Will The Golden Globes Happen, And Do We Care?

By Katey Rich

It's too cold in New York to do anything but huddle for warmth, but over in L.A., the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, NBC and Dick Clark Productions are all doing backflips for the WGA in hopes they will give them a waiver to carry on with the Golden Globes as planned. The recent deal struck by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company allowed the late-night host to go back on the air, and the HFPA is hoping they can get a deal similar to that one or the one that allows the Independent Spirit and SAG awards to proceed with their shows.

"Much like the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Film Independent's Spirit Awards, we want to enter into an agreement with the WGA that will allow the entertainment industry to celebrate the outstanding work of creative individuals in addition to millions of fans nationwide. It is only fair that we be afforded the same opportunity as these other awards shows," read an HFPA statement in Variety today.

In the meantime all the random cogs in the wheel, from party planners to limo drivers, are keeping January 13 blocked off on their calendars. The question is, if there's a picket line, will the stars show? If it's not televised, will there be a picket line at all? After all this back and forth, with no one able to do advertising for a show that might not even happen, will anyone watch?

I like this anonymous quote: "Listen, everybody has opinions, but nobody knows what's going on."

I've been following the Globes race as closely as anyone, and even I'm getting sick of thinking about it at this point. The WGA still has the hearts and minds of the public, especially since the AMPTP refuses to give itself a human face and just issues scary, edict-from-above press releases. As the squabbling about the Globes goes on, though, and the WGA seemingly issues waivers without rhyme or reason, the tide may start to change. I imagine they denied the HFPA waiver because of the potential publicity of picketing at the Globes, whereas the SAG awards and Spirit Awards don't get the same huge audiences. But the people like their Globes, and these are the people who will start turning off their televisions and staying away from the movies in droves if they get too fed up with Hollywood. The fighting has mostly stayed within Hollywood at this point, but when it spreads out to ruin something this big, the public might start fighting back too.

David Carr, a.k.a. the New York Times Carpetbagger, thinks the Oscars are "too big to fail," and won't be quite as affected by this whole mess. I tend to agree, but you have to wonder what kind of atmosphere they'll be taking place in if these debates keep getting uglier. Even I might be too busy catching up on old Sopranos episodes on DVD to stick my head up and see what all the fuss is about.