Ricky Gervais was obnoxious during his hosting stint for the Golden Globes, but that’s what we’ve come to expect from him. People asked if he went too far when he hosted the Globes last year, (last year was the first time the Globes had had a host in 15 years) and this time he took it up a notch. I found him funny as hell, but I gossip for a living and love it when someone takes the piss out of celebrities. The best part of his opening monologue was when Ricky mimicked Crystal Harris jerking off Hugh Hefner. That was so over the top that I was crying laughing. He didn’t just do a quick demonstration, and went on with it for a while. There’s of course controversy over his intro, particularly a gay Scientologist joke he made, but that’s probably why they hired him. The Globes are getting more buzz than usual and he definitely made people laugh. Here’s what Popeater says about it:

Gervais started out by ripping into Charlie Sheen, admittedly an easy target, so easy that those jokes about Sheen being drunk by breakfast were given a pass. Who among us hasn’t laid into Sheen these past few months? It was an ample way to start.

But then Ricky went after a weaker target, ‘The Tourist.’ Sure it was a critical and commercial bomb, but Johnny and Angie aren’t exactly the kind of stars who laugh along with the joke. “I haven’t even seen ‘The Tourist,'” Gervais said. “Who has?”…

Gervais then mentioned that the special effects team from ‘Sex and the City 2’ should have been nominated for making the cast look younger on the movie poster.

“Girls, we know how old you are. I saw one of you on an episode of ‘Bonanza’!” Apparently, Ricky’s mom never told him the two taboos in comedy are still a woman’s age and her weight.

His most shocking joke of the night came when he mentioned that Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor were heterosexual actors who played gay characters in the film ‘I Love You Philip Morris.’

“So the complete opposite of some Scientologists, then,” Gervais said. He admitted his lawyers had vetted that joke. Even that didn’t settle the groans echoing throughout the ballroom.

Later in the show, Gervais introduced Bruce Willis as Ashton Kutcher’s dad. Come on, that one is just dated.

Introducing presenter Robert Downey Jr., Gervais went through a list of the actor’s films and added, “But many of you in this room probably know him best from such facilities as the Betty Ford Clinic and Los Angeles County Jail.”

Downey Jr., felt compelled to dig back at Ricky on behalf of his fellow celebrities.

“Aside from the fact that it’s been hugely mean-spirited with mildly sinister undertones, I’d say the vibe of the show has been pretty good so far, wouldn’t you?” Downey Jr. sniped back.

[From Popeater]

Popeater’s Jo Piazza concludes that Gervais “didn’t play to the room” and “went after soft targets with some hard jokes.” The crowd was really responding to him, so I don’t agree with that conclusion. I love it that he didn’t kiss ass, and the fact that he was willing to go after so many people made the show much more interesting. We’ll get more than enough brown nosing during the rest of Awards season, and like Gervais mocking Crystal Harris, we’ll look at our watches and wonder when it will end.

Here’s the Hulu version of Ricky’s opening monologue. (Only works if you’re in the US)

And here’s a YouTube version for people outside the US [via Huffpo]