Remember the Golden Globe Awards? It was the ridiculous annual trophy-fest hosted by an organization made up of 90 or so freelance foreign journalists who were known to exchange gifts — including travel packages — in exchange for votes. The telecast was popular as a Hollywood party of sorts, and it served as a valuable place for studios to market their films, but the nominee and winner selections were often laughable and insulting.
In 2020, the organization, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, came under close scrutiny — most notably in a Los Angeles Times expose — for a number of problems, including a lack of Black members and some financial and ethical improprieties. NBC decided not to air the show this year, urging the HFPA to get their act together.
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Now, NBC appears to believe that the HFPA has fixed everything, and rather quickly at that. The network has decided to broadcast the ceremony again next year, on Jan. 10 — oddly enough, a Tuesday night. (The nominations will be announced Dec. 12.)
The HFPA says it now has 108 members, including six who are Black, and it has added 103 nonmember voters, a dozen or so who are Black. “We recognize the HFPA’s commitment to ongoing change and look forward to welcoming back the Golden Globes to NBC for its landmark 80th Anniversary in January 2023,” NBC’s Frances Berwick said in a statement.
Will the Golden Globes telecast become something more than a silly excuse to promote stuff and pull in ad money? My bet: Same as it ever was.
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at matthew.gilbert@globe.com. Follow him @MatthewGilbert.