The Golden Globes are always good for a number of memorable moments (the good, the bad and the truly outrageous), thanks to an informal setting that has stars wonderfully loose and often liquored up. Think of it as a giant party, whereas the Oscars are a formal event.

This year, comedian Nikki Glaser, fresh off her home-run performance roasting Tom Brady, took over as host of the awards show, which celebrates powerhouse acting, directing, writing and producing work in movies and TV.

The Globes marks the first time the stars gather for the awards season, which culminates with the Academy Awards in early March. These first laurels also typically provide a first look at who the favorites will be for the Oscars.

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Host Nikki Glaser skewers Hollywood A-listers with kindness, gets an assist from Adam Sandler

Overall, a great performance, especially when compared to last year’s comedic bomb by stand-up Jo Kay. Nikki Glaser skewered the crowd as was expected but didn’t truly offend, even if a few lines launched some side-eye. 

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Glaser roasted everything from Ozempic to President-elect Donald Trump, with other hilarious jokes about “Wicked” memes, Peacock and Glen Powell sex fantasies.

“I am not here to roast you tonight,” Glaser began. “I want you to know that. And how could I, really? You’re all so famous, so talented, so powerful. I mean, you could really do anything, except tell the country who to vote for,” she said, referencing the re-election of Donald Trump as president. “But it’s OK,” she added, “you’ll get ’em next time − if there is one.” 

In a moment that quickly went from weird to wonderful, Glaser decided to do an impression of Adam Sandler saying the name of nominated actor Timothée Chalamet. But she then spotted Sandler in the crowd, and he obliged her when she asked him to spout out his own guttural rendition of the name. 

Supporting actress winner Zoe Saldaña fights back tears, goes way over time during her acceptance speech

Zoe Saldaña’s surprise win for best supporting actress kicked off the evening in emotional style, as the “Emilia Pérez” star ran way past her allotted time during her emotional acceptance speech.

Saldaña, who won over her “Emilia Pérez” co-nominee Selena Gomez and category front-runner Ariana Grande (“Wicked”), started crying the instant The Rock read her name and embraced her date − her mother. 

Although Saldaña told the crowd she often is at a loss for words when she gets nervous, the actress had no problem brushing aside tears as she thanked her fellow nominees, virtually the entire cast and crew of “Emilia Pérez,” and finally her extended family.

“I’m filled with adrenaline, but my heart is full of gratitude,” she told the audience. “My family, my mom is here, my sister, my husband and my sons I love you, I love you − you guys are everything,” Saldaña said, urging the wrap-up music to stop so she could get in her final words.

Seth Rogen and Catherine O’Hara double down on Canadian joke insanity

Comedy actors Seth Rogen and Catherine O’Hara, soon to appear in Apple TV+’s “The Studio,” came on stage together to present the award for best actress in a limited series, anthology series or motion picture made for TV, which ended up going to Jodie Foster for “True Detective: Night Country.”

But first, the two Canadians couldn’t resist a long bit about how proud they were of the (fake) Golden Antlers awards they’d received in Canada. The made-up kudos included O’Hara’s win “as Mama Morissette in that Alanis Morissette biopic,” and Rogen’s score for playing “a young Ryan Gosling in the unauthorized biopic ‘Gosling.’ “

Then there were the Beaver Awards. “You see, in Canada, we don’t have America’s puritanical roots,” Rogen said. “So pornographic films are as lauded as much as non-pornographic films.”

“Wait, you won the Beaver?” O’Hara interrupted.

“We won the Beaver!” said Rogen. “Actually, we swept the Beavers that year. It was a multi-Beaver winning film.”

‘Popcorn actress’ Demi Moore wins first major acting award of her career for ‘The Substance’

Demi Moore, who was ubiquitous on movie screens in the 1980s and 1990s and for a time among the highest-paid female actresses, was never given industry credit for her acting. Until Sunday night.

Moore took home the Golden Globe for best comedy/musical actress for anchoring the horror film “The Substance,” and the somewhat stunned actress wasted no time telling her peers that she had become so convinced that she was merely a “popcorn (movie) actress” that she recently considered unplugging her career.

“One thing that I think this movie is imparting is in those moments when we don’t think we’re smart enough or pretty enough or skinny enough or successful enough, or basically just not enough,” she said. “I had a woman say to me, ‘Just know you will never be enough, but you can know the value of your worth if you just put down the measuring stick.’ “

Sir Elton John’s vision is just fine … well, sort of

Rock legend Elton John made an appearance at the Golden Globes, and immediately looked to reassure fans who might have been concerned about news that the singer’s vision was fading.

The five-time Grammy winner shared on social media last September that he was 

dealing with a “severe eye infection,”

 which left him with “limited” vision in one eye. John, 77, made light of the ailment during Sunday’s ceremony, where he presented best original score alongside

Brandi Carlile

.

“I don’t know if you know, but there have been a lot of stories going around about my regressive eyesight,” John said, affecting a serious tone.

Then he added, with a passing glance at his blonde co-presenter. “So I’m here to show everybody that it’s not as bad as it seems, I’m pleased to be here with my co-host, Rihanna,” he said to laughs.

Karla Sofía Gascón delivers a powerful message as ‘Emilia Perez’ takes best comedy or musical

“Emilia Perez,” a musical crime thriller centered on a trans Mexican drug lord, was a big winner at the Globes. It entered the competition with 10 nominations, and won four: best musical or comedy, best supporting female actor for Zoe Saldaña, best original song, and best non-English language film.

When it came time for the director, Frenchman Jacques Audiard, to take the stage with his cast to receive the best film, musical or comedy, besting “Wicked,” Audiard gave the microphone to his film’s star, trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón.

Gascon was both brief and powerful. “The light always wins over darkness,” she said. “You can maybe put us in jail, you can beat us up, but you can never take away our soul, our identity. I am who I am, not who you want.”

Contributing: Patrick Ryan, David Oliver and Anna Kaufman