Golden Globes had some BIG moments, beginning with Drew's hair
The obvious priority of last night's viewing was the long-awaited premiere of "24.'' After all, you miss Jack and he'll kick your a--. (More on that after tonight's second "two-hour event,'' but let's just say Jack is sooo back and Tony's soooo ... dirty!) But for us awards-show junkies, it was impossible to stay away from the unchaperoned celeb party that is the Golden Globes. After devouring a full-hour of pre-show red carpet cheesiness courtesy of Ryan Seacrest on E!, I couldn't help but circle back and run through the three hours of actual awards on TiVo.
Random thoughts from what went down:
What was up with Drew Barrymore's hair? Big! Huge! Plus, it looked like she slept on it the night before.
And what was up with Renee Zellweger's hair? Made her look like she was 50.
Totally fun to see Brangelina blow off Ryan Seacrest, wasn't it? He spotted them on the carpet and flew off his assigned platform in pursuit. "Brad?'' "Angelina?'' No response -- not even a flinch -- as they posed for photogs right in front of him, just as a bouncer in a tuxedo scolded Ryan for stepping into a restricted area. Good stuff.
Was it wrong to root for Mickey Rourke to win for "The Wrestler'' just so he could have a crack at the microphone? He didn't disappoint. Multiple utterances of the word "balls,'' the finger from his director and a shoutout to his dogs, which was oddly touching.
Ricky Gervais is funny. He should get his own awards show to host. Maybe take one away from Jimmy Kimmel.
Would someone please give Miley Cyrus a little PR training. Not only did we get her on the carpet with Seacrest, but Mom and Dad, too. First, she joked that the secret to being such a tight family was that she gets beat and then whined that all she got for her 16th birthday was her mom's "used Porsche.''
Was it just me or did presenter Drew Barrymore announce "The Tudors'' as "The Tudor''? Maybe it was the hairspray fumes.
Kate Winslet seldom disappoints -- on screen, at the microphone, on the carpet, at the table with Leo, whom she made tear up with her acceptance speech for "Revolutionary Road.'' It was all very Jack and Rose. Plus, bonus points for trying to thank the other women she was nominated with but then couldn't remember the "other one,'' who just happened to be Angelina. Ha.
Ditto for Laura Linney on the seldom-disappoints thing.
You see that creepy shot of Marc Anthony stroking J.Lo's arm at the table? She didn't look happy. Didn't look happy on the red carpet earlier, either. We're just sayin'...
Anybody else immediately think "thoughtless little pig'' when Alec Baldwin thanked his daughter Ireland in his speech? Didn't want to think it -- it just kind of happened.
Tina Fey looked kind of miffed when Tracy Morgan delivered the WHOLE acceptance speech for "30 Rock,'' didn't you think?
After her endearing acceptance speech, here's hoping Sally Hawkins' "Happy-Go-Lucky'' makes it to a Green Bay movie theater.
Celebs we barely recognized: a skinny, disheveled Paul Giamatti and a dark and hairy Sting.
Celebs we missed during the camera rounds at the tables: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jack Nicholson.
Last year's Golden Globes telecast was scuttled by a little thing called the writers' strike. This year ... well, you can't really tell the difference between one awards season and another because THE SAME PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS NOMINATED FOR STINKIN' AWARDS.
Sorry (ahem), just had to get that off my chest.
Anyway, here's a prediction that "Mad Men" and "30 Rock" sweep the majors. And "True Blood" and "Californication?" Have you ever met anyone talk excitedly about either of those shows?
Here's the roll call on the TV side ...
TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA
Dexter House In Treatment Mad Men True Blood
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit January Jones, Mad Men Anna Paquin, True Blood Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment Michael C. Hall, Dexter Jon Hamm, Mad Men Hugh Laurie, House Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors
TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
30 Rock Californication Entourage The Office Weeds
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? America Ferrera, Ugly Betty Tina Fey, 30 Rock Debra Messing, The Starter Wife Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock Steve Carell, The Office Kevin Connolly, Entourage David Duchovny, Californication Tony Shalhoub, Monk
MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
A Raisin in the Sun Bernard and Doris Cranford John Adams Recount
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Judi Dench, Cranford Catherine Keener, An American Crime Laura Linney, John Adams Shirley MacLaine, Coco Chanel Susan Sarandon, Bernard and Doris
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Ralph Fiennes, Bernard and Doris Paul Giamatti, John Adams Kevin Spacey, Recount Kiefer Sutherland, 24: Redemption Tom Wilkinson, Recount
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Eileen Atkins, Cranford Laura Dern, Recount Melissa George, In Treatment Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters Dianne Wiest, In Treatment
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother Denis Leary, Recount Jeremy Piven, Entourage Blair Underwood, In Treatment Tom Wilkinson, John Adams
You've got to hand it to the CMT Music Awards. They've racked up enough clout that Robert Plant actually showed up to collect his award for something called the Wide Open Country Video of the Year with Alison Krauss at Monday night's ceremonies. (Their "Raising Sand'' album is stellar, by the way.)
But the highlight of the three-hour broadcast wasn't seeing the Led Zeppelin lead singer looking about as uncomfortable as ghostly Nicole Kidman in a room filled with big-brimmed hats and weird sideburns, it was looking on in utter horror at the getup Hank Williams Jr. wore on stage. And apparently not as a joke, either.
Bocephus strutted out mid-song to join Brad Paisley on his new single, "I'm Still a Guy,'' which, of course, ups the the irony factor of what he had on. It was his standard black jeans and T-shirt, this one with "Steel Curtain'' in big letters. Not exactly fashion forward, but hey, Hank's an American music icon, so we'll cut him slack.
But then ... the belt. Some gawdawful "Gladiator''-like thing that was riding rather high, implying at first glance to be GPS -- Grandpa Pants Syndrome. You know, crank up the pants and then cinch tight to avoid droopage. Except, this belt wasn't through his belt loops, it was around his untucked T-shirt! The country outlaw who sings about spitting "some Beechnut in that dude's eyes and shoot him with my old 45'' belted his T-shirt! Wow, haven't seen that since the over-sized neon T's of the '80s on MTV ... and pretty sure never on a guy.
How are we supposed to take his "Are you ready for some football?'' battle cry serious after seeing that?
But there is a bright side. It took some of the heat off the shrunken opera house curtain LeAnn Rimes was wearing and almost made you forget about the painfully awkward attempt at humorous banter between the painfully awkward pairing of co-presenters Tom Arnold (Why? Ever?) and Jewel. And at least ol' Bocephus looked more confident wearing his belted T than the Artist Now Known As Miley Cyrus' Career-Sucking Father did in his cowboy hat.
There will be Oscars ... but will there be viewers?
UPDATE!According to early estimates, only 32 million people watched the awards Sunday night, the least-watched Oscars telecast ever. I bet more would have tuned in if they had known Jon Stewart was going to be playing Wii Tennis on a two-story-tall screen, but what are you gonna do?
The Oscars will air, with writing staff intact, Sunday night, and like every year there are a few sure bets. Daniel Day-Lewis is the odds-on favorite as Best Actor for "There Will Be Blood." The Coen Brothers will likely walk away with their first directing Oscar for "No Country For Old Men." And if "Norbit" doesn't win for Best Makeup, there is no God.
The big question still up in the air, however, is will anybody be watching? Academy Award audiences have been on steady decline for years now: Only about 40 million people tuned in last year, and 39 million the year before that. Compare that with the 97.5 million who watched the New York Giants drink up Tom Brady's milkshake earlier this month in the Super Bowl. (Draaaainage!)
OK, that may be an unfair example, but the Oscars are still in trouble, Nielsen-wise, and it's not hard to guess why. (In fact, you don't have to guess, you can just read this Reuters article.) Many feel that Oscar has lost touch with the average movie-goer, and this is reflected in the kinds of movies it nominates for top prizes. Of the five movies nominated for Best Picture this year, only one, "Juno," made more than $100 million at the box office.
