
For the second year in a row, NBC has chosen to eliminate airing their Golden Globe Red Carpet Arrivals pre-show in favor of an NFL Wild Card game. And for the second year in a row, the Philadelphia Eagles is one of the teams in that game.
The Eagles will be facing-off against the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday Jan. 5 at 4:40pmET. The game will immediately lead into the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at 8pmET.
Last year, NBC execs decided to showcase the (then) reigning Super Bowl champ Eagles against the Chicago Bears. It ended-up being a nail-biter, with the Eagles topping the Bears 16 to 15. However, the folks at the network and the producers of the Globes were getting a little antsy as the clock was ticking. The game ended just a few minutes before 8pmET (and until the final play, overtime was a legitimate possibility).
A post-Globes article headline from Variety [which also notes a skit during the show] read: “Golden Globes Secrets: Those Flu Shots Were Fake, But the Football Scramble Was Real”
Writer Michael Schneider interviewed NBC Entertainment co-chairman George Cheeks: “We were going to hold out,” Cheeks said. “The game was going to stay on NBC. We would have held the live show as long as we could.” But ultimately, Cheeks added that the telecast would have eventually had to start in order to fulfill international feeds. In that case, it would have aired on a tape delay on NBC.
“Luckily we didn’t have to worry about it,” Cheeks added, as the game ended — with a big win for the Eagles, and heartbreak for the Bears over a missed field goal — with just seconds to spare.”
NFL games tend to be three hours and change. In this case, all the change NBC has is 20 minutes before the Globes would be delayed. If the game does go long, what should you expect?
A really aggravated Ricky Gervais. Depending on time, he may walk out on stage and make cracks about NBC wanting him to cut his monologue because they’re already late.
The celebs could also start consuming their provided alcoholic beverages while the game is still going on… which means the unpredictability factor of anything anyone could say will be raised a few notches.
As last year proved, adding a second Lifetime Achievement Award also increased the length of the Globes, which didn’t end until about 11:30pmET.
Two special awards, a ton of TV and film categories AND Gervais as the captain…. one way or another, this year’s Globes probably won’t end until Midnight.