The best and worst moments from the 2024 Golden Globes

The all-new Golden Globes had some all-new lows, and a handful of highs.

Somewhere, the former members of the now-defunct Hollywood Foreign Press Association are thinking, "Well, at least they can't blame this on us."

The 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards, hosted by the normally funny comedian Jo Koy, was an awkward and often clunky affair, but there were some moments of levity during the torpid evening. If you didn't watch (and you probably didn't), we've got a full report for you below.

Worst: Giving Jo Koy this thankless job

There’s no question that Jo Koy is a funny guy. There’s also no question that hosting the Golden Globes — especially on less than three weeks’ notice, and especially on CBS, a network that probably has to Google “fun” like Carmy on The Bear — is a thankless job. And so it was hard to blame the comedian for throwing the show’s writers under the proverbial bus when his monologue started to go south… almost immediately. (You'll never convince us that CBS didn’t insist that he begin the night with a shout-out to Yellowstone star Kevin Costner — hooray for awkward corporate synergy!) “Some I wrote, some other people wrote,” Koy said under his breath after one of his Barbie jokes was met with the absence of laughter. “I got the gig 10 days ago! You want a perfect monologue? Yo, shut up… I wrote some of these, and they’re the ones you’re laughing at.” Koy did earn a few legitimate laugh lines (that joke about De Niro’s “latest performance” was pretty solid), but we’ll likely never know what the comedian could have done if he had the time — and the permission — to write something truly his own.

Best: Robert Downey Jr.’s 'Golden Globes journalists' shade

Hollywood gritted its teeth and threw on some couture last year for the first Golden Globes since controversy upended the organization behind the annual show, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Accepting his award for Best Supporting Actor, Oppenheimer star Robert Downey Jr. was sure to take a jab at the “Golden Globe journalists,” thanking them “for changing your game and therefore changing your names.” The HFPA is dead, long live the Golden Globes journalists…. you know, until the next uncomfortable controversy.

Worst: The schmoozy announcer trying to remind us how fun the Globes are

We get it, the Golden Globes is Hollywood’s “Fun Awards Show.” Compared to what? The Oscars? Also known as four hours of your life you’ll never get back. But the Globes are grasping for relevancy as the CBS announcer reminded us going into or coming out of commercial break. “Censors will be standing by!” he taunted, should any celebs have too much fun. “Keri Russell is in PARTY MODE!” he claimed as The Diplomat star took a selfie, apparently universal shorthand for a rager of a time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Globes are fun because everyone’s drunk. And it wouldn’t hurt if the audience was too.

Best: Doing the write thing

Ahead of presenting the award for Best Screenplay, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse stars Daniel Kaluuya, Hailee Steinfeld, and Shameik Moore used their podium banter to honor writers — who spent 148 days this summer striking for a fair contract. “To demonstrate the importance of writers and writing, we asked that this segment be written not by writers, but by studio executives,” announced Kaluuya. The trio then launched into a comically stilted exchange that read like the output of an AI program with clinical depression: “I am relatable,” chirped Steinfeld. “I am enjoy the Golden Globs. Do you agree?” Not quite, but this bit was a winner.

Worst: Making stars walk through a labyrinth to get to the stage

How cruel is it to make anyone wearing an elaborate gown slowly shuffle, "pardon," squeeze by, and finesse their way through some of the most famous people in the world to finally get to the stage to accept an award? The Globes have always been fond of a crowded table of stars, but those stars looked like very fancy anchovies stuffed into that Beverly Hilton banquet hall. And maneuvering trains and hems between chairs and obliging celebs just ate away at the little time the winners had to breathlessly list all the people they hadn’t forgotten to thank.

Worst: The bland, canned presenter banter

There were a lot of issues with the writing behind the Golden Globes this year, but host Jo Koy’s monologue wasn’t the cringiest scripted moment. Which is saying a lot. No, that goes to the various pairings of celebs there to present the night’s categories. As professional actors, these folks know how to sell a line, but barring a few exceptions, most of the banter was painfully flat — even by awards show standards. None induced the cringe more than Kevin Costner’s mumbled intro to Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy as a very game America Ferrera tried to keep the train on the tracks. Instead of dancing with wolves, she ended up dancing alone.

Best: Jennifer Lawrence’s audience work

Jennifer Lawrence always has a great sense of humor about the Globes, like when she won Best Actress in a Comedy in 2013 for Silver Linings Playbook and referenced one of the greatest films of all time, The First Wives’ Club: “What does it say? I beat Meryl.” Nominated this year in the same category for No Hard Feelings, Lawrence mouthed from the audience, “If I don’t win, I’m leaving.” She didn’t win, but instead of leaving she stood and cheered for the eventual winner Emma Stone for Poor Things. Of course, she might have snuck out after the commercial break, but she’s (probably) a better sport than that.

Best: The white stuff

Taking the stage to present the award for Best Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Made for TV Movie, Simu Liu and Issa Rae acknowledged how privileged they felt to play Barbie and Ken in Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster this summer. The experience was “pretty impactful for people who look like us,” said Liu. Noting that they both hope “to continue to push the boundaries of what roles we can play,” Rae and Liu began fantasizing about all the “white-people roles” on their wish list: “An alcoholic divorced single father fighting for custody”; “An alcoholic housewife whose husband’s affair drives her deeper into alcoholism”; and “an alcoholic schoolteacher who must put their love of alcohol aside to inspire their class of inner-city youths.” Honestly, if all three of these projects aren’t greenlit by the end of the night, Hollywood has failed.

Best: Another classic Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig Globes bit

Most actors fumble their way through presenting at awards shows... and then there’s Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig, who have never met a bit they didn’t dive into wholeheartedly. Recall their classic “Geeeeetttt oooouuuuuttt!” bit at the 2013 Globes. In by far the funniest moment of the night — even though the bar was low — Ferrell and Wiig started presenting Best Musical or Comedy in as straight a fashion as they could muster, only to be randomly interrupted by some jazzy melody again and again. First, they’re annoyed by it, only to embrace it with a little inspired choreo. It’s so dumb and so silly and as delivered by these two comedic geniuses, was pure perfection. It was just what the Globes needed to lighten a show that was more clunky and awkward than it had any right to be. Now geeeeeeetttt ooooouuuuttta here.

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