Commentary

No Awards For Dull, Predictable Golden Globes On NBC

goldenglobesI admit it: I’m not an awards person.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve never received one (or, to my knowledge, was ever considered for one), but I can’t seem to share in the goggle-eyed fascination so many people have with the rich and famous -- what they wore, who they were with, or how they comported themselves when seen on-screen reacting to a joke issued at their expense.

As a result, I didn’t last through last night’s Golden Globes on NBC (although I checked in on it throughout the evening). At the very least, I usually stick around to see the opening monologues on awards shows (as I did last night). And generally speaking, I usually enjoy them.

But Tina Fey and Amy Poehler seemed “off” last night. I don’t usually apply the phrase “phoning it in” in the writing of criticism, but I felt it applied to them last night. Their monologue was stale and formulaic -- first uttering the name of some movie celebrity who was in the audience (whose expectant face we would then see at a banquet table) and then making a joke about them.

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When they got around to director Wes Anderson and made a joke about him riding to the awards show on a bicycle made of tuba parts, I practically said aloud, “Who cares?”

Most of the jokes were duds -- so much so that I can remember very few of them, although I watched the monologue again this morning on YouTube. Next time, I’ll take notes; I promise.

And at the risk of isolating myself even more from contemporary society, I have to say that the routine Amy and Tina did called “Who’d You Rather …” (adapted, I think, from a feature on TMZ.com) -- in which the two joked about the celebrity men they would like to have sex with -- was ill-considered and tasteless. I realize it’s futile to complain about such things these days, but there it is --  my dutiful complaint about this.

For me, Hollywood’s propensity for self-congratulation becomes more grating as I grow older. I like to go to movies and I watch a ton of television -- some for enjoyment and some not -- but the endless honorifics that Hollywood bestows on itself at this time of year is unseemly.

Do you realize that this Thursday, there is yet another movie awards show? This one is called “The Critics’ Choice Awards” and it’s on A&E --which, to my knowledge, has never before demonstrated any interest in awards shows. But here comes this thing, hosted by Michael Strahan of all people. It will preempt “The First 48,” which I happen to regard as the best crime series on television, and the kind of show I turn to A&E to watch (though I can live without “Storage Wars”).

Meanwhile, here's a clarification to last Friday's TV Blog about The Tyndall Report's annual analysis of minutes spent covering various topics -- particularly the part where Andrew Tyndall criticized “ABC World News Tonight” for its coverage of “winter weather” in 2014.

In reporting Tyndall’s analysis of ABC News, I wrote this: “Based on the minutes spent on various subjects, Tyndall is critical of ABC News and new anchor David Muir, accusing ‘World News’ of emphasizing stories about ‘sports and showbiz'."

I then quoted Tyndall, who wrote: “ABC, under new anchor David Muir, continued to downplay the year’s top stories -- not only international and political news, but also protests against the police use of deadly force and the young refugees seeking asylum at the Mexican border. Instead, ABC set new records on sports and showbiz. Led by Ginger Zee, ABC had its second-busiest weather year (it was a cold winter), even though no major disaster occurred.”

But as someone pointed out to me, despite Tyndall’s criticism that ABC overemphasized the weather on “World News” in 2014, the same Tyndall Report, in another section, noted that “World News” did less weather coverage than either CBS or NBC. The total minutes spent on weather stories in 2014, according to Tyndall, was 182 minutes for NBC, 172 minutes for CBS, and 161 minutes for ABC.

 

4 comments about "No Awards For Dull, Predictable Golden Globes On NBC".
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  1. Mike Mellon from Retired TV research guru, January 12, 2015 at 3:46 p.m.

    Why don't they send a person who hates sushi to a sushi place for their review? As usual, a waste of an article.

  2. Brian Kelly from brian brands, January 12, 2015 at 3:50 p.m.

    Hurrah, Mike!

  3. Bruce Dundore from Lazaroff/Dundore, January 12, 2015 at 3:52 p.m.

    Asking a guy who doesn't like award shows to critique award shows is like asking a food critic who doesn't like Chinese food to critique Chinese food- rather pointless, don't cha think. Fey and Poehler were great, smart, impeccable timing, their Clooney joke spot on, their presence perfect. The Golden Globes are fun because they are LESS stuck up the ass than the Oscars. You can venture on stage with a drink, and act like your at a dinner party. And they celebrate more interesting films. You should just, maybe, stay out of award critique, or at least, take your stick out of the mud.

  4. Marcelo Salup from Iffective LLC, January 12, 2015 at 4:31 p.m.

    I didn't watch the awards, like I never ever watch awards. But I don't write about not watching awards. This article comes across as really peevish and full of strange teenage angst.

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