It turns out the 65th Annual Golden Globes is going to be treated just like any other newsworthy event of the gross-anomaly variety.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Friday that it has assumed complete control over its Golden Globes "announcement" from NBC, and that all electronic media will be free to cover Sunday's news conference announcing the winners.
"Under the new arrangement, there will be no restrictions placed on media outlets covering the press conference," the HFPA said in statement.
Because of the more open proceedings, the Writers Guild of America has promised to keep the opposition at bay.
"In light of this change to the program, the WGA gave the HFPA our assurances that there would be no picket of their press conference on Sunday," the guild, which counts NBC as a struck company, said in a statement Friday.
And because the writers are backing off, sources tell E! News that some celebrities may be on hand, although there won't be a traditional red carpet. Actors had previously agreed to honor the writers' picket line.
A spokeswoman for the Screen Actors Guild said Friday, however, that, as far as the union knows, no member is scheduled to show up. But they can if they want.
"It is our understanding that other than several announcers, there will be no presenters or attendees at the press conference," rep Pamela Greenwalt said. "Our members can attend any press conference they choose."
Access Hollywood anchors Billy Bush and Nancy O'Dell were also rumored to be doling out the awards, but the HFPA has announced that a number of entertainment anchors, including E! News' Giuliana Rancic, Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart, Jim Moret of Inside Edition and The Insider's Lara Spencer, will join HFPA president Jorge Camara in doing the honors.
"The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is grateful for the tremendous support provided the Golden Globe Awards from national entertainment news programs," Camara said in a statement.
The stripped-down Globes is scheduled to air live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the longtime home of what is normally a glamorous, star-studded gala, at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
NBC, which had gone from exclusive home of the Golden Globes ceremony to exclusive home of the Golden Globes press conference, taking a multimillion-dollar hit in terms of ad revenue in the process, had been planning to treat the Globes as an exclusive network program with an all-NBC cast of characters. By moving it to the news division, which is currently in sync with its writing staff, it was hoping to avoid further conflict with the WGA.
The network said Friday that its programming schedule has not changed in light of the recent shakeup. As of now, Going for Gold, a two-hour Dateline NBC special featuring film clips and Matt Lauer interviewing some of the nominees, will precede the conference, which will be followed by a repeat of American Gladiators.
It was NBC's longtime Globe partner, Dick Clark Productions, that prompted the last-minute change. The company felt it had been squeezed out of the equation by the network and demanded its "normal license fee" as a make-good.
"NBC wanted to have an exclusive three-hour broadcast disguised as a news conference that would bar all other media," Dick Clark Productions said in a statement.
The Peacock refused to pay up and decided to open up the press conference to avoid any possible legal action.
Thanks to the media free-for-all, viewers have alternatives to suit their Globes-watching needs, including the live E! News Special: Golden Globes 2008 hosted by Ryan Seacrest on E! Entertainment Television.
And for those far away from their TV sets Sunday night, E! Online (a division of E! Networks) will be streaming the news conference live.