Fey and Poehler have a chance to exit the Golden Globes Sunday with a performance that could place them among the most lauded awards show hosts of the past quarter-century.
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Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will be at it again this year hosting the 2015 Golden Globes Awards on Sunday, January 11, 2015 on NBC.
By the time Ricky Gervais neared his third and final raucous stint as host of the Golden Globes in 2012, pre-show chatter focused on whether he would out-outrageous himself with more over-the-line lines like "I like a drink as much as the next man — unless the next man is Mel Gibson."
That was understandable, if somewhat unfair to Gervais, who, with beer in hand, single-handedly dragged the Globes into relevance over three Januaries, hitting his stride midway as the Oscars self-immolated with the James Franco-Anne Hathaway pairing in 2011.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler picked up the torch, if not the beer, over the last two Globes with a tag-team approach that matched Gervais laugh for laugh, even if their body slams landed softer (as Poehler said of an absent Meryl Streep in 2013: "She has the flu — and I hear she's amazing in it!").
EMPTY_CAPTION"Birdman" is nominated for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.
EMPTY_CAPTION"The Grand Budapest Hotel" is nominated for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.
EMPTY_CAPTION"Into The Woods" is nominated for Best Picture - Comedy or Musical.
EMPTY_CAPTION"Pride" is nominated for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical.
EMPTY_CAPTION"St. Vincent" is nominated for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.
IFC
EMPTY_CAPTION"Boyhood" is nominated for Best Motion Picture, Drama.
Sony Classics
EMPTY_CAPTION"Foxcatcher" is nominated for Best Motion Picture Drama this year.
EMPTY_CAPTION"The Imitation Game" is nominated for Best Motion Picture - Drama.
EMPTY_CAPTION"Selma" is nominated for Best Motion Picture - Drama.
EMPTY_CAPTION"The Theory of Everything" is nominated for Best Motion Picture Drama this year.
Jennifer Anniston is nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama for "Cake."
Felicity Jones is nominated for Best Actress in a drama for her role in "The Theory of Everything," starring Eddie Redmayne, who is nominated for Best Actor in a drama for his role in the film. "The Theory of Everything" is also in the running for Best Motion Picture Drama.
Julianne Moore is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama for "Still Alice."
Rosamund Pike is nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama for her role in the film "Gone Girl."
Reese Witherspoon is nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama for "Wild."
Sony Classics
Steve Carell is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for "Foxcatcher."
Benedict Cumberbatch is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for "The Imitation Game."
Jake Gyllenhaal is nominated for Best Actor in a Drama for "Nightcrawler."
David Oyelowo is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for "Selma."
Eddie Redmayne is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for "The Theory of Everything."
Weinstein
Amy Adams is nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy for "Big Eyes."
Emily Blunt is nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical for "Into the Woods."
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Julianne Moore is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for "Maps to the Stars."
FilmMagic
Quvenzhanu00e9 Wallis is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for "Annie."
Helen Mirren is nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy for "The Hundred-Foot Journey."
Ralph Fiennes is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical for "The Grand Budapest Hotel."
Michael Keaton is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical for "Birdman."
Bill Murray is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical for "St. Vincent."
Joaquin Phoenix is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical for "Inherent Vice."
Christoph Waltz is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical for "Big Eyes."
EMPTY_CAPTION"Game of Thrones" is nominated for Best Television Series - Drama.
EMPTY_CAPTION"The Good Wife" is nominated for Best Television Series - Drama.
EMPTY_CAPTION"House of Cards" is nominated for Best Television Series - Drama.
Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP
EMPTY_CAPTION"Girls" is nominated for Best Comedy Series.
Jane the Virgin
EMPTY_CAPTION"Jane the Virgin" is nominated for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical.
EMPTY_CAPTION"Orange is the New Black" is nominated for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical.
EMPTY_CAPTION"Silicon Valley" is nominated for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical.
EMPTY_CAPTION"Transparent" is nominated for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical.
Claire Danes is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama for "Homeland."
Viola Davis is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama for "How To Get Away With Murder."
Julianna Margulies is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama for "The Good Wife."
Ruth Wilson is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama for "The Affair."
Robin Wright is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama for "House of Cards."
Clive Owen is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series, Drama for "The Knick."
Liev Schrieber is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series, Drama for "Ray Donovan."
Kevin Spacey is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series, Drama for "House of Cards."
James Spader is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series, Drama for "The Blacklist."
Dominic West is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama for "The Affair."
Lena Dunham is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical for "Girls."
Edie Falco is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical for "Nurse Jackie."
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical for "Veep."
Gina Rodriguez from "Jane the Virgin" is nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.
Taylor Schilling is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical for "Orange is the New Black."
Louis C.K. is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in TV Series, Comedy for "Louie."
Don Cheadle is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in TV Series, Comedy for "House of Lies."
Ricky Gervais is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in TV Series, Comedy for "Derek."
William H. Macy is nominated for Best Actor in a Television Comedy Series for "Shameless."
Jeffrey Tambor is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in TV Series, Comedy for "Transparent."
Now Fey and Poehler are set to host their third and final Globes on NBC Sunday, offering them a golden opportunity to exit with an Oscar-worthy performance, potentially putting them alongside the in-his-prime Billy Crystal as the most lauded awards show hosts of the past quarter-century.
Like Crystal (and Gervais), Fey and Poehler arrive ready to entertain the folks at home, rather than the stars in attendance. Like Crystal (but not Gervais), they’re amiable enough to get away with knocks at the Hollywood elite (Fey last year described “Gravity” as “the story of how George Clooney would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age”).
Fey and Poehler also carry a comic chemistry brewed long ago on “Saturday Night Live,” where they turned “Weekend Update” into one-liner Ping-Pong match. Both now are in the midst of different transitions. Fey, whose run on “30 Rock” ended nearly two years ago, is focused primarily on movies. It’s unclear what’s next for Poehler, whose final season of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” kicks off next week.
The future can wait for Fey and Poehler as they’re presumably hard at work writing jokes for the Globes — even if they’re careful to avoid the long, all-consuming preparations associated with the production-number-heavy spectacle of the Academy Awards. The pair make hosting look easy. But more importantly, they make it look they’re having fun.
Ellen DeGeneres picked up on that spirit last year with her much-tweeted Oscar selfie and pizza-ordering bits. Her (re)casting seemed a reaction to Fey and Poehler’s success, just as “Family Guy” creator’s Seth MacFarlane’s controversial 2013 Oscars turn came off as a delayed reaction to Gervais’ sacred-cow-slaughtering Globes efforts.
This year, Neil Patrick Harris, a versatile entertainer and proven awards show host, packs the promise of a strong Oscars pick. But he likely won't be judged against his past gigs helming the Tonys and Emmys as much as against Fey and Poehler's finale. That’s both a tribute and a challenge to a duo known for leaving 'em laughing even after the credits roll.
