TVSquad

So Ricky Gervais has signed to host the Golden Globes, which means the pressure is on the Oscars to come up with a host or hosts equally as stellar. Or interesting. Or compelling.

One star who has removed himself from the running is last year's host, Hugh Jackman. He will not return as Oscar host when the show airs on ABC, March 7.

He's currently on Broadway in a play -- with 007 Daniel Craig -- and he "quietly turned down the job" according to sources. It's not because he was a bomb emceeing the proceedings either. He didn't do the "Oprah, Uma, Uma, Oprah" joke nor did he trip on his shoelaces in the opening number. Quite the contrary, in fact. Hugh Jackman was a perfectly fine host.

But he doesn't want to do it in 2010. Maybe he doesn't want to push his luck? Maybe he just doesn't want to work that hard.

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.

Before Dallas and Dynasty and Falcon Crest and Knots Landings captured the imaginations of American viewers, there was a British soap import that was even more compelling.

From 1971-75, PBS aired the British upper crust soap Upstairs Downstairs. And now Upstairs Downstairs is going to be remade. It'll be filmed and shown in England first before coming to America in 2011.

What made Upstairs Downstairs classic television – it won Emmys, BAFTAs and Golden Globes – was the way it depicted of the British class system. Upstairs you had the rich, privileged Bellamy family. Downstairs there were the servants who worked for them. The lives of all these characters intertwined in a well-written, brilliantly acted drama series.

See that picture to the right? That's Mickey Rourke accepting his Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama for The Wrestler... with his hand down his pants. But that's just the beginning of the fun we heard and saw during his acceptance speech, which I'm sure made the steam come out of the ears of NBC's standards and practices folks.

Suffice to say, Rourke made the most interesting speech of the night. And by "interesting," I'm not even talking about his striped hair or the beard that makes his boxing-worn face look even weirder. No, all he had to do was open his mouth. He said the word "balls" twice, and then said something else that sounded like it was beeped.

Finally, he affectionately called his Wrestler director, Darren Aronofsky, a "tough son of a bitch," prompting Aronofsky to kiddingly flip Rourke the finger... on camera.

The Golden Globes really is one of the more interesting award shows. Oscar has mostly movie people, Grammy has mostly music people, and Emmy has mostly TV people. It's rather fun and a different dynamic to have the movie and TV people all mixing together on one place. That's how we can have an E! red carpet scene like The Dark Knight's Aaron Eckhart asking Desperate Housewives' Eva Longoria if she's been drinking. TV-wise, it was also great to see Miley Cyrus come up to talk to Ryan Seacrest right after that Jonas kid and see them not talk to each other. Funny to see dad Billy Ray talk to him though. I think he said "stay away from my daughter."

The awards show is over. I'm sure the drinking and eating and dancing and fornicating is still going on as I type this, but the show itself is now history. Here's a list of the major TV winners, some notes on who got snubbed, as well as a few observations on what went down tonight.

• At 7, ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
• NBC has the Golden Globe Awards Red Carpet at 7, then The Golden Globe Awards.
• At 8 (or whenever football is over), CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by new episodes of Cold Case and The Unit.
  
• FOX has the season premiere of 24 at 8.
• PBS has a new Nature at 8, followed by a new Masterpiece Classic.
• Disney has a new Hannah Montana at 8.
• At 9, Food Network has a new Ultimate Recipe Showdown at 9.
• Lifetime has the movie Trial By Fire at 9.
• At 11, E! has the Golden Globe Awards After Party.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken.
• At 12:15am, Cartoon Network has a new Drinky Crow Show.

Check your local TV listings for more.

2008 was a strange one for television. Not because of the intense political and economic coverage, or the 27000 hours of Olympic telecasts, or the fact that Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul held back from killing each other for yet another season. No, the reason for the strangeness was that, at the beginning of the year, the schedule was a bit disjointed. This was thanks to the lengthy writers' strike.

Lasting from early November 2007 until February and costing up to two billion dollars, the WGA strike did something that previous labor disputes had not done to TV in the past: it changed the face of television. These were not cosmetic changes that reverted back to normal once the strike ended. These were changes that altered television as we now it and set the stage for its very uncertain future.

