Globes Broadcast Less Than Golden

When the highlight of your Golden Globes evening is watching stars and interviewers alike try to maneuver through a sea of umbrellas on a rain-soaked red carpet, you know you’re in for a long night. (Kudos to the ever-amenable George Clooney, by the way, who not only went sans cover, but stood in the rain signing autographs for fans in the bleachers).

Perhaps it was the pall cast by last week’s earthquake in Haiti or maybe the dampened dresses inside the ballroom. Whatever the reason, this was easily the most subdued Globes ceremony I’ve been witness to and likely the most downbeat awards show in general this side of the post-9/11 Emmys.

Even Ricky Gervais, ordinarily a reliable producer of gut-busting comedy, was off last night. No one is better at putting a few cracks in the ego-filled room while still managing to crack said room up. Other than a wickedly funny joke at Mel Gibson’s expense and the requisite knocks at NBC, Gervais largely spent the night plugging his various DVDs, which got more annoying than funny each time.

Airing live across the country for the first time in an attempt to make audiences think the show carries as much weight as the Oscars didn’t make much difference, either. By the time next week’s Screen Actors Guild Awards come around, nobody will remember who picked up a Golden Globe anyway.

And just who did walk away with a prize? Film winners included Avatar and its director James Cameron (was it just me or did Up in the Air director Jason Reitman look downright pissed when Cameron's name was called?), The Hangover, Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Robert Downey, Jr. (Sherlock Holmes), Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), and Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia). Streep gave the night’s best speech, honoring her late mother for giving her the means to be generous and humble in the face of the world’s realities, and delivering what may have been the night’s funniest line: “I want to change my name to T Bone,” in reference to T Bone Burnett, the winner in the Best Song category.

The TV side was fairly predictable and leaned heavily toward series from Showtime and HBO. Toni Collette (United States of Tara), Michael C. Hall and John Lithgow (both for Dexter), Chloe Sevigny (Big Love), Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife), and Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) earned trophies, while Mad Men and Glee took series honors. (Glee’s award should have gone to Modern Family, in my opinion.)

The broadcast itself was not done any favors by its director, routinely cutting to cameras that were whipping around or managing to find the wrong person when a name was read. The Globes are famous for serving alcohol, and even Gervais was guzzling a beer on stage. But that doesn't mean the man in charge of what the audience is seeing should be allowed to drink, too.