Ricky Gervais closes the Golden Globe awards:

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/ricky-gervais-ends-golden-globes-by-thanking-god-for-making-him-an-atheist/

yeah yeah yeah, we all saw it and laughed. I was going to make a similar comment last night, but you went ahead and did it.

Gervais was an ass last night.

I just read the account in the New York Times comparing his room-splitting humour to Colbert's roasting of Bush II at the White House correspondence dinner. (I'd link but the Times insists upon its paywall.) It's a false comparison because Colbert was literally doing his duty as a citizen that night (and did it spendidly) while Gervais was merely humiliating the hosts (Hollywood foreign press) for cheap laughs.

However, his parting comment was pure gold. Awards shows are frivolous enough as it is, but when winners get up there and thank god for this and thank god for that it's almost as nauseating as when they thank their spouses and their children. It was a perfect comment. I hope the next host of the Grammys does the same.

I always thought Gervais was really funny. I love The Office.

However after seeing him on a few shows now, he doesn't seem that funny to me. I watched his new show on HBO. Maybe it was just me but I didn't think it was all that great. Just not that clever, IMO.

Now that Human mentions it, maybe Gervais' closing comment was making fun of everyone thanking god for this and that (god cares about their acting awards?). If so, maybe he was being more clever than I give him credit for.

I didn't think Gervais was an ass. I thought his acerbic humor was just what the Golden Globes needed.

Steve Carell played it just right when he came on as a presenter. He played along with the "killing the cash cow" and "ungrateful" characterization that Ricky had set up as a joke in the intro. It was great.

If public figures can't stop taking themselves seriously long enough to appreciate a joke, then they shouldn't be public figures. Note that Gervais makes himself the target of his most biting jokes.

Celebrities that blubber at the mike and claim god's special light shines on them start to get a little boring. That they should appreciate the award is fine, but that award doesn't make them a better human being. It's just a recognition for work well done within a specific, narrowly defined venue.

This is the article that made me a Ricky Gervais (as well-reasoned atheist vs. comedian) fan:

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/19/a-holiday-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-atheist/?blog_id=120&post_id=56643

My favorite part:

"Why don’t I believe in God? No, no no, why do YOU believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this. If I came up to you and said, “Why don’t you believe I can fly?” You’d say, “Why would I?” I’d reply, “Because it’s a matter of faith.” If I then said, “Prove I can’t fly. Prove I can’t fly see, see, you can’t prove it can you?” You’d probably either walk away, call security or throw me out of the window and shout, ‘’F—ing fly then you lunatic.”