The lack of comment here about the show is probably appropriate, as it was relatively unremarkable. I never thought Gervais was all that cutting edge (or hilarious) the first two times he hosted, and last night he was basically Bob Hope with an accent. The selling of Gervais as subversive is one of the great marketing feats of the last few years.
The most actually subversive and potentially offensive (and, I confess, funny) moment of the evening was Seth Rogan talking about trying to conceal his massive erection while standing next to an attractive starlet (I forget her name - I mostly know her from one of the worst movies of all time - Pearl Harbor). If she was really prepared for that line, and just faking the partly amused, partly disgusted, entirely uncomfortable response that pretty girls almost always give in real life to the sophomoric humor of socially marginal guys, then she is a much better actress then I ever thought she was. On the TV side I was just delighted that Homeland got so much recognition (best drama and best actress). This is my favorite new show of the year, and probably tied as my second favorite television series of any kind this season (meaning shows on the air since August or so), after Breaking Bad and tied with Dexter. I would have completed the trifecta for Homeland with best actor, though Grammer did a very good job on a show I like but is not nearly as good. Also delighted that Idris Elba won for Luther, which I caught up with a few months ago on the Netflix and really dug. The acting winners for comedy were both for shows I not only have not seen but have never heard of - I will have to ask my daughter (who stayed at a friend's house last night) if they are worth tracking down. The biggest question I had while watching the show was who the heck was calling the shots on the broadcast? The single biggest offense in the production of television sports is the promiscuous and mostly unnecessary use of reaction shots, and last night's Golden Globes was the worst example of this I have ever seen. Not only were they used too often, but they were very often irrelevant to what was happening on stage. I can not remember now, but there were several examples of cutting to a random reaction shot and missing and spoiling a visual punch line to some bit the presenters were doing on stage. It was as if the director (or is the the producer who is in charge of this?) had no idea what the people on stage were about to say or do next. Peter Dinklage demonstrated a simple, elegant and powerful method for celebrities to use their moment in the spotlight to make a social point without being too obnoxious or taking much time - like a lot of people I bet I did Google Martin Henderson, and learned something I did not know anything about. Good one. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
