Whatever you might think of them, with this morning's announcements of the Golden Globe nominees the awards season officially kicked into gear. What exactly the Hollywood Foreign Press's 2011 nominations mean—The Artist, The Descendants and The Help lead the film pack while Downton Abbey, Mildred Pierce, and Boardwalk Empire lead the TV noms—is debatable considering some of the predictably odd choices in this years group (i.e., American Horror Story gets a nom for Best TV Series but Breaking Bad did not). So the real question now is, without Angelina Jolie or Johnny Depp to kick around, who will returning host Ricky Gervais decide to decimate this year? more ›

On last night's Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David finally makes his way to New York, only to be thwarted by guest star Ricky Gervais, playing a sniveling Broadway star who threatens to charm Larry's love interest away. David, however, in a rare moment of heroism, manages to one-up the Brit by saving him from a subway mugger using only a loaf of crusty bread from "the oldest Italian pastry shop in America," Veniero's. more ›

Sure Ricky Gervais got a fair amount of flap over how he hosted this year's Golden Globes (though not from us)—but was it enough to get him banned from future hosting? Not according to his rep, who says those rumors are "utter rubbish." And for the record? Gervais' much discussed absence for half the telecast was planned? According to Gervais, "I did every single introduction I was meant to. There just happened to be a long gap." more ›

As mentioned in our newsletter, the NY Comedy Festival is coming to Carnegie Hall for four days this November, and bringing with it the likes of Andy Samberg, Mike Birbiglia, Tracy Morgan, Bill Maher and, er, Dane Cook. Tickets are on sale already, and Ricky Gervais explains in the following video that the best way to get to Carnegie Hall is... with a map. Sensible! He also explained how he'll be getting there—"It's just down the road from my apartment. I can walk to work. (I won’t walk obviously. I'll take a limo. But I could walk if I had to)." more ›

We knew that Office creator Ricky Gervais doesn't hold back on his signature off-color smarminess when he appears on award shows, but apparently children's shows aren't safe from it either. Gervais recently visited the set of Sesame Street and taught Elmo a word we're pretty sure the show hasn't learned before. But despite Gervais's notorious quick wit, puppeteer extraordinaire Kevin Clash didn't miss a beat. Here's the AP's clip of the two of them behind the scenes. more ›

The highlights of last night's Golden Globes ceremony were not Kate Winslet's double win or the triumph of HBO's John Adams miniseries or that Jeremy Piven didn't win again for Entourage. The multiple wins for Slumdog Millionaire—and shout-outs to Mumbai—were sweet, as was Steven Spielberg's plea for not only making movies for the mainstream (also, Martin Scorsese gets so emotional!), but let's face it, the British comedians took the cake for the best moments. more ›

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: more ›

Last night the 59th Annual Emmy Awards took place on the left coast, but New Yorkers made out very well. New York productions/creative types that took home the gold: Late Night with Conan O'Brien (writing), The Daily Show (variety-comedy show series), 30 Rock (best comedy), and Dick Wolf (for producing Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee). In the would-have-been arena, America Ferrera won best actress in a comedy, Ugly Betty, which was originally supposed to shoot in the Big Apple but shoots in L.A. because it's cheaper. We'll also count Rob Marshall, who won for directing the Best Variety-Musical Special, Tony Bennett: An American Classic, since he has Broadway roots. more ›

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As we get closer to the kick-off of the much anticipated High Line Festival, let's take a closer look at what's to come, and at the man who co-founded and curated the whole thing, David Bowie. The eleven days of music, film, art and comedy starts Wednesday at Radio City Music Hall. Who else to play the first event at the inaugural festival than Bowie-beloved Arcade Fire? Pair 'em up with Brooklyn's The National and you've got a lineup that already beats most out there. more ›

One of the nice things about being a music fan in New York City is that you rarely have to wait very long to see a band you're recently missed. The Black Lips famously played about 6,000 shows at SXSW this year, yet despite our interest in checking them out, we managed to catch them exactly zero times (with our final chance being cut short by that whole collapsing balcony thing.) So we were stoked to discover they were going to play last Monday back home at Bowery Ballroom. The show lived up to our ever inflated expectations and managed to bring the house down with their drunken-fried punk. While their "wild boyz" antics may seem a bit forced at this stage in their careers, the music more than holds up on its own. It's not easy to play such sloppy rock and roll so precisely. (Pic via Sandwich!) more ›

7:06PM First thoughts: Gael Garcia Bernal is so cute. Ryan Seacrest is an idiot, as are Joan and Melissa Rivers. But we want to know what Jennifer Lopez is wearing! (It turns out to be Marchesa.) more ›

After last year's mess of an awards show and this year's joke of nominations (where is love for Lauren Graham, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences?), we were going to swear off this year's Emmys. But then we realized Conan O'Brien was hosting, so we must watch and liveblog. And there's the hope of a good Steve Carrell bit, not to mention awkward reaction shots of Candy and Tori Spelling during the Aaron Spelling tribute. more ›

- Nicolette Sheridan does not look over-Botoxed with fish lips! more ›

Thanks to Product Shop NYC (who also reports that the New Year's Eve act at Madison Square Garden will be...The Black Crowes), Gothamist is salivating over this year's New Yorker Festival line-up. Edie Falco! The RZA! Ricky Gervais! Trey Parker and Matt Stone! Sleater-Kinney! And Wallce and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit! The New Yorker Festival runs September 23-25, and tickets will go on sale on August 25. The tickets range in price from $5 to $50, most being in the $15-30 area, and the programs range from the highbrow (reading by Ian McEwan, Town Hall Meeting on Iraq) to the delightfuly low (A Salute to the Three Stooges). Here's a list of the programs. more ›

Gothamist was pretty wary about NBC's version of The Office, but the commercials and previews have make it look very watchable. And we love shows that touch upon how insanely soul-crushing the office life can be. The American cast even looks pretty schlubby - a rarity this side of dumb-oaf-male leads on some sitcoms (you know, the ones where you're wondering "How did he land Leah Remini?") - which must have been an answered prayer to all those people labeled "character actors." We'll be tuning in tonight at 9:30PM, after the other office comedy, The Apprentice. more ›

- Gervais doesn't have any worries about the US-version of The Office ("They are doing their own thing") and said the US version of Slough is Scranton, PA. [On the BBC website, Gervais earlier thought Newark was Slough-ish]Dan has a wonderfully thorough wrap-up of the evening. Here's BBC America's The Office site; the special will air tonight and repeat over the weekend. The NY Times loved the special; The New Yorker preferred two seasons of the series, calling it "perfect." more ›

For ticket information, here's what the MTR says. Here's the BBC's The Office site. You can buy the Christmas Special on DVD. Also, Gervais on a Golden Globe earlier this year for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his work in The Office. Plus, Ask Gothamist on being a temp and dating coworkers. more ›