Oscar-watchers have been furtively hoping for years now that Ricky Gervais might bring some of his special dry humor to the awards ceremony one of these days, but it's those blasted Golden Globes that have won him in the end. Variety is reporting that Gervais has been chosen to host this year's Golden Globes broadcast, for reasons evident to anyone who watches the various clips below.

Really, the only thing about this that's bad news is that Gervais won't be hosting the Oscars, though that probably wasn't going to happen with musicals-guy Adam Shankman behind it. And give how unwatchable the Globes can be sometimes-- all the awards for miniseries!-- Gervais is likely to make things a lot more entertaining. Especially if he brings Steve Carella along to continue their epic feud.

Of course, there are some theories that Gervais's movies thus far-- Ghost Town and The Invention of Lying-- have failed because he's not enough of a household name in the States. It's a valid theory, but my guess is it won't really apply to something like awards hosting, given that you watch for the awards themselves, not the host. It could be an opportunity to get him a wider audience with Americans and to actually get real laughs out of an awards show-- everybody wins!