Hosts keep jokes coming fast and furious

Pity the person who gets tapped to host the 2016 Golden Globes. He or she will have big high heels to fill. In their final outing as hosts of the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards Sunday, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler welcomed the assembled “despicable, spoiled, minimally talented brats” and then dove into a hilarious batch of jokes and insults at the expense of the celebrities and celeb culture. From jokes that mocked George Clooney to explaining to wafer-thin stars what cake is (“a dessert people eat on their birthdays”), the pair offered sharp, smart gags in their 10-minute monologue and threaded throughout the broadcast. “‘Selma’ is about the American civil rights movement that totally worked and now everything’s fine,” Ms. Fey quipped. With the help of comedian Margaret Cho they mocked North Korea’s anger over “The Interview” — “North Korea referred to ‘The Interview’ as absolutely intolerable and

a wanton act of terror,” Ms. Fey said. “Even more amazing, not the worst review the movie got.” — and there was, of course, a joke at the expense of Bill Cosby, who is accused of sexual assault by multiple women. “In ‘Into the Woods,’ Cinderella runs from her prince, Rapunzel is thrown from a tower for her prince and Sleeping Beauty just thought she was getting coffee with Bill Cosby,” Ms. Poehler joked before she and Ms. Fey served up dueling impressions of Mr. Cosby. A few awards of our own: Biggest lie: NBC’s chopper shot at the start of the telecast was not live; it was stock footage that included the roof of a department store next to The Beverly Hilton that was torn down in 2014. Funniest reference to method acting: Carnegie Mellon University grad Matt Bomer won for his role in HBO’s “The Normal Heart,” thanking his husband and children “for putting up with me when I was 130 pounds and really grumpy when you ate pizza in front of me.” Just the right amount of screen time: Former “Globes” host Ricky Gervais returned as a presenter, and that brief appearance is well-suited to his pointed, acidic humor. He offered a slow-build slam of “rich, beautiful, overprivileged celebrities” who are better than ordinary people, “you know it and they know it deep down.” Best surprises that shouldn’t have been: The “Globes” often honor the new, while the Emmys go for the tried and true. FX’s superior “Fargo” beat out HBO’s overrated “True Detective.” The CW’s low-rated but just renewed “Jane the Virgin” got some Globes love for star Gina Rodriguez. And Amazon streaming series “Transparent” beat out all the TV comedies, and “Transparent” star Jeffrey Tambor won for comedy lead actor. (In the end, the only broadcast networks to win awards were The CW and PBS.) Faint praise award: NBC’s arrivals show was not terrible. Matt Lauer got nervous when Kevin Spacey spoke the initials of his “House of Cards” character, Frank Underwood, but mostly he, Carson Daly, Savannah Guthrie and Natalie Morales didn’t embarrass themselves terribly, although Mr. Lauer did credit Ms. Poehler with a Globe nomination she didn’t actually receive. And Ms. Morales started to call Viola Davis “Shonda,” presumably confusing her with TV producer Shonda Rhimes. Oops.