Ricky Gervais' 2011 Golden Globes Jokes: Funny, Mean or in Between?

Sunday night's 68^th annual Golden Globes Awards show featured Hollywood's biggest stars, all glammed up and ready to party at the one awards show where the champagne flows freely throughout the night. But many of Hollywood's A-listers- from Johnny Depp to pop icon Cher- took the brunt of host Ricky Gervais' jokes.

Were Gervais' Golden Globes jokes funny- or just plain mean? That all depends who you ask.

Gervais' monologue started with this doozy: "It's going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking. Or as Charlie Sheen likes to call it- breakfast."

That set the tone for which many thought was a mean-spirited evening.

Early in the show, Gervais zapped Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie's movie, "The Tourist." He said, "I'd like to quash the rumors that the only reason "The Tourist" was nominated was so that the Hollywood Foreign Press can hang out with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. That is rubbish. That is not the only reason. They also accepted bribes."

Of our beloved Sarah Jessica Parker and the other gals from the movie "Sex and the City 2" he said, "Nothing for 'Sex and the City 2'? I was sure the award for best special effects would go to the team that airbrushed that poster ."

With the snarky Gervais at the helm, no one was off limits. He even reserved a zinger for the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, saying, "I just had to help him off the toilet and pop his teeth in."

When introducing the presenters for the category of Best Foreign Language film, Gervais called it, "A category no one in America cares about."

Actor Bruce Willis was introduced as "Ashton Kutcher's dad" and of "Burlesque" star Cher, he said, "Do you want to go and see Cher? No. Why not? Because it's not 1975."

With the movie "The Social Network" heavily nominated, Gervais added, "The creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, is reportedly worth 7 billion dollars. Heather Mills calls him the one that got away."

And one of the biggest jabs of the night was this one: "Also not nominated was 'I Love You Phillip Morris.' Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor- two heterosexual characters pretending to be gay. So the complete opposite of some famous Scientologists, then."

After reciting a list of actor Robert Downey Jr.'s movie roles and saying they sounded like porn films, Gervais zinged with, "Many of you in this room probably know him from such facilities as The Betty Ford Clinic and Los Angeles County jail."

Of that, Downey said, "Aside from the fact that it's been hugely mean-spirited with mildly sinister undertones, I'd say the vibe of the show is pretty good so far, wouldn't you?"

But presenters Tom Hanks and Tim Allen may have summed the evening up best by saying they remembered a time when Rickey Gervais was just a slightly chubby- but very kind-comedian.

"Neither of which he is now," Allen said.

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Source: 68^th Annual Golden Globe Awards, January 16, 2011