TVSquad

During the recent broadcast of the Primetime Emmys, one of the funniest presenters was Ricky Gervais. It's not surprising that Ricky was funny that night. He's a brilliant comic actor, writer and director. I say this even after suffering through The Invention of Lying, a film that had a wonderful premise but was a crappy movie. Nevertheless, I still think he's fantastic. And I will watch the 67th Annual Golden Globes with Ricky Gervais as host.

The NBC censor's finger will surely be on the button January 17, the night of the broadcast, because you could imagine Ricky getting a wee bit close to the line of what you can and cannot say on TV. Although he's probably clever enough to say or do something that the censors wouldn't get till after it airs.

A couple of interesting points to share. This is the first time since 1995 that the Globes will have a single host. I hadn't even noticed, but in the past 11 years, they've been using a free-form bunch of performers stepping up to the microphone.

The other point is that the Golden Globe is essentially not a very important award because it's given by the member of the Hollywood Foreign Press, a motley crew of journalists and not a group highly regarded in the industry. However, despite that fact, the stars love the Golden Globes. Both TV and film stars mingle, the atmosphere is like a dinner with everyone sitting at tables and drinking, and for whatever reason, there's always a great turn out of stars. It's a big, happy, not-very-stressful award show.

Ricky Gervais should do great in this venue. Back in September, when he was asked about hosting award shows, the Oscars were mentioned, Ricky said he wasn't very interested. He told the press that hosting the Oscars was "a thankless task for a comedian. What's the best that could happen? You're funny? You should be. The worst that can happen is, they say, 'Worst host ever.'"

I don't think that'll happen with the Globes. I think it'll be a warm up for the time when he agrees to host the Oscars.

By the way, the Golden Globe nominations will be announced on December 15.