The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their latest musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:

• Notorious pin-up model Bettie Page passed away Thursday night at the age of 85. Cinematical eulogizes the icon who spawned a thousand imitators.
• It's almost time for the Sundance film festival and Cinematical is already all over it. Get acquainted with some of the films that will be featured this year, with this collection of trailers.
• The Golden Globe nominations were announced yesterday, and with the exception of Heath Ledger for Best Supporting Actor, The Dark Knight was snubbed. Do you think that's a travesty? Discuss over on Cinematical.
• Speaking of the Globes, if you haven't seen the full list of nominees, you can check it out here.
• Hey, it's no secret that our country is going through some hard times. We're in a recession, unemployment has reached a 25-year high, and stuff generally sucks. If life is getting you down, check out this collection of 40 inspirational speeches in two minutes.

I was going to say that HBO's True Blood is one of my favorite new shows this fall, but looking back on the season, I'd have to say it's my favorite, with Fringe as a close second.

HBO continues to churn out some great shows, and True Blood is no exception. Season one will be available on DVD May 12, 2009, with season two premiering that month, as well. I'm not sure how I'll hold out until then!

The vampire thriller earned a Golden Globe nod today for Outstanding Drama Series, and creator Alan Ball (who also helmed Six Feet Under), dropped a few hints about what fans might expect in season two.

His comments contain a few spoilers, so I'll put them after the jump, in case you haven't finished watching season one yet.

One of the biggest victims in last year's Writers Guild strike was the Golden Globe awards. Fortunately, the SAG threats of a strike remain just that -- threats -- so the Globes are on and the nominations were announced this morning.

Unfortunately, there were few surprises among the TV noms. In fact, it's kind of worrisome that these nominations are way too similar to the Emmy nominations. Among the new network shows from this season, and last, very little.

NBC will broadcast the Golden Globes on January 11. For the complete list of the Globe noms, click here, and for some instant impressions on said noms, read on after the jump:

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.

"Indecision 2008": Contrary to popular belief, "Reagan-Off" is not a delicious cousin of "stroganoff". Too lame even for me? Sorry then. More than ever, the Repubican candidates are doing their best to emphasize their connections and similarities to Ronald Reagan. The joke about Giluiani's 911 points was wonderful, as was the elaborate "truck" crossword giddiness. Did I miss the reason why Barack Obama was on the cover of the GOP comedy album? Is it because I might be an Islamo-Fascist?

So Billy Bush and Nancy O'Dell got promoted from commenting in the Golden Globe post-show to hosting the entire show and presenting all the awards (actually recapping the winners since apparently the Hollywood Foreign Press Association did so earlier in a press conference covered by E! and TV Guide Channel). So not only does NBC not have an awards show, but they don't even get first dibs on announcing the winners.

First of all, does Billy Bush always wear his hair like that or did he leave his roof down in the convertible with his hair wet and gelled? It looks like a slicked back mullet, and that's not a look just anyone can pull off. In fact, no one can pull off that look. But it may have actually been a better choice than the brown suit. Sadly, though, the suit and hair was the least of the problems with last night's one hour Golden Globe "extravaganza."

Tonight, in a lavish press conference, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the winners of the 2008 Golden Globes. Here are the winners in the major TV categories:

Best TV series, comedy: Extras, HBO

Best TV series, Drama: Mad Men, AMC

Best actor, TV series, comedy: David Duchovny, Californication

Best actress, TV series, comedy: Tina Fey, 30 Rock

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, then a new Amazing Race and the miniseries Comanche Moon.
• NBC has the Golden Globe Award Red Carpet Show at 7, followed by the 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards Announcement Press Conference, or whatever they're calling it. It's also covered on the TV Guide Channel.
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos at 7.
• The CW has a new CW Now at 7.
• At 8 (or after football), FOX has the series premiere of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, followed by new episodes of Family Guy and American Dad.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece Theater.
• ABC has a new Extreme Makeover at 9, then a new Brothers & Sisters.
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 9.
• HBO has a new episode of The Wire at 9.
• Also at 9: Showtime has a new L Word.

Check your local TV listings for more.