The Golden Globes used to be dumb and fun. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is responsible for the Globes, and the HFPA basically nominated everybody and threw a big, liquored-up party. Twenty-five years ago, people took the Globes seriously in the sense that everyone got dressed up and got wasted and had fun. But over the years, the Globes began to take themselves seriously, and other people did too. The awards became the first stop on the Oscar campaign, and powerful producers and networks bribed HFPA members for nominations and awards. The HFPA has always been pretty sexist and racist too, with no Black members over their 20 year history and a pattern of ignoring Black creators and content. So… NBC decided to pull the Globes in 2022, and the HFPA has been trying to sort itself out for much of 2021. I’ve been wondering what the hell will happen in January and whether there will be any red carpet to speak of. Well…

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is forging ahead with a way to recognize the best of this year’s film and television achievements despite the fact that NBC will not televise this year’s Golden Globes ceremony.

“The HFPA plans to recognize the performances of 2021 to celebrate the great work of the industry this past year at the 79th Annual Golden Globes,” a source confirmed, though there is no further information at the moment on what form that recognition would take.

A letter went out to studios on Friday with an explanation of eligibility rules for the 79th Golden Globes. The emphasis appears to be on performances, raising the question of whether other areas such as music or directing will also be recognized.

Puck’s Matthew Belloni speculated that the Globes might take the form of a press conference as they did during the 2008 writer’s strike.

In May, NBC announced that it would not air the Golden Globes in 2022 after a series of revelations about the organization’s lack of diversity and ethical lapses caused a consortium of publicists to boycott the awards. The embattled organization has spent the summer undertaking a series of reforms, such as adding a group of 21 new members including 29% Black journalists; banning members from receiving gifts and trips from studios and talent; appointing three external members to its board of directors to help oversee diversity and ethics and hiring a team of experts in workplace legal issues.

[From Variety]

I wouldn’t mind a press conference announcing the winners. I doubt that’s what it will actually be, but if that’s what happens, so be it. I suspect that the HFPA will probably go old-school, like the Globes used to be before they were on network television – something like a Sunday reception, with an actual lunch or dinner, and people just showing up in work clothes or whatever they want. It would be interesting to see them play around with a format too, like the pandemic taught us – maybe winners could just submit videos from home if they wanted.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red.