LOS ANGELES _ Even Ricky Gervais seemed fed up with Hollywood and the awards season on Sunday night.
As expected, the host pulled no punches when he opened the 77th Golden Globe Awards, broadcast live from the Beverly Hilton. The comedian gleefully brought his off-color humor to his opening monologue, ripping everyone and everything from Felicity Huffman, Hollywood icons and Ronan Farrow to sexual predators, Marvel, the state of cinema, corporate entities and especially "Cats."
"You'll be pleased to know this is the last time I'm hosting these awards," Gervais began. "I don't care anymore _ I'm joking _ I never did. NBC clearly don't care either."
The comic, who hosted the show for the fifth time on Sunday, even addressed his own pre-show controversy: A transphobic tweet that could have cost him the hosting gig _ much like comedian Kevin Hart lost his Oscars hosting job last year _ but, he joked, lucky for him, the HFPA doesn't speak English and doesn't know what Twitter is.
"I got offered this gig by fax," he said, adding that they'd be laughing at the association's expense. "Remember they're just jokes. We're all gonna die soon and there's no sequel."
He also plugged his Netflix series, "After Life," which viewers could binge in the span of the Globes ceremony, and gave kudos to the streaming giant, which dominated the Globes nominations this year.
"No one cares about movies anymore. No one goes to cinema. No one really watches network TV," he quipped. "Everyone's just watching Netflix. This show should just be me coming out going 'Well done, Netflix. You win everything. Good night.' But no, we gotta drag it out for three hours. You could binge watch the entire first season of 'After Life' instead of watching this show. ... It's still more fun than this."
Before the show, Gervais said he writes his own material and took great pains to make his jokes "bulletproof" not just now, but in 10 years.
