Gervais returns as host, and no one will be safe

January 16, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

By Gina McIntyre

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES

If you thought English comedian Ricky Gervais played it a little bit safe when he hosted the Golden Globe Awards last January — marking the first time the glamorous soir e had had a central emcee since 1995 — you’re not alone. Gervais agrees with you.

And although he’s not quite ready to populate the show with the boundary-pushing material he favors for his stand-up tours, he is promising to turn up the heat just a touch on the celebrities gathered together for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s big night. Mel Gibson, consider yourself warned.

Q. You joked last year that you had nothing to lose because you weren’t worried about being asked back. Were you surprised when you were invited to host the ceremony for the second time?

A. Yeah! Two things really, I thought, once I was out there, I could have gone further here (but) I didn’t want to go out there (with) some of the jokes I do in my stand-up, it’s just the wrong platform for it. There’s no victory in shocking a Christian family in Idaho at 5 p.m. on NBC. That’s too easy. Likewise, I didn’t want to be totally safe and anodyne and boring, so I pushed it a bit. I think I could go a little bit further.

Q. Did you get a lot of good feedback after last year’s telecast?

A. I did actually, yeah. More so than anything else. I went straight to New York afterward, and people walking down the street were saying, “Great job.” It’s not going to change my career either way. It’s a fun day, and it’s not my day, it’s the people in the room that are being honored, the people at home who want to laugh. I do feel that I’m a bit of a hired hand. It would be a little bit gauche of me to go up there and try to rock the world and use it as a platform to do anything other than just do a good job, really. I’m much more militant about caring about opinion or reviews when I’m doing something that’s wholly mine, if I’m being honest. I quite like people hating what I do.

Q. Have you been scanning the nominations for material?

A. I sort of did one- liners of the people I was about to introduce, but I realized I can look around the room and just pick anyone out. I’ll just think of the best, most fun targets. I wrote those jokes in about an hour, I think, the day before the thing. It’s not rocket science, is it?

Q. Well, maybe not if Mel Gibson turns up again.

A. Exactly. That was a gift from the comedy god. Who’s presenting an award? Mel Gibson? Perfect. Actually, I should pick the people I want to present awards, shouldn’t I? OK, I want Mel again; I’ve got an absolute doozy. Charlie Sheen. O.J. Simpson — can he get a day out?