(The reverse of that, of course, is that last year's top-grossing movies sucked majorly. "Spider-Man 3"? Venom? More like vomit. "Transformers"? Why couldn't that movie shape-shift into something not crappy?)
Oscar has also had a knack lately for picking the absolute wrong winners. Just look at this century alone: "Crash," "A Beautiful Mind," "Gladiator," "Chicago." Does ANYONE remember these movies, let alone still watch them? Last year, when "The Departed" won, ratings saw an uptick, because people at large enjoyed the hell out of that movie, even if it's wasn't "great" in the strictest sense. Likewise, affection for "Juno" could draw viewers back this year.
A major factor in viewership will be the resolved writers strike, accompanied by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood's brightest who now don't have to worry about crossing pesky picket lines. The strike turned January's Golden Globes into a dried-out press conference, watched by a paltry 5.8 million people, who obviously had nothing better to do that night. Those viewers who crave that red-carpet pageantry, and live or die by who Nicole Kidman and Halle Berry are wearing, will likely tune in Sunday night in droves.
I know I'll be watching, if only to see Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova perform Best Song nominee "Falling Slowly" from should-have-been-nominated-Best-Picture "Once." But what about you? Planning on watching Hollywood's big night? Got any predictions on winners? Gripes about your favorite movie getting snubbed? Share my loathing for "Transformers," which received three, count 'em THREE, nominations?
Until the big night, here's host Jon Stewart, discussing the show and the strike on "Larry King Live," admitting that he and his writers are definitely in crunch time trying to pull this off. You can do it, Jonny-boy! We believe in you!
-- Adam Reinhard, lifeisfunnybutnothahafunny@gmail.com
Apparently the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is preparing a contingency show for the 80th annual Oscars if the writers strike isn't resolved by Feb. 24. A dancing monkey pulling names out of a giant top hat will probably be an improvement on the Golden Globes "press conference" with the mystic tan twins (Billy Bush and Nancy O'Dell) stumbling and mumbling their way through the winners for an hour.
According to the academy president, the contingency show will feature "history and packages of film and concepts that are not normally ones that we would have for the show if we were moving straight ahead." So, no teary-eyed rambling speeches, then? Darn.
If you're looking for an Oscar-fix, though, check out Turner Classic Movies. Starting today, the channel airs its 31 Days of Oscars, a great way to catch up on all those classics you know you should watch but are too lazy to rent. But don't let the term "classics" fool you - these are 353 Oscar-winning movies from every era including the 1990s and 2000s. Each day has a theme during the day ("Communists" on Feb. 20, "Alfred Hitchcock" on Feb. 23 and "John Wayne" on Feb. 17), then a primetime schedule to make classic movie buffs drool into their "Casablanca"-inspired gin and tonics.
Here's the complete schedule. Overwhelmed by the choices? Here are a few suggestion for the next few days:
Tonight: "Jaws" (1977) at 11:15 p.m. Saturday Feb. 2: "War of the Worlds" (1953) at 5:30 p.m., "Gandhi" (1982) at 7 p.m.
Sunday Feb. 3: "An American in Paris" (1951) at 5 p.m., "Sense and Sensiblity" (1995) at 7 p.m.
Tuesday Feb. 5: "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) at 7 p.m., "Casablanca" (1942) at midnight
Start planning those parties and office pools for the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Arguably the stepchild of the awards season - overshadowed by its glitzier siblings at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes - the SAG awards might be the only one worth watching this season because they'll actually have one or two striking writers scripting the ceremony.
The Actors Guild managed to strike a deal with the Writers Guild of America for the Jan. 27 show. Writers rejected a similar request from the Globes and there's no word on what the Oscars will do, yet.
