Golden Globe Awards Belong To 'The Social Network' And 'Glee'

When the final glasses of champagne had been drained at the 68th Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night (January 16), "The Social Network" and "Glee" sauntered away as the night's big winners. Nominated in six categories, "Social Network" won four awards, including Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Director for David Fincher, Best Screenplay for Aaron Sorkin and Original Score. And honored in five separate categories, Fox's hit musical comedy collected three trophies: Best Comedy Series, Supporting Actor (Chris Colfer) and Actress (Jane Lynch).

Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical went to "The Kids Are All Right," one of two awards the film won. In the major TV categories, freshman HBO series "Boardwalk Empire" won Best Drama, while the "Glee" win marked the show's second-straight Best Comedy award.

To begin the evening, host Ricky Gervais had a beer waiting for him on the podium and took a slug from the sudsy glass before he even opened his mouth. It was just that kind of party. "It's going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking. Or, as Charlie Sheen calls it, breakfast," he joked, setting the tone for a raunchy and fearless emcee performance from start to finish.

Long an Oscar front-runner, Natalie Portman won Best Actress - Drama for "Black Swan" and delivered one of the show's most memorable acceptance speeches. Sporting a noticeable baby bump, she addressed fiancé and co-star Benjamin Millepied, thanking him for helping her create new life and referencing his line in the movie about not wanting to have sex with her character. "It's not true," she laughed. "He totally wants to sleep with me!"

Another Oscar fave, Colin Firth was honored as best dramatic actor for "The King's Speech." Calling himself out for thus far avoiding a midlife crisis, the 50-year-old actor cradled his award and joked, "This is all that stands between me and a Harley-Davidson."

Check out photos of the Golden Globe winners.

In one of the night's few upsets, Johnny Depp lost out on the best comedic actor award for his turn in "Alice in Wonderland," as Paul Giamatti ("Barney's Version") triumphed in that category. Generally, though, the Globes affirmed more awards-season conventional wisdom than it did recalibrate sentiment surrounding next month's Oscar ceremony.

Early on, Christian Bale took home the first Globe of the night, nabbing Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for "The Fighter," a win that had been widely predicted. "You can only give a loud performance like the one I gave when you have a quiet anchor," he said, complimenting Mark Wahlberg's contribution to the film.

Widely predicted, as well, was Annette Bening's best comedic win for "The Kids Are All Right." Fighting off a shaky voice, she spoke movingly about bringing a warts-and-all portrait of a lesbian couple to the big screen. Later in the show, Melissa Leo bounded up onto the stage after nabbing best dramatic supporting actress for "The Fighter." "Look, Mom, I got a Golden Globe!" she squealed.

When it came to perhaps the show's two most anticipated presenters — Justin Bieber and Robert Pattinson — neither man was given much to do onstage. Taking a break from shooting "Breaking Dawn," RPattz uttered just a handful of words while presenting the award for Best Foreign Language Film. And if anyone was hoping to hear Bieber crack a joke or two before introducing the award for Best Animated Feature, his fans were left disappointed. Alongside "True Grit" star Hailee Steinfeld, the teen heartthrob simply introduced the nominees and announced the winner, "Toy Story 3," with a smile. Accepting the statue was director Lee Unkrich, who turned to the presenters and asked, "Were you two even born when the first 'Toy Story' came out?" (For the record, Bieber was born a year before the film's 1995 release.)

Many of the TV categories were dominated by a large slate of first-time winners and newcomers to the small screen. In addition to the "Boardwalk Empire" win, Katey Sagal ("Sons Of Anarchy") won best dramatic actress and Steve Buscemi ("Boardwalk Empire") took home best dramatic actor, while Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory") won best comedic actor and Laura Linney ("The Big C") won best comedic actress (though she was not in-house to accept, as her father, the playwright Romulus Linney, passed away over the weekend).

Robert De Niro was this year's Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award honoree. Taking the stage after a hilarious introduction from Matt Damon, De Niro delivered an amusing, self-deprecating speech, touting some of his achievements and laughing about others, like this year's "Little Fockers," that will not be as fondly remembered. Those less-lauded flicks, he joked, have been collected in a box set, which he promised to sell in the lobby after the show.