there were a few big small screen wins. HBO’s Succession and Chernobyl, Amazon’s Fleabag, and its creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge. In the just over three-hour show, the admittedly slightly drunk Olivia Coleman of Netflix’s The Crown had a good night too, as did The Act’s politically acute, sunglass-wearing Patricia Arquette, and Fosse/Verdon’s Michelle Williams, who encouraged women to use their right to vote this year.
Giving out its first award with a big win for Ramy Youssef within the first 10 minutes and Hulu comedy co-creator joking that most people in the crowd probably think he is the editor and “Egyptians love Michael Douglas,” it must be said that the Globes repeatedly tried to move fast in the often bleak ceremonial environment.
It wasn’t all bad, though. Ellen DeGenerers won the Globes’ Carol Burnett Award for excellence in television, and although she had her own acceptance speech, she was overshadowed by “Saturday Night Live” star Kate McKinnon’s introduction. McKinnon was funny (listing all the clothes she wore doing her DeGeneres impressions) and deeply moving as she recalled how DeGeneres boosted her confidence as a young gay woman. “She mixed her entire life and her entire career to tell the truth,” McKinnon said. That mix of hilarity and heart is exactly the kind of thing an awards show host needs. Maybe McKinnon will step up next year.
Some victories were baffling, which is what you want from the Golden Globes. Some ridiculous moments were righteous, which is also part of the curious fun Hollywood Foreign Press Association can cook up. So this year’s Golden Globes were a little bland, but all that means is that we can only go up from here, right? Not a bad way to start a new decade!
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