How Ricky Gervais Would Open the Oscars

After his uncomfortable (but funny) performance hosting the Emmys, it's safe to say Ricky Gervais won't be presenting during this Sunday's Academy Award telecast. (When asked about the Oscars, Gervais, an atheist, told The Hollywood Reporter "I am forbidden to work on The Sabbath.") Still, that's not stopping him from offering a few pointers to hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco.

In a post on his blog, Gervais proposed an opening exchange Franco and Hathaway could have that, in typical Gervais style, makes jokes about himself, Hollywood and, well, child molestation. It's a pretty funny dialogue, which you can read in its entirety after the jump. (Let's hope the actual Academy Awards opening is half this entertaining.)

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Ricky Gervais Really Not Taking Over 'The Office'

It's common knowledge that Steve Carell is stepping down from The Office after this next season. Seven years is a long time to lead a TV series, especially when you also have a movie or two each year. There's also the consideration that the work gets stale after a while, no matter how great the show once was. So it's hard to knock Carell for getting out.

One rumor had Ricky Gervais replacing him in Scranton. Gervais, of course, is a co-creator of the show, which is a spin-off of the BBC version Gervais co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in. Additionally, a bunch of other Office shows have popped up around the world, including a new one headed to China. So would Gervais come to Dunder Miflin? He replied to the rumors on his blog, and it's pretty clear he has no interest in that at all:

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Ricky Gervais Hosting the Golden Globes in 2011

I thought Ricky Gervais was a bad fit for the Golden Globes. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was hilarious, but it just didn't seem to match the mood of the evening. A bit snarky, maybe, and some people in the room probably didn't appreciate being the target of his jokes.

Well...he's back. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association revealed on Wednesday that Gervais would host again in January 2011. The timing of the announcement, which is not really connected to anything, tells you all you need to know: Gervais was hired to host this year's awards in October, so clearly, the producers are thrilled to work with him again. Maybe they're envisioning a kind of Billy-Crystal-at-the-Oscars thing developing.

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Trailer - Ricky Gervais' 'Cemetery Junction'

The teaser trailer for Ricky Gervais' Cemetery Junction was incredibly funny. I watched it about ten times in a row. It has nothing to do with the film per se, but it's Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Ralph Fiennes talking about why a serious actor like Fiennes was such a bad fit for a comedy. Hilarious.

Here's the thing, though: Cemetery Junction has a new trailer, and it doesn't really look like a comedy. Not a Gervais comedy, anyway. It's more of a coming-of-age story of some working class youths in Britain in the 1970s. Enjoy the curveball. So maybe Fiennes is great casting, after all. OK, he usually is, that's true. But check out the trailer, which gets plenty of mileage out of Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes."

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Spielberg Among New Golden Globes Presenters

I know it may not get the worldwide audience the Oscars does and it may not be perceived to be as important as the Academy Awards in the grand scheme of things, but the Golden Globes telecast is starting to look like it might be very entertaining.

First, give the Hollywood Foreign Press Association credit for recognizing that Ricky Gervais might be a great host, but it's just as likely he'll lose complete control of the night because he is, first and foremost, a comedian. Either way, it could be memorable TV. Gervais has been great in recent awards shows, particularly if you're not one of his targets in the crowd. For my money, I'd rather have Gervais than the tag team of Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, who will host the Oscars in March.

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