The nine people who have hosted the Golden Globes

The first Golden Globes were in 1944, before TV was even really a thing. It went without a host until all the way to 1995, though, when two TV folks shouldered the load. One of them was Larroquette, who was a couple of years removed from winning Emmy after Emmy for “Night Court.” When he got the hosting role, he was in the middle of his run on his eponymous sitcom.

Larroquette’s co-host is a name that is going to be a real blast from the past for all you ‘90s TV fans. Janine Turner starred as Maggie O'Connell in “Northern Exposure,” which was popular at the time but has not had a lot of legs. The Golden Globe voters loved Turner, as they nominated her three years in a row, though she never won. After that show ended, though, Turner kind of fell by the wayside unfortunately. For whatever reason, it would be another 15 years until the Golden Globes had another host.

When the Golden Globes decided going with a host would be a wise idea, they chose Gervais. These days he’s a polarizing figure. Some people are tired of his schtick, but in 2010 that hadn’t happened yet. The whole premise of Gervais’ hosting stints is that he “tells it like it is” and makes fun of celebrities. He brings an edge that the Golden Globes likes, evidently. They let him host three years in a row, brought him back in 2016 and he will be hosting the first show of the new decade in 2020.

After three years of Gervais, the Golden Globes went a different way for the following three years. Fey was part of a duo of ladies who still brought an edge to the comedy but with a little less meanness and a little less of a self-congratulatory tone. You know Fey from “Mean Girls,” “30 Rock” and from hosting Weekend Update on “Saturday Night Live” along with…

...Amy Poehler, her dear friend and frequent collaborator. The two have made TV shows together. They have made movies together, like “Baby Mama” and the aforementioned “Mean Girls.” Also, they both starred in sitcoms on NBC. Fey had “30 Rock,” but Poehler became a TV legend playing Leslie Knope on “Parks and Recreation.” Unlike Gervais, Fey and Poehler weren’t brought back after their first three years. That may be because they’ve had their fun and don’t feel like doing it again.

Maybe the Golden Globes got cold feet about sharp, biting comedy and satire. Gervais would always point out the silliness of award shows, and Fey and Poehler were happy to poke fun at celebrities too. Fallon does the exact opposite of that. He’s made his name as the most overly enthusiastic and obsequious man in showbiz. “The Tonight Show” is about the safest place a celebrity, or a presidential candidate, can go. He is brought in to be a cheerleader, which is what the Globes did for one year.

Meyers and Fallon both worked on “Saturday Night Live.” Both are late-night hosts on NBC. However, that’s about it for their similarities. Meyers is more cerebral and has a decided political edge. Granted, it’s a liberal edge, which still fits in comfortably in Hollywood. Meyers has plenty of hosting experience, and he was up for the task in the one year he decided to do it.

Before going back to Gervais, the Golden Globes made a genuinely interesting choice. They paired together a couple of people as hosts who aren’t directly tied to each other like Fey and Poehler. It harkened back to that combo of Larroquette and Turner so many years ago. One of those hosts is another “Saturday Night Live” alum — the Golden Globes love those — in Samberg. His sitcom, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” had also just moved to NBC, fittingly enough.

Samberg was paired with Oh, who won Best Actress in a Drama Series during the show for “Killing Eve.” That worked out well for her. Oh is not an expected choice, especially paired with Samberg. She’s not a comedian or a TV show host. However, she did a really good job, and she and Samberg had some chemistry together. Also, Oh made history as a person of Asian descent hosting an American award show.