With wins for Mozart, Cookie and even Lady Gaga, the TV awards at Sunday’s 73rd Golden Globes got a little crazy.
Surprise was the order of the evening as the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. bestowed top honors on the relatively little-seen classical-music comedy “Mozart in the Jungle,” from Amazon Studios, and USA’s high-tech thriller “Mr. Robot.”
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Comedian and host Ricky Gervais opened the show with jokes that made some laugh hysterically, and others cringe.
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Jennifer Lawrence accepts the award for actress in a motion picture comedy for her role in “Joy.” “Every time I’m up here, it’s because of you,” Lawrence said of her director David O. Russell.
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In the final award of the night, Alejandro G. Inarritu accepts the honor for motion picture drama for his film “The Revenant.”
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Brie Larson accepts the award for actress in a motion picture drama for her role in “Room.” After a long list of folks to shout out, she said, “I’m sorry to anyone I forgot, I’ll write you a thank you card.”
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As Taraji P. Henson walked to the stage to accept her award for actress in a TV drama, she passed out cookies to those around her, including one to Lady Gaga. “Cookies for everyone tonight, my treat,” she said for her winning role playing a character named Cookie in “Empire.” And just as she was asked to wrap up her speech, she refused. “I waited 20 years for this,” Henson said.
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After being announced as a two-time Golden Globe award winner, Jim Carrey made it known that he isn’t just a regular person, he is a two-time Golden Globe award winner. Though, of course, his dreams won’t be fulfilled, as he said, until he becomes a three-time Golden Globe award winner.
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Presenter Morgan Freeman announces the nominees for directing.
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Alejandro G. Inarritu accepts the award for director for “The Revenant.”
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Presenter Andy Samberg sparks laughs.
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Michael Keaton takes the stage to present an award.
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Sophia Bush, left, and Kate Bosworth present an award onstage.
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Maggie Gyllenhaal introduces the nominated film “The Room.”
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Music, what music? Ridley Scott made sure to get in all this “thank yous” while accepting the award for motion picture comedy for “The Martian.”
(Paul Drinkwater / Associated Press) Golden Globes 2016: Full Coverage | Complete list| Red carpet | Highlights | Fashion | Backstage | Behind-the-scenes | Ricky Gervais insults
Other surprising nods went to pop diva Lady Gaga for her brief turn on FX’s “American Horror Story” and to YouTube breakthrough Rachel Bloom as the star of the CW’s ratings-challenged musical comedy “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”
Taraji P. Henson picked up the top acting prize for her performance as Cookie, the ex-con who has helped make Fox’s hip-hop soap “Empire” a hit. The actress, who handed out victory cookies to her longtime publicist, Pamela Sharp, and several others as she marched to the stage to collect her trophy, told reporters backstage about being a bit apprehensive about doing the role because of Cookie’s less-likable traits. But “I knew this was something special, something to shake up TV,” Henson said.
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Golden Globe winners, including Rachel Bloom with her Golden Globe for Actress in a TV Series, Comedy or Musical, stop by the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards press room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Actor Sylvester Stallone, winner of Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture for “Creed,” poses in the press room at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Kate Winslet accepts her Golden Globe for Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Director Alejandro González Iñárritu, left, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio pose with awards for Best Motion Picture, Drama; Best Director, Motion Picture; and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama, for “The Revenant” in the press room at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Winner Oscar Isaac for Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Taraji P. Henson in the press room with her Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Matt Damon, winner for Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Producers Mark Pybus, left, Colin Callender and Rebecca Eaton, winners of Miniseries or Television Film for “Wolf Hall,” pose in the press room at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Jimmy Naples, left, and Sam Smith, winners of the Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for “Writing’s On The Wall” from the movie “Spectre”, at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Aaron Sorkin, winner of Screenplay - Motion Picture for “Steve Jobs” at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Director Laszlo Nemes, center, actor Geza Rohrig, second from left, and other members of the “Son of Saul” team pose with the award for best foreign-language film for “Son of Saul,” in the press room at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday.
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Jennifer Lawrence won the award for lead actress in a motion picture comedy for “Joy.”
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Christian Slater took home the prize for actor in a supporting role in a series, limited series or motion picture made for television, for “Mr. Robot.”
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Gael Garcia Bernal of “Mozart in the Jungle” wins for actor in a TV series, musical or comedy.
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“Mr. Robot” creator Sam Esmail, center, and the cast pose together after winning the Golden Globe award for best TV series drama.
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Maura Tierney holds her Golden Globe for supporting actress in a limited series/TV Movie for “The Affair.”
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Jon Hamm holds his Golden Globe for “Mad Men.”
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Winners of the best motion picture musical or comedy for “The Martian”: Simon Kinberg, left, Ridley Scott and Michael Schaefer.
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Pete Docter, left, and Jonas Rivera, winners of the best animated feature film for “Inside Out.”
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Lady Gaga with her Golden Globe for actress in a miniseries or a motion picture. She will perform the national anthem at Super Bowl 50.
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Gael Garcia Bernal, Bernadette Peters and Lola Kirke share the Golden Globe for TV series comedy for “Mozart in the Jungle.”
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Although the Globes draw most of their attention for kicking off the Oscar race, the TV awards play an important role in raising the profiles of new series and possibly paving the way for Emmy nominations this summer.
Streaming services such as Amazon don’t typically release viewership figures, but the audience for “Mozart” — which released its second-season episodes late last month — has likely been quite small up to now. Jason Schwartzman, who appears in and executive produces “Mozart,” hoped that the jaw-dropping Globe win would give the show much-needed publicity. Gael Garcia Bernal, who stars as a symphony conductor based on Gustavo Dudamel, also won in the lead actor category.
“Hopefully now people will see [the series] and watch more of it and get into different kinds of music,” Schwartzman told reporters backstage.
When asked if the subject of classical music was too specialized for a general audience, co-creator Roman Coppola — son of “The Godfather” director Francis Ford Coppola — said: “This is a world that interested us ... so we were never really concerned. It was a world with fascinating characters — artistic temperaments — and we thought it was intrinsically interesting.”
Sam Esmail, creator of “Mr. Robot,” seemed flummoxed by the win for his critically acclaimed show about a young computer hacker drawn into a conspiracy. Costar Christian Slater also won in the supporting actor category.
“My biggest expectations for this show — because it is subversive and strange — was that it would be a cult hit with a small fan base that would keep us on the air long enough for me to finish the series,” Esmail said. “I can’t begin to process this.”
The win for Bloom and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” recalled last year, when the CW won its first Globe for “Jane the Virgin” star Gina Rodriguez.
Bloom rushed the stage and picked up her trophy with a rapid-fire acceptance speech.
“We almost didn’t have a show,” Bloom said on camera. After Showtime passed, the series, about a young New York woman moving to West Covina in search of a former love interest she barely knows, was shopped around to other networks. “We felt like crap. [CW President] Mark Pedowitz picked it up, and he’s the one that saved us.”
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the win for Lady Gaga, who was named best actress in the miniseries/movie category, beating out veterans such as Kirsten Dunst (“Fargo”), Felicity Huffman (“American Crime”) and Queen Latifah (“Bessie”).
“This is one of the greatest moments of my life,” Gaga said in an emotional speech. “I wanted to be an actress before I wanted to be a singer.”
Oscar Isaac won as lead actor in HBO’s “Show Me a Hero,” while Maura Tierney scored supporting actress honors for Showtime’s “The Affair.” PBS’ historical epic “Wolf Hall” won in the miniseries category.
Jon Hamm, the star of AMC’s now-concluded “Mad Men,” won top series acting honors. Backstage, he mused aloud on the winners and how the world has changed with network, cable and streaming series in the mix.
“When you look at what’s on TV right now — from ‘Fargo,’ ‘American Horror Story,’ ‘Narcos,’” Hamm said, his voice trailing off. “TV — what does it even mean anymore?”
scott.collins@latimes.com
Times staff writers Tre’vell Anderson, Deborah Vankin and Yvonne Villarreal contributed to this report.
MORE GOLDEN GLOBES:
‘The Revenant’ wins best motion picture drama
‘The Martian’ gets a ‘grateful’ win for best picture comedy
Alejandro G. Inarritu wins best director for ‘The Revenant’
Sylvester Stallone did not forget to thank ‘Creed’ director Ryan Coogler
Jennifer Lawrence wins actress in a musical or comedy motion picture for ‘Joy’
