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Golden Globes 2016: here's the best joke from Ricky Gervais's bad monologue

Alex Abad-Santos is a senior correspondent who explains what society obsesses over, from Marvel and movies to fitness and skin care. He came to Vox in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at the Atlantic.

The alleged reason Ricky Gervais keeps getting hired to host the Golden Globes is that he's a shocking host who's willing to say mean things to celebrities that people don't normally say. It's a decent reason. But this year it didn't quite come together.

Gervais's monologue for the 2016 ceremony — his fourth time hosting the Globes — was a little dated. There were jokes about Caitlyn Jenner, who came out as transgender in 2015, and Jeffrey Tambor, who plays a transgender woman on Transparent. There was also a moment of Hollywood insider humor when Gervais made a joke about studios paying for their projects to win Golden Globes.

If there was one moment that stood out — like the best house on a bad block — it was Gervais's quip about equal pay in Hollywood. At first he made fun of Jennifer Lawrence's salary, but then he made a crack about his salary for hosting the Globes this year versus Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's salary for hosting last year.

"I'm getting paid the same as Amy and Tina [did last year]. I can't help it if they want to share," he said.

However, Gervais's funniest joke about equal pay was likely unintentional. Tina and