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Reagen Sulewski: Count me as one person who doesn't really care if a bunch of puffed-up celebrities felt offended (it's a freaking awards show) but some of the criticisms of Gervais for hackery are well-taken, I think. Just saying "Robert Downey Jr. did drugs" isn't that funny in retrospect, and all it had going for it was the shock value. So, right idea, off a little in tone.

Edwin Davies: Whilst I don't think that a lot of the material that Gervais came out with was that shockingly original - it wasn't a million miles away from the sort of jokes you would find on the average internet message board - his willingness to say it to the faces of the people being ridiculed was what made it bracing and fresh. The whole thing reminded me of when Chris Rock hosted the Oscars, right down to Downey Jr.'s attempt at a fight back, which echoed Sean Penn's similarly humorless defense of Jude Law, in that the acerbic nature of the presenter brought an edginess to a ceremony that was otherwise safe and painfully predictable. (The fact that we are discussing Gervais more than the awards that were handed out is testament to that.)

In terms of the awards, the night panned out pretty much as I thought it would with regards to the major categories, but seeing the excellent Carlos win Best Miniseries and Katey Sagal winning for Sons of Anarchy were pleasant surprises.

David Mumpower: I'm not saying I would burn Ricky Gervais in effigy for one simple reason. Why punish a harmless composite stick figure of him when I could burn the man himself. Seriously, I hate that guy and wish suffering upon him as a general rule. The Globes were even worse in that he's apparently a mean drunk to boot. The only time he made me laugh the entire night was the Sandra Bullock description; conversely, Tom Hanks casually walked up to the microphone and destroyed Gervais in about a dozen words. That's what truly funny people can do that Gervais cannot. But it's my problem and I will continue to deal with it as long as people keep selecting Gervais to host anything, the odds of which thankfully have been reduced a bit in the past 48 hours.

In terms of speeches, I have seen ample criticism thrown at Natalie Portman yet I found her speech to be a delight. She is having one of those dream years where everything in her life has gone right. She has attained unprecedented professional success due to Black Swan and she fell in love with the world's only straight choreographer while on the set. She is in the honeymoon phase of her relationship and she is beaming with the happiness and excitement that stems from being a newlywed. There was a purity and a sincerity to her exuberance that is rare during awards season. She isn't going up on stage and acting like she's happy when in reality she's thinking, "Ooh, bigger movie salary asking price!" That's refreshing. It almost makes up for the abomination that was whatshisname from Glee beating Eric Stonestreet in the Best Supporting Actor category. Almost but not quite.

With regards to the show itself, we knew from the nominations that this year's awards were going to be terrible. As Anthony Daquano pointed out to me on Facebook, the Best Animated category was deeper and stronger than the Best Comedy or Musical list. I'm unclear as to why funny movies are summarily dismissed from the latter category if they happen to be animated, but that's not even what amuses me. We will never know which one, but the reality is that one of Red or Alice in Wonderland just came as close to winning a Golden Globe for Best Picture as The King's Speech, maybe even came closer. And simply by being nominated, The Tourist came closer than True Grit.

Factoring in the woefully misplaced Glee devotion and their ignorance of True Grit, the Globes didn't get much of anything right. If they are still aptly described as a precursor for the Oscars' Best Picture race (debatable), what we have learned is that this won't be an exciting Oscars season. The Social Network stands largely unchallenged at the moment. The King's Speech and True Grit need to attain momentum even to offer up a challenge.

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