【Bayo】

The BayoGolden Globes now has a host, and that host is Ricky Gervais.

The 77th edition of the annual awards show celebrating the year's best in film and television will air on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020 at 8:00 p.m. ET. It's the first big awards show of the new year, and what some see as the formal kickoff to awards season.

Gervais is a grizzled veteran of Golden Globes hosting gigs. The 2020 show will mark his fifth go-round as the evening's MC, following a three-year stretch from 2010-2012 and a subsequent return in 2016.

The idea of anyone voluntarily stepping up to host an entertainment awards show in 2019 is a bit ludicrous, so one has to wonder if the awards-given Hollywood Foreign Press Association has some dirt on Gervais. (No, not really. But also, hmmmmm....)

Creator and star of the UK's original take on The Officeas well as HBO's Extras, Gervais is also no stranger to being a winner on the Globes stage. He's won three to date, one for each of the two aforementioned series' (2004 and 2008, respectively) as well as a third for the Netflix original, Derek(2015).

Gervais is an occasional rabble-rouser on Twitter and he's built up a reputation over the years for sometimes saying the wrong thing at the worst possible time. But as a repeat Globes host, he's at least a known quantity stepping onto that stage.

The HFPA seems to agree. "When Ricky Gervais is at the helm of the Golden Globes Awards, we can always expect the unexpected," HFPA president Lorenzo Soria said in a statement.

In a separate statement, Gervais suggested – possibly jokingly, possibly not – that he's fully over it. "Once again, they've made me an offer I can’t refuse. But this is the very last time I’m doing this, which could make for a fun evening."

(Editor: {typename type="name"/})