NBC Bringing Back The Most Controversial Awards Show
It looks like NBC is bringing back one of the most controversial awards shows after it looked like it had been canceled
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Will Smith storming the stage at the Oscars to slap Chris Rock in the face was the only controversial moment in Awards show history. While that moment, in and of itself will forever be remembered and referenced, the Academy Awards themselves will go on. But that wasn’t the case for all awards shows facing controversy. One of them looked like it could have been done for good. The crown of the most controversial awards show goes to the Golden Globes after its recent diversity row shed its backers the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in a less than favourable light. Now though, Comicbook.com reports that NBC is vying to bring back the Golden Globe’s telecast for next year’s awards.
While not a done deal, NBC is in negotiations with the HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association) to bring back the awards show in 2023 after a hiatus in 2022. That hiatus was caused by one of the biggest controversies in awards show history. The Golden Globes endured nothing other than a complete disaster this past year, which began when the LA Times published an article revealing that the HFPA had a huge diversity problem amongst its members.
The HFPA is the group behind the Golden Globe Awards. Formed in 1943 by a small band of journalists looking to strengthen their standing in the film world, the HFPA launched the Golden Globes a year later and has often been criticized for its controversial dealings, using the Awards as an excuse to freeload through Hollywood and gain exclusive access and perks throughout the industry. The HFPA received widespread disapproval from the Hollywood community when in February last year, the LA Times reported that not one of the 87 members of the HFPA was black. In response, there were calls to boycott the awards and Tom Cruise even returned all of his Golden Globes. Eventually, the decision was made to go ahead with the ceremony, but without a television broadcast or even a live stream.
Even if the awards do go ahead next year, the road back to success for the Golden Globes and the HFPA will be a long and arduous one. The provisional date for the 2023 Golden Globes, should they go ahead, is set for Tuesday, January 10th. Traditionally, NBC has chosen to air the awards on Sundays in early January, but given that New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday and the NFL regular season comes to a close on Sunday, January 8th as well as the Critic’s Choice Awards taking up January 15th, it leaves NBC no choice but to go with a less than favorable Tuesday, January 10th slot.
As well as the possibility of being scheduled on a Tuesday, the Golden Globes could very well still be under threat from the chaos that is the HFPA. Variety reported back in June, that that the organisation is fighting amongst itself regarding the changes outsiders expect it to make in order for it to be a viable and worthy host of an Awards show.
The question still remains, should the Golden Globes return next year with an NBC broadcast, will it even be worth it? The awards show has often been the butt of a joke, be it ridicule from its own hosts (Ricky Gervais being the main culprit) or the strange nominations that have occurred over the years (The Martian is not a comedy) and in 2021, the show fell to its lowest viewing figures since NBC acquired the awards. The Oscars will likely recover from the infamous slap, but can the Golden Globes really recover from all of this?
