The return of the Golden Globes tonight will be an uphill battle for viewers.
Airing opposite the returning awards show are two hours of “The FBI” on CBS, and two hours of “The Rookie” on ABC. They’re each hit shows with core followings. It’s doubtful their audiences will peel away to watch the Globes.
The other problem is lack of big stars. There may be some in the audience, or at least on the red carpet. But the presenters are by and large pedestrian. Completely absent will be Tom Cruise, who turned back his Golden Globe statues two years ago when their racism scandal broke out. Brendan Fraser won’t be there because he’s had a sexual harassment problem with the Globes. Mostly there will be TV performers who are not a big draw on a Tuesday night.
The Globes also lack any good will from anyone. They added 103 non member voters this year from around the world including half a dozen from Nigeria. None of them were invited to the show– they couldn’t afford to come and the Globes didn’t offer help despite net assets of $79 million. Most of the new members I’ve been in touch with had no idea why they were asked to vote — they didn’t know about the Globes’ diversity issues. The Globes-HFPA members we may see on screen are the same 90 or so people who caused the problem in the first place.
The show is leaning heavily toward putting non-white celebrities on their stage. For some reason the pianist Chloe Flower is going to perform, although the Globes have no music on their show ordinarily. Maybe she’ll play medley of the Best Song nominees. That should be strange since she’s not a vocalist and not really a world famous pianist. She is Asian, however, and that checks a box for the mostly white Globes.
The show will also have a Black, gay host in Jerrod Carmichael, who is very funny in his shows but hasn’t been so far in the NBC promos. He checks a couple of boxes, too. But will he draw an audience? He’s not Ricky Gervais or Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Will he take jabs at the HFPA? Will anyone care? We’ll find out tonight.
