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The Golden Globes will be returning in 2009, on January 11th to be precise. This was announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association this past Tuesday. Nominees will be announced on December 11, 2008. It will be broadcast by NBC from the Beverly Hilton.

The awards show used to be shown in late January, but after the rescheduling of the Academy Awards in 2004, the date was bumped up to compensate. The Golden Globes are not expect to affect the Academy Awards outcome since the judges for the Oscars are to have mailed in their ballots by the time the Golden Globes are broadcast.

Having adopted a "magazine" format to the 2008 show due to the WGA Strike, the show suffered a serious drop in ratings. They couldn't even have a red carpet event before the show to put the celebrities on display. Most likely, the 2009 broadcast will return to the traditional format and a bump in the ratings.

Oscar turned 80 last night. For eight decades, Hollywood has been handing out gold statuettes for the best in motion picture arts and sciences. Sadly, last night's show will not have to worry about winning an Emmy. Not only was the show pedestrian, long and uninspired, it was also a bomb in the Nielsen overnight ratings. In fact, it was historically disappointing: averaging just 32 million viewers to become the least watched Oscar telecast ever! EVER, people!

Of course, if you're worried that with ratings so bad, some day the Academy Awards won't be broadcast -- don't. The Oscars, like the Super Bowl, make a fortune for the network broadcasting it. ABC made an average of $1.8 million for each 30-second spot.

The buzz about ABC's Oscar broadcast is starting in earnest, and yesterday it was announced that Kristin Chenoweth, the adorable Olive Snook on Pushing Daisies, has been tapped to sing one of the Academy Award nominated songs, "That's How You Know" from the film Enchanted, according to the Baltimore Sun. Kristin will be joined by Marlon Saunders, who played the Central Park Calypso singer in the movie. By the by, Enchanted's star, Amy Adams, will also be singing on the show. She's doing, "Happy Working Song," another nominated song from the Disney hit. FYI, that's the sing-along tune she did in the film with cockroaches, rats and other happy vermin. You can just imagine Walt Disney spinning in his grave, can't you?

Finally someone shows some love for Lost, which got itself back on track last season. The Directors Guild announced their nominees for this year's awards. Lost nabbed two nominations in the Dramatic Series category, for "The Looking Glass" and "The Brig." The Sopranos picked up two of the three remaining nominations, saving the last one for AMC's excellent freshmen drama, Mad Men.

On the comedy side, 30 Rock nabbed two nominations, with Desperate Housewives and Entourage picking up one each. And the critical love for ABC's incredibly charming Pushing Daisies continues as it snatches the final spot. But one category in which the Directors think very differently than anyone else is in Reality Programs. Not only is the kitschy Who Wants to be a Superhero? nominated, but is joined by Shooting Sizemore and Pros vs. Joes. The full list, including commercials, documentaries and mini-series after the jump.

The Golden Globes (airing January 13) and Oscars (February 24) sought waivers to allow union writers to help put together their awards shows, but Reuters tells us that the WGA says it will deny those waivers. Show organizers say they will go on regardless. As for what to do for scribes, Leslie Unger, spokeswoman for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said "There are any number of possible options we might explore" regarding what the Oscars intend.

One possibility is to hire non-union writers. How pissed would the WGA be if the reviews were great, the jokes actually funny and the telecast considered to be the best Academy Awards show ever! Another possibility, and I have no idea why this hasn't been explored seriously already, is the Family Guy manatee writers. South Park showed how prolific they were, and there are simply tons of lame award show jokes that could be written on balls and thrown in the tank. Or do you think they're members of the union, too?

Apparently, holding the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera isn't enough. The AP is now reporting that 76-year old Regis Philbin has been signed to host the red carpet show for the upcoming Oscars. Dennis Doty, producer of the show, says he's a great host because "he knows everyone, and everyone loves Regis." The arrivals show for the 80th Annual Academy Awards airs at 5/4c February 24, 2008 on ABC.

I bet Ryan Seacrest is pissed. How dare a hosting gig come up and not be his. How do they expect him to become the new king of all media? But Philbin is one of the most beloved people. I mean seriously, does anyone not like the man? How do you achieve that level of likeability, anyway? I can tell you from personal experience it's not achieved by offering free back massages to everyone you meet. And I thought everyone liked massages, but no! Apparently, they like restraining orders more.

[via Yahoo! ]

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

• The Oscars went overtime this year, despite those thank-you cams that were supposed to shorten acceptance speeches.
  
• Rumor has it that Jennifer Aniston is dating a camera man she met while filming her guest role on Dirt.
  
• One group is insisting that Heather Mills is not disabled even though she only has one leg. Their reasoning? She's competing on Dancing with the Stars.

The video's embedded below, or you can download the file directly (Quick time required). You can also subscribe to this podcast via our feed.

