How to watch the Golden Globes 2021

When the 78th annual Golden Globes are handed out Sunday, they will be the first major awards show of the season, coming nearly two months after we would typically find out the best picture winner.

Rather than the Globes’ usual Beverly Hills gala, this year’s event will be a hybrid affair, with “Saturday Night Live” alumnae Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting from opposite coasts: Fey will appear live from the Rainbow Room in New York; Poehler from the Beverly Hilton, the awards’ usual West Coast home. Nominees will be in locations all over the world.

The Globes could help provide clarity on the best picture front-runners for the Oscars — a win for “Nomadland” or “The Trial of the Chicago 7” could help an Oscar bid. But the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which hands out the Globes, also has a reputation for unpredictability.

Here’s when and how to watch the show, predictions, and some of the surprises that might be in store:

What time do the festivities start?

The ceremony begins at 8 pm Eastern, 5 pm Pacific.

If you’re committed to watching all possible coverage, you’ll want to park yourself on your couch by 4 pm Eastern time, 1 pm Pacific — that’s when E! begins its preshow coverage. The official Golden Globe Awards preshow begins streaming live from the official @GoldenGlobes Twitter account and on the website at 6:30 pm Eastern, 3:30 Pacific. And the network broadcasting the ceremony, NBC, also has a preshow; with Jane Lynch and Susan Kelechi Watson as hosts, it starts at 7 pm Eastern, 4 pm Pacific.

Will there be a red carpet?

No. But, on television, E!’s preshow coverage will feature nominee interviews and red-carpet throwbacks.

Where can you watch the ceremony?

On television, NBC is the official broadcaster. Online, if you have a cable login, you can watch via NBC.com/live. Depending on where you live, there’s also Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, AT&T TV Now, YouTube TV or FuboTV, which all require subscriptions, though many are offering free trials.

Just what are the Globes anyway?

The 25 film and television awards are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 90 journalists mainly known for this ceremony. There’s no overlap with the more than 9,000 Academy Awards voters, but because of the timing (Oscar nominations this year fall on March 15), the Globes can seem like they’re influential.

The HFPA has been in the spotlight recently after a Los Angeles Times investigation highlighted the lack of Black voting members. (This year’s slate of eligible Black-led films, including “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “One Night in Miami,” “Da 5 Bloods” and “Judas and the Black Messiah,” were shut out of the Globes’ best picture nominations.) A New York Times report also found that the tax-exempt nonprofit paid more than $3 million in salaries and other compensation to members and staff.

What should you watch for?

Netflix once again dominated the nominations this year, garnering a whopping 42. Its films include David Fincher’s Old Hollywood biopic, “Mank,” which picked up six nominations, and Aaron Sorkin’s latest courtroom drama, “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” which got five. Hulu’s “Nomadland,” which stars Frances McDormand, picked up four, and the film’s director, Chloé Zhao, could become the first woman of Asian descent to be honoured in a director category. Chadwick Boseman is also a favourite to be honoured posthumously for best actor for his final film role as a trumpeter in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Jane Fonda will be given the Cecil B DeMille Award for lifetime achievement, and Norman Lear will get the Carol Burnett Award for contributions to television.

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