Amy Poehler and Tina Fey returned to present the Golden Globes for the first time in six years on Sunday night, and did a pretty great job of hosting on a night like none the long-running awards show has ever seen before.
The duo were confirmed to be hosting this year’s Golden Globes way back in January 2020, when they could never have predicted they’d end up presenting it on different sides of the US due to the pandemic.
Yes, Amy and Tina shared hosting duties via video-link, with the former in California and the latter in New York, so celebrity guest presenters wouldn’t have to fly across the country during the pandemic.
Opening up the show with an eight-minute comedy routine, the pair delivered some brilliant one-liners ribbing the nominees and the all-round ridiculousness of the situation.
Here are a few of our favourites from their Golden Globes opener...
Summing up the dystopia that was 2020
Amy Poehler: “I’m Amy Poheler here at the Beverly Hilton, district 7, New Angeles. And this is the 78th annual Hunger Games.”
Seizing the opportunity for a great visual gag
Amy Poehler: Tina and I are hosting from two different cities tonight but the technology is so great you are never going to be able to tell the difference. It’s going to be smooth sailing.
Tina Fey: You won’t even notice.
Poking fun at how many of the films nominated for Golden Globes in 2021 passed many of us by
Tina Fey: What an exciting night! All the big blockbuster movies that came out of this year are nominated. Parts Of A Lady! Irish Goodnight! Mauricio’s Delve!
Amy Poehler: Day Planner! Grunk! Ali G Goes To Chicago!
Tina Fey: And we’ll be honouring all the TV you binge-watched this year. The American Office… old episodes of Columbo… very one-sided news programmes.
Amy Poehler: And of course the cranberry juice skateboard guy is going to skateboard to all the nominated songs tonight. How exciting!
Praising the first responders in the audience (sort of)
Tina Fey: Normally this room is full of celebrities but tonight our audience is made up of smoking hot first responders and essential workers. We are so grateful for the work that you do and that you’re here… so that the celebrities can stay safely at home.
Amy Poehler: This front table right here usually houses the biggest stars in the world… Brad Pitt’s always waving at me like ‘Amy! Amy!’ and I’m like, ‘dude, I’m working, not now’... Quentin Tarantino crawling under the tables just touching people’s feet… the point is, do whatever you want. Because they do.
And of course, they couldn’t not mention the recent controversy that followed reports that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association – who decide the winners of the Golden Globes – doesn’t have a single Black member
Tina Fey: The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is made up of around 90 international no-Black journalists who attend movie junkets each year in search of a better life. We say around 90 because a couple of them might be ghosts, and it’s rumoured that the German member is just a sausage that somebody drew a little face on.
Tina Fey: Soul is a beautiful Pixar animated movie where a middle-aged Black man’s soul accidentally gets knocked out of his body and into a cat. The HFPA really responded to this movie, because they do have five cat members.
Amy Poehler: Everybody is understandably upset at the HFPA and their choices. Look, a lot of flashy garbage got nominated, but that happens. That’s their thing. But a number of Black actors and Black-led projects were overlooked…
Tina Fey: … the point is, even with stupid things, inclusivity is important, and there are no Black members of the HFPA. I realise maybe you guys didn’t get the memo, because your workplace is the back booth of a French McDonald’s. But you gotta change that. So here’s to changing it.
Getting into the key differences between the TV and film categories
Tina Fey: I think the rule is, if their fake teeth look real, that’s a movie. And if their real teeth look fake, that’s TV.
Amy Poehler: If the British actors are playing British people, it’s TV. If they’re playing Americans, it’s a movie.
And then they got onto some of the nominees like The Prom...
Tina Fey: The Queen’s Gambit is whatever James Corden was up to in The Prom, I guess. The Prom came out at the perfect time, because this year so many teenagers didn’t get to go to their proms. So they could watch James Corden and Meryl Streep go to it instead. That’s still fun, right, guys?
...The Undoing…
Amy Poehler: The Undoing was a sexy and dramatic mystery where Nicole Kidman’s coat is suspected of murdering her wig.
...Music…
Tina Fey: Sia’s controversial film Music is nominated for Best International Flop-er-oonie. I don’t want to get into it, guys, but it’s real problematic. And Twitter is saying it’s the most offensive casting since Kate Hudson was the Weight Watchers spokesperson.
...and, of course, Emily In Paris
Tina Fey: Emily In Paris is nominated for Best TV Series – Musical Or Comedy, and I for one can’t wait to find out which it is. French Exit is what I did after watching the first episode of Emily In Paris.
And finally, introducing the first guest presenter of the night
Tina Fey: Could this whole night have been an email? Yes! But then we wouldn’t get the chance to see our beautiful first presenter. Like a child’s skeleton pyjamas, she simply glows… Ms Laura Dern.