Jimmy Fallon’s Golden Globes monologue got off to a rocky start on Sunday night.
The “Tonight Show” host stepped on stage after dancing with Justin Timberlake in a starry night sky during a “La La Land” parody sequence, and was welcomed by a room full of Hollywood stars and a malfunctioning teleprompter.
“Welcome to the Golden Globes. Already the teleprompter is down, so this is a great way to start the show,” Fallon said. “You know what, I’ll make up this monologue. This is what happens at the Golden Globes.”
After a minute of Fallon rambling, the Dick Clark Productions team got the teleprompter working and the comedian back on track for a monologue that was upstaged by his grand entrance. Still, there were a few gems, mostly jabs at Donald Trump and a Chris Rock impersonation.
1. Fallon got political quickly when he gave the Golden Globes props for being “one of the few places left where America still honors the popular vote” — a reference to Hollywood favorite Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote in the presidential election, but losing to Trump, who won the Electoral College.
2. Fallon turned his attention to “Game of Thrones,” the hit HBO fantasy series nominated for Best Television Series – Drama, and couldn’t help but compare the president-elect to one of the show’s most notorious villains.
“This show has so many plot twists and shocking moments. A lot of people have wondered what it would have been like if King Joffrey had lived,” Fallon said. “Well in 12 days, we’re going to find out.”
3. He squeezed in a jab at the lack of talent lining up for Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 when bringing up Meryl Streep drama “Florence Foster Jenkins,” which is nominated for four Globes.
“The character is billed as the world’s worst opera singer, and even she turned down performing at the Trump inauguration,” Fallon joked.
4. In a jab at the past year — which not only gave Trump the White House, but also claimed the lives of a number of icons from music, TV and film — Fallon called Casey Affleck drama “Manchester by the Sea” the “only thing from 2016 that was more depressing than 2016.”
5. Fallon’s final political reference came toward the end of his monologue when mentioning the accounting firm that carefully tabulates all of the votes, “Ernst & Young & Putin.”
The two best jokes, however, weren’t political.
6. Fallon singled out former Golden Globe winner Matt Damon in the audience by saying, “We all know Matt Damon from his greatest acting role: Telling Ben Affleck he liked ‘Batman v Superman.’”
7. Another moment that made the audience roar with laughter earlier on in the monologue was when Fallon pulled out his Chris Rock impression to talk about “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” which is nominated for five awards.
“I got advice from everybody. Chris Rock said, ‘A lotta great shows this year. ‘People v. OJ’ gonna win. People gonna get up there and say, ‘I couldn’t have done it without Ryan Murphy. I couldn’t have done it without my agent, my manager,’” Fallon said in his finest Rock voice. “I’ll tell you the one person you couldn’t have done it without: OJ. No one’s going to thank OJ.”
It’s funny — because it’s true.
Although, the night is still young, so someone involved in the show could very well thank OJ Simpson for inspiring the critically-acclaimed FX miniseries that chronicled the biggest murder trial of the 20th century.