Guess that just makes more time for rambling acceptance speeches and political statements about ending poverty from people with more money than some Third World countries.
Here are some of the SAG award nominations for television shows announced earlier today in Los Angeles. The entire list can be found here. ABC and HBO lead the pack with eleven nominations each. NBC followed with six while CBS was completely shutout. Multiple nominations were made for "30 Rock," "Ugly Betty" and "The Sopranos."
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series James Gandolfini, The Sopranos Michael C. Hall, Dexter Jon Hamm, Mad Men Hugh Laurie, House James Spader, Boston Legal
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Glenn Close, Damages Edie Falco, The Sopranos Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters Holly Hunter, Saving Grace Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock Steve Carell, The Office Ricky Gervais, Extras Jeremy Piven, Entourage Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? America Ferrera, Ugly Betty Tiny Fey, 30 Rock Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Boston Legal The Closer Grey's Anatomy Mad Men The Sopranos
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series 30 Rock Desperate Housewives Entourage The Office Ugly Betty
Is that a Golden Globe in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
Strange but true: despite its inherent greatness, "Perfect Strangers" never won a Golden Globe for best comedy. However, according to Wikipedia, "Golden Girls" won three straight from 1986 to 1988. Golden Globes? "Golden Girls?" Coincidence ... I think not.
More on the wild and wacky antics of Balki Bartokomous and his stuffed sheep, Dmitri, later. But for now, this wouldn't be a proper TV blog without listing the Globe nominees from today. There isn't a whole lot of uproar over the choices -- I mean, it's a TV awards show, not a nativity scene at Green Bay's City Hall ... oh SNAP! -- but Ken Tucker over at Entertainment Weekly seems to be wholly unimpressed by the inclusion of "Pushing Daisies."
Those are fighting words, Ken. Take it back! You'll be getting a pie at your door in the coming days, and trust me, you won't want to eat what's inside ...
BEST DRAMA TV SERIES Big Love Damages Grey's Anatomy Mad Men The Tudors
BEST MUSICAL OR COMEDY TV SERIES 30 Rock Californication Entourage Extras Pushing Daisies
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES Michael C. Hall, Dexter Jon Hamm, Mad Men Hugh Laurie, House Bill Paxton, Big Love Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES Patricia Arquette, Medium Glenn Close, Damages Minnie Driver, The Riches Edie Falco, The Sopranos Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters Holly Hunter, Saving Grace Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL OR COMEDY TV SERIES Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock Steve Carell, The Office David Duchovny, Californication Ricky Gervais, Extras Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL OR COMEDY TV SERIES Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? America Ferrera, Ugly Betty Tina Fey, 30 Rock Anna Friel, Pushing Daisies Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A SERIES, MINISERIES, OR TV MOVIE Ted Danson, Damages Kevin Dillon, Entourage Jeremy Piven, Entourage Andy Serkis, Longford William Shatner, Boston Legal Donald Sutherland, Dirty Sexy Money
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A SERIES, MINISERIES, OR TV MOVIE Rose Byrne, Damages Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters Katherine Heigl, Grey's Anatomy Samantha Morton, Longford Anna Paquin, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Jaime Pressly, My Name Is Earl
And just because Adam tortured me by posting the "Perfect Strangers" theme -- which regrettably, stayed in my head all day -- I will fight fire with fire.
That's right, Reinhard. Watch the clip. Oh, it burns! It BURNS!
At least someone fell hard for American Music Awards
Ahhh, the American Music Awards, gotta love 'em. OK, actually not so much. Mostly you just have to endure them.
The three-hour broadcast on Sunday -- a night on ABC we're more accustomed to enjoying a little weirdness on Wysteria Lane or some weepiness with the Walkers than an endless parade of "American Idol'' alums and that helmet of black meringue Gene Simmons calls hair -- was a sleeper.
"One of the hottest bands in the world ... '' Maroon 5. Zzzz.