• At 6, both E! and TV Guide Channel have red carpet coverage at the Academy Awards.
• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by a new Amazing Race: All-Stars.
• ABC has the Barbara Walters Oscar Special at 7, followed by The 79th Annual Academy Awards.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7.
• At 8, Food Network has a new Emeril ("Far East Hot & Spicy"), then new episodes of Iron Chef America and Challenge.
• TCM has the original A Star Is Born at 8, then Here Comes Mr. Jordan.
• Also at 8: Sundance has a new Slings & Arrows.
• At 9, Sci-Fi has a new Dresden Files, followed by a new Battlestar Galactica.
• At 10, NBC has a new Crossing Jordan.
• HGTV has a new Dream House at 10.
• Toon Disney has a new Xyber 9 at 10.
• Showtime has a new ep of The L Word at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier (Mon., 9PM ET, History)
Space ... it's still the final frontier. Watching this special celebrating 40 years of Star Trek, I'm struck by how forward-looking the show was. Sure, the uniforms were totally '60s and the plots were super cheesy, but the concepts were light years ahead of their time. Mr. Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy, narrates, with stars William Shatner, Patrick Stewart and Kate Mulgrew sharing insights into their various incarnations of Trek. Plus, see footage from last October's auction of Trek memorabilia.

American Idol (Tue., 8PM ET, Fox)
Is it just me or are this year's top 24 contestants almost completely unmemorable? Looking over their photos, I strained to recall each one. Actually, one did stand out -- the beatboxing guy, Blake. But can he sing? I think the judges were right in saying this season is more up for grabs than any since season one. This week, experience six hours of Idol overload, with the top 12 boys performing tonight, the girls taking their turn tomorrow and a two-hour results show Thursday. Phew!

NBC has ramped up the promotion for their new reality show, You're The One That I Want. We've mentioned the show a couple times in the past. The short version is that contestants are going to compete for the roles of Danny and Sandy in a new production of the Grease musical.

That's all well and good, but I can't help but wonder just who is going to watch that. Musical theater certainly does have a core audience, but I have a feeling that it's not big enough to measure up to the demands of prime-time network TV. I get the idea behind the show, it's got the singing of Idol and the dancing of DWTS, but that doesn't make it Idol or DWTS. We've already seen what happens when people try to clone these shows. The One and Skating with Celebrities come to mind.

Jon Stewart started off by announcing that Congress has raised America's limit of debt to a whopping $9 trillion. "Are you getting an 'F'? Don't study harder! Just make the grading scale go to a 'K'!"

March 19 will mark the 3 year anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The first year anniversary was paper, the second anniversary was (we were hoping for) oil, and the third year anniversary will be Operation Swarmer, the largest air assault since Shock and Awe. Happy anniversary! "It's our way of telling Iraq we would do it all over again..."

Even though I rarely watch movies (until they hit On Demand, that is), I love to watch the awards shows. I aspire to be a movie watcher, but I have children, and I'd rather spend my babysitting money drinking wine and talking to adults. Call me crazy. So I read all the reviews, and I pretend like I know so much about the movies. "Memoirs of a Geisha is sure to win Best Costume!" I say, and I'm right. I totally called Best Song for It's Hard to be a Pimp. The only nominated movie I've seen: March of the Penguins. And while I again called the win for Documentary Feature, I never would have expected them to bring out stuffed penguins. I mean, come on! This is a documentary! I didn't get it.

But what everyone surely wants to know: was Jon Stewart funny? Someone wrote about how Stewart was an odd choice, given that he's all about New York, and news, whereas Hollywood is about Los Angeles, and fiction. I didn't see the disconnect - don't most of today's stars have homes both in LA and NYC? - but, still, I was worried. Jon seemed pretty nervous on his Daily Show performances leading up to the Oscars. Jon's the sort of guy who (despite his ever-present sarcasm) wears his heart on his sleeve. He uses the comedic device of truth, and geekiness. And that's what is oddest about having him at the Academy Awards. Self-effacing truthful geekiness is so out of place next to Jessica Alba (who, to follow a tangent Stewart started me upon, I definitely would not pick to repopulate the earth).

One of the great traditions of Oscar night, besides the three-plus hours of self-congratulation, pontificating, and lachrymal acceptance speeches ("I never thought in my wildest dreams I would ever receive a tiny gold man!") is the Barbara Walter's Special which takes place on the same night before the festivities begin and I find something more interesting to watch. This year, however, is going to be different, as ABC will be airing Walter's special on March 1, four days before the Academy Awards. The timeslot was shifted after the Oscar telecast was changed to air a half hour earlier, cutting in to the time when her special would normally have aired.

Our good friends over at Cinematical are reporting that the Oscars, rejected by everyone from Chris Rock (well, to be fair, he wasn't actually asked to host) to Billy Crystal (too busy) to Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg, may finally have a real live host....The Daily Show's Jon Stewart! Okay, it hasn't actually technically been confirmed yet, but we knew you'd be as excited as we are to hear this rumor, and since it was started by the LA Times "The Envelope", it has some cred. This is even better than getting William Shatner to host!  Stewart, with his political snarkiness and awesome comedic timing, is the perfect choice to host the Oscars (and I don't say that just because he's my secret TV boyfriend, either). Now for the real question -- will he work in Steven Colbert interviewing Oscar nominees? Oh please oh please oh please!

I still like the idea of a reality show to pick next year's Oscar host, though.

[ via Defamer ]

Sure, we all love to watch rich people congratulate one another for three and a half hours, but wouldn't it be even better if you could actually be at the Oscars this year? Well, if you go here on Monday you can fill out an application that just might gain you a bleacher seat along the red carpet where you can yell at actors or perhaps even get some knitting done. Get to the site quick, though, cause the forms are only available until September 26.