As you’re likely aware, Ricky Gervais is emceeing Sunday night’s Golden Globes on NBC, the first time the awards will have employed a host since 1995. Since Vulture has been begging Hollywood to give Gervais such an opportunity for a year and a half, we hope our readers will watch, as we could totally look like idiots if ratings are bad. If you need further enticement than that, though, we’ve examined clips of his previous awards-show appearances for clues about what we might expect.
1. He will call someone ugly.
At the 2009 Emmys, Gervais mused on the relative attractiveness of Emmys and Oscars audiences, citing the looks of his American Office counterpart (“Steve Carell is considered handsome here! Think of that!â€) as evidence that film actors are hotter than TV ones. Carell will be at Sunday’s Globes, along with a bunch of other unsightly thespians — and not all of them can hide behind Taylor Lautner.
2. He’ll tell a holocaust joke.
At last year’s Golden Globes, Gervais walked onstage holding a drink, thanked himself for encouraging Kate Winslet to play a Nazi (on Extras), then deployed one of the two holocaust jokes he’d written for the occasion (he told reporters the more tasteless one backstage). Just because Inglourious Basterds is the only Nazi-related movie nominated for a Globe this year, don’t expect him to not to bring his A-game.
3. He’ll mock Steve Carell.
Even if Gervais somehow makes it to the end of Sunday’s show without calling him ugly, we can’t imagine he won’t do something to amusingly injure Carell’s self-esteem. See here, at the 2008 Emmys, as Gervais knocks Evan Almighty and demands his stolen award back. (Always fun to watch is how much Carell’s wife, Nancy Walls, laughs as Gervais abuses her husband.)
4. He might not even show up.
As made clear in the clip within the clip above, Gervais can sometimes improve awards shows even in absentia. And since he usually can’t be bothered to show up to ceremonies at which he wins, there’s really no guarantee he’ll attend the Globes, even though he’s being paid to host. Still, all might not be lost. Here he is accepting a British Comedy Award via a delightful taped message.
5. He’s on Team Conan.
How long will it take for Gervais to reference to NBC’s late-night troubles? Approximately one second, we bet.
6. Bonus: He could even make the preshow interesting.