Golden Globes gala may proceed without a telecast

As the L.A. Times has just reported, the Writers Guild of America has denied the Golden Globes' request for a waiver so that scibes can pen the actual awards ceremony and the Academy Awards' request to use clips from films and past Oscarcasts — click here to read the news. But that doesn't mean the Globes gala won't go on anyway. No doubt the same is true for the Oscars.

If WGA members plan to picket an NBC telecast of the Globes on January 13, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association plans to nix the telecast completely, our sources say. That will mean that the organization will forfeit about $5 million in license fees. If the Oscarcast gets scrapped, the academy would lose more than $30 million. But both awards shows will probably proceed as planned. During the 1978 awards season, the Globes went on without a telecast deal in January 1979 when producers failed to line up enough sponsors to underwrite the show in time, and the gala was especially popular with celebs who could guzzle the bubbly and mishave without prying cameras. But it was also hugely embarrassing.

"The Golden Globes reveled in its return to television anonymity," Variety reported about the ceremony. "The bar opened at 5:30 p.m. The presentations did not get under way until after 8 p.m., following dinner during which wine and other libations flowed freely."

When host Chevy Chase took the stage, he roared, "This audience is loaded to the gills!" An awkward scene followed when Oliver Stone won the screenplay prize for "Midnight Express" and "did his best to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory," reported Variety. Stone launched into a rambling tirade against the U.S. for "putting people in jail for being high," Stone fumed, adding, "Every person should have the right to pursue his own happiness!" He only stopped when security guards ambushed the stage and shooed him off. When Chase resumed emcee duties, he gasped to the audience, ""Thank God we're not on television!"

Not having writers prepare a script ahead of time shouldn't be too much of a hardship for the Globes, considering the gala doesn't have a host and an opening monologue.