And if there's any doubt that there's a writers' strike in Hollywood -- beyond host Jimmy Kimmel's painful lack of jokes -- check out this intro for James Blunt: "A British singer/songwriter who has many hits.'' (Not only pedestrian, but incorrect, since the "hits'' pretty much started and stopped with the ultra-annoying "You're Beautiful.'')
In the spectrum of awards shows, the AMAs are one Kid Rock/Snoop Dogg appearance above the People's Choice Awards. Not exactly the pinnacle of prestige. Awards are handed out based on sales and radio airplay, which explains why it felt like "Groundhog Day'' at the podium: Daughtry, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Underwood, Daughtry, Underwood. And look, there's Kellie Pickler on her feet in the crowd cheering on her "Idol'' family!
Underwood, who got plenty of practice perfecting the art of the insincere acceptance speech at the Country Music Association Awards earlier this month, at least looked less uptight and worried about winning this time around. After thanking "MY people'' and "MY entourage'' earlier, she accepted the award for Country Album from members of Velvet Revolver: "If anybody would've told me that Scott Weiland and Slash would ever have presented me an award, I really don't know what I would have thought about that.'' Thud.
During his acceptance speech for Breakthrough Artist, Daughtry said, "I want to thank my wife ... for doing the real work at home,'' at which point the camera showed a close-up of his wife's very-there cleavage in the audience. Nice bit of unintentional humor.
It was almost as good as when Joe Jonas took a major header at the start of the Jonas Brothers' performance. (See it here.) Speaking of 'tweener power, "High School Musical 2'' beat out "Dreamgirls'' and "Hairspray'' for Favorite Soundtrack. There's a shocker. Miley Cyrus showed up to present, and somehow managed to shake her dad long enough to do it all by herself. Now that was a shocker.
Poor Duran Duran must've felt like the designated '80s dinosaurs of the night. But the "do do do do do do do dodo dododo dodo'' of "Hungry Like the Wolf'' at least was a welcome infusion of fun. For as awkward as Beyonce's collaboration with Sugarland was (the much-hyped "appearance everyone will be talking about''), performances by Alicia Keys, Lenny Kravitz and Chris Brown (who should hire himself out as a professional awards show perker-upper) managed to give the show some cred.
Of course, not as much as "one of the hottest bands in the world'' and the guy with "many hits.''
The Green Bay Press-Gazette's TV Blog. Or where we write about characters named Jim and Pam as if they were actually real. Brought to you with limited commercial interruption by...
Malavika Jagannathan Metro reporter All-time shows: The West Wing Gilmore Girls The Wire Current favorites: Desperate Housewives, Top Chef, Flight of the Conchords Guilty Pleasure: E! News
Kendra Meinert Entertainment editor All-time shows: Friends Gilmore Girls Beverly Hills 90210 Current favorites: Damages, 24, Brothers and Sisters Guilty Pleasure: Rock of Love Bus
Adam Reinhard Copy editor All-time shows: Lost Arrested Development Veronica Mars Current favorites: The Colbert Report, Scrubs, The Venture Bros. Guilty Pleasure: SpongeBob SquarePants
Thomas Rozwadowski Features reporter All-time shows: The Wire Freaks and Geeks Breaking Bad Current favorites: Modern Family, Lost, Mad Men Guilty Pleasure: Saved by the Bell
Kelly McBride Education reporter All-time shows: Seinfeld Cheers The Cosby Show Current favorites: Top Chef, Project Runway, The Office Guilty Pleasure: The Biggest Loser
The obvious priority of last night's viewing was the long-awaited premiere of "24.'' After all, you miss Jack and he'll kick your a--. (More on that after tonight's second "two-hour event,'' but let's just say Jack is sooo back and Tony's soooo ... dirty!) But for us awards-show junkies, it was impossible to stay away from the unchaperoned celeb party that is the Golden Globes. After devouring a full-hour of pre-show red carpet cheesiness courtesy of Ryan Seacrest on E!, I couldn't help but circle back and run through the three hours of actual awards on TiVo.
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