Golden moments

I'll say this for Billy Bush: He makes it abundantly clear that there are no scabs ghostwriting behind him. As he and Nancy O'Dell announced - then commented on - the Golden Globe victors in an awkward "Winners Special" on NBC, his thoughts were clearly coming from within his spacious, minimally-furnished head.

Apparently, Billy didn't think Cate Blanchett deserved a supporting-actress award for portraying Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There." "At the end of the day," quoth Billy, "it's a woman imitating a man." And when Jon Hamm won a best-TV-actor award for "Mad Man," Billy offered this expert analysis: "Imagine a guy named Hamm becoming an actor."

We could have gotten better insights from the "Football Night in America" panel, which appeared briefly and snarkily in the middle of NBC's two-hour Dateline special, a bloated leadup to the glorified press conference. (Some other cable networks carried the actual press conference announcing the awards.) At any rate, the sports guys looked about 400 percent more journalistic than Matt Lauer, who asked Sally Field intense questions about "The Flying Nun." (The cameras made sure to capture Field and Lauer hugging.) Oh, and what was with all of the candles in the background during the interview with Jeremy Piven? It looked like the set from "The Bachelor."

Final thought (actually, a question): Don't you feel better for not having watched an awards show?