Barry Adelman, the executive vp of television for Dick Clark Productions, is a veteran Golden Globes insider who has executive produced the starry broadcast for years. So, there he was bright and early making his way down a press line inside the Beverly Hilton before sunrise on Monday minutes after nominees were announced for the 82nd annual telecast.
Adelman paused for a brief interview with The Hollywood Reporter to share his predictions for the show, dish on Nikki Glaser‘s edgy comedy and share insight behind a decision to mount a new gala two days before the Golden Globes at which marquee honorees Viola Davis (Cecil B. DeMille Award winner) and Ted Danson (Carol Burnett Award) will receive their shine. “We found that we weren’t able to do a full tribute to our honorees due to the time restrictions of the show,” Adelman explained of the new ceremony, scheduled for Friday, Jan. 3, at the Beverly Hilton, home to the Globes. This will mark the first time that the Globes will host a special evening dedicated to these two awards. “This way, they can have their night, come to the show and get the acknowledgment from their peers. We think it will work out great.”
The main show will be the second consecutive Golden Globes to air on CBS after the Globes inked a five-year deal with the network. It will also mark the second Globes since its longtime backer, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, was replaced following the acquisition of all the HFPA’s assets, rights and properties by Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge. Dick Clark Productions now owns and produces the Golden Globe Awards.
How are you feeling about this year’s roster of nominees?
I’m feeling great. You could hear the excitement in the room, and I can already see what’s happening online. People are excited by these nominations. It’s going to be a great show.
How do you expect the broadcast to change now that it’s in its second year on CBS?
It is a relatively new home, and [CBS] is a great network with a great tradition. They’ve got Kathy Bates representing them this year. They give you a lot of creative freedom. The show’s going to be great.
You have a host this year in Nikki Glaser who is also nominated …
Which is very exciting.
Nikki Glaser as host of the 2025 Golden Globes. The 82nd Golden Globe Awards will air live from the Beverly Hilton on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET.
Photo: Art Streiber/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc.
She was locked in relatively early this year, sooner than last year’s host Jo Koy who hadn’t signed on by the time nominations were announced. How will the extra time impact the show?
Nikki is the kind of comedian who not only changes her material up to the moment, but she thinks about what she’s going to do and she’s had a little extra time to think. She’s so bright and so clever that the extra time is going to really make a difference.
She previously told The Hollywood Reporter that she’s so ready for this moment. It feels like you’re getting her at just the right time.
I hear a lot of comparisons to Ricky Gervais, and of course those comparisons are to their brand of comedy. She can sometimes go over the line and do something you never expected or you didn’t see coming. I think the world’s going to tune in to see what she’s going to say.
Politics isn’t necessarily her brand, but I’m assuming many people will be thinking of the White House come January with the inauguration to come days after the Golden Globes. How do you expect politics to play into the broadcast?
I don’t know. I think that’s a choice that Nikki will make. It’s another reason to tune in, to find out what everyone will be talking about.
Ricky Kirshner, Helen Hoehne, Glenn Weiss and Barry Adelman pose together during the 81st Golden Globe Awards nominations announcement at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Dec. 11, 2023.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
What about other new elements can viewers expect?
We’ve only been doing it for two years but we have the box office award and the stand-up comedian award again. Continuing with those awards and making them a new tradition helps to make the show new. We’ve got a lot of surprises that we can’t talk about yet, and we have a whole night of awards to give away with great stars nominated in every category. You won’t want to turn away.
I’m also expecting a special moment when we honor two great icons, Viola Davis and Ted Danson. They will be celebrated at a special ceremony prior to the show, which will see them receive their awards [the Cecil B. DeMille Award and the Carol Burnett Award]. They will also get a moment during the show with an ovation. It will be great to have them walking on stage.
Tell me about how that’s going to work. They will be honored at this new gala, and then will you presumably play a clip from that?
We haven’t decided exactly how we’re going to handle it, but we do know that they’ll be acknowledged at the show.
It won’t be the traditional tribute and then a speech?
That will have happened at the gala already, but they will also be acknowledged [at the Golden Globes] in a room of their peers, and they deserve it. They really do.
What was the strategy behind that decision? To free up more time in the broadcast?
This is a trend that’s been going on [with other shows]. The [Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences] hosts the Governors Awards separately from the Oscars. You want to honor people in a way where they can take their time. They also deserve a whole night of recognition. We found that we weren’t able to do a full tribute to our honorees due to the time restrictions of the show. This way, they can have their night, come to the show and get the acknowledgment from their peers. We think it will work out great.
Dick Clark Productions is owned by The Hollywood Reporter parent company Penske Media Corporation, in a subsidiary joint venture between Penske Media and Eldridge.
