Ricky Gervais managed to do the almost unimaginable earlier this year when he presented the Golden Globe Awards back in January and pretty much managed to piss off most of Hollywood in the process. He made an awards ceremony nearly bareable. Well, the sad news is that it looks like Gervais will not return to present the awards for a third year, but it looks like the British comedian/ actor/ director has come up of a unique way to get involved all the same.
Writing on his blog, Gervais said:
“What do you think of this? A live 3 hour podcast during The Golden Globes. Me and a few chums (like Louis CK, Chris Rock, Karl Pilkington, John Stewart, Larry David popping in and out) doing our own alternative commentary. People at home can have the telly on with the sound down listening to us online say things that no broadcaster could get away with. No one could do a fucking thing.
The biggest live webcast ever? Who knows? Who cares? What’s fun is the shit we might come out with. No money. No sponsor. No guide lines. Fuck me I can’t wait. Maybe I’ll do a non-broadcast practice with The Emmys to see if it works. I’ll let you know.”
He followed that post up with an update just a day later.
“Not only was the idea received well, but we’ve had offers of sponsorship, technical support and a bunch of comedians up for it.
I don’t want people to think that this is some sort of anti-establishment stunt. It’s not. Anymore than deciding to do a podcast in 2005 was. It’s about new horizons, new technologies and artistic freedom.
Fun basically. Although, if I actually do it, it will show people how tame my official hosting was last year. I still can’t quite understand how anyone would think I overstepped the mark, was cruel, or pushed any boundaries of taste and decency. It was a network friendly gentle ribbing of the industry. Nothing more. I didn’t even dress as Hitler in the end.
Anyway. I’m looking into it. Might not happen. I might not even be available. Who knows, I might be at The Golden Globes. (awkward silence.) The funny thing is, everyone who tunes in to the live webcast will also have to be watching the actual show on NBC. I could still be helping their ratings. Ha ha. I hadn’t thought this through. Maybe they should sponsor me? (awkward silence… slightly longer than the last one… slowly fade to black.)”
I’m well up for this. I tweeted the Oscars earlier this year through to the very end and it felt like I was starting to lose the will to live towards the end. We will be live-blogging all of the major award ceremonies in the early part of the new year (with tons on alcohol on stand-by), but Gervais’s soundtrack could be a very nice distraction for us too. If it happens.
Source: Ricky Gervais
