Given the drubbing Ricky Gervais is getting for his turn Sunday night as host of the Golden Globes, you’d think he had turned up with a semiautomatic and bizarre notions about genocide. As someone who didn’t watch the show (I don’t care about awards — not even much about the ones I’ve won), I had to turn to the internet to see what the fuss was about. Below you can find clipped together the 10 minutes that comprise Gervais’ contribution to what in my mind was probably otherwise another endless awards show. After watching it, this particular Gervais fan finds himself sadly in agreement with LA Times television critic Mary McNamara, who writes that “The opposite of dull and deferential is not snotty and abusive.” I followed both of Gervais’ shows, the UK “Office” and “Extras,” and have seen his movies, and saw his live standup act a couple of years ago in Los Angeles. I think he’s terrifically funny. But context is everything, and most of the jokes below seem ill-fitted to the event — especially the snide remark at Steve Carell’s expense; it seems too genuine an attack, and Carell’s response seems fittingly genuine as well, as he gives Gervais a shove. As uncomfortable as it is to watch this from the safety of my laptop, imagine the vibe in that room.

I will say this, though: A lot of people who wouldn’t otherwise be talking about the Golden Globes, including me, are talking about it now. I suspect that one person who won’t be talking at the Golden Globes next year is Ricky Gervais.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 17th, 2011 at 11:37 pm and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.