Ricky Gervais at WaMu at MSG (05/13/10-05/14/10)

Buy Tickets (Amex Early On Sale Begins Mon, Jan 18 at 10AM)

Even so, this year’s efforts to lure more eyeballs to the Globes include cramming even more stars into the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton hotel; hiring a host — the British actor and comedian Ricky Gervais — for the first time in 15 years; broadcasting the ceremony live from coast to coast; mixing up the order of the awards; following the telecast with an after-party show; and turning up the volume on the marketing.
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NBC pushed the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which bestows the awards, to hire a host. “It’s crucial in terms of advance publicity,” said Paul Telegdy, the network’s executive vice president for alternative programming. Mr. Telegdy noted that video promos featuring Mr. Gervais have been “a huge success” on the Web. The network’s goal for the show: a 10 percent ratings rise.

Why Mr. Gervais? “He’s just slightly dangerous,” Mr. Adelman said. “He’s always teetering on a should-I-really-say-that edge.” (While presenting at last year’s Globes, Mr. Gervais cracked a Holocaust joke.) [NYTimes.com]

In addition to hosting the Golden Globes on Sunday night, Gervais is doing a couple of nights of stand up at the WaMu Theatre at MSG on May 12 and 13, 2010. Tickets for those shows go on American Express early on sale starting Monday, Jan 18 at 10AM. Last but not least, Gervais is returning to the medium that made him famous next month in a new animated series based wildly successful podcast. The Ricky Gervais Show will premiere in the US on Feb 19, 2010 on HBO and in March 2010 on Channel 4 in the UK.