The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced yesterday that Ricky Gervais would return to host the Golden Globe Awards for a third consecutive year. The decision comes after a 2011 show in which Gervais made sharper, funnier jokes about the actors in attendance than the po’ widdle A-wist stars were used to hearing (more on that here and here). Recently, after months of speculation about his possible return, Gervais threatened to air a competing live podcast with comedian friends like Louis C.K. and Chris Rock if he wasn’t asked to host. I don’t know whether it was all a big publicity stunt, but Gervais will return for more withering one-liners.

The group, composed of 83 entertainment journalists from around the world, voted Wednesday to bring back the performer for a third consecutive year, though a small but vocal minority dissented. Sixteen out of the 62 members who voted were opposed to Gervais’ return, according to a person who was present at the meeting but asked not to be identified because of the confidential nature of the proceedings…

According to the person at the vote, the majority of the dissenters were older members who found Gervais’ material in January insulting and were concerned that some of the A-list stars on the receiving end of the jokes wouldn’t return for more abuse. “My worry was that he was insulting, and when I invite someone to my house, they don’t insult me,” said longtime HFPA member Judy Solomon, who writes for an Israeli publication. “But this is show business. I guess I’m old-fashioned.” [LA Times]

Yeah! Go suck an egg, Judy! I guess the Jews don’t run Hollywood after all.

"This next one is called 'I Didn't Invite You on My Yacht for the Conversation'."

Fresh on the heels of Brett Ratner stepping down from producing the Oscars due to Fag-gate, Eddie Murphy has quit as the award show’s host.

“I appreciate how Eddie feels about losing his creative partner, Brett Ratner, and we all wish him well,” said [Academy President Tom] Sherak.

Commented Murphy, “First and foremost I want to say that I completely understand and support each party’s decision with regard to a change of producers for this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. I was truly looking forward to being a part of the show that our production team and writers were just starting to develop, but I’m sure that the new production team and host will do an equally great job.” [press release via Deadline]

Producing and hosting the Oscars are some of the more thankless jobs in Hollywood (after Ratner cocktail shrimp, of course), so Ratner and Murphy are probably better off doing nothing. The entire night is about fluffing self-important millionaires and trying to satisfy a critical viewing audience that will think the host was either too nice or too mean or too silly or not silly enough. Screw the Oscars, just let James Franco host every year.

Back in 2000, “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone went to the Oscars wearing the same dresses that had previously been worn by Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow to the awards show. Last night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” they revealed how they worked up the nerve to do the stunt: they took acid.

Parker: “We thought of it the week before… We had tuxes as a backup because we thought we were gonna chicken out, and we did. And we were like, ‘Let’s not do that, let’s not do that.’ But then we were like, “Let’s take a little bit of acid.” So we did that and of course an hour later we were like, “WE GOTTA WEAR THE DRESSES.”

Stone: “It made that whole thing just make sense.”

There’s video below, and it’s funny to watch as Parker goes on to say that they were coming down as the ceremony was going on and how they hoped that they didn’t win.

Me? I don’t need drugs to wear a designer gown. Looking beautiful is its own high.

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You guys are never going to believe this, but a lot of people who appear on television for a living put on nice clothes to go to the Emmys last night. I’ll let you get to clicking through the pictures in a moment, but here’s a general overlook:

• Before you ask: yes, there are pictures of Christina Hendricks’s mountainous cleavage.
• There will be absolutely no discussion of the cleavage displayed by Ariel Winter (Alex on “Modern Family”). She’s 13. If I’m gonna get arrested for something like that, it’ll be for Chloe Moretz.
• Because I am occasionally not a total chauvinist pervert, I have included pictures of handsome male actors. Props to my lady readers.
• As I log more and more years in the blogging game, I’m less enamored with the “This beautiful actress is ugly” thing that bloggers and commenters like to do. They’re famous actors; I would happily have sex with any of them. Even Melissa McCarthy. Even Peter Dinklage. Even — and this will gross some people out — Gwyneth Paltrow.

All right. Get to clickin’. Those pageviews feed me.

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Now that we’ve all vented about who won and who got shafted in the awards department, let’s take a look at the best and worst parts of last night’s Emmys telecast.

Overall, it wasn’t too miserable to watch, but that may have something to do with me constantly flipping over to Sunday Night Football to get updates on Michael Vick throwing up blood. But Jane Lynch was sharp without going into Gervais “people get offended because he’s mean” territory, and there were enough little pieces I enjoyed before the show grinded to a halt during the awards for miniseries and TV movies. Let’s take a closer look at what did (and didn’t) work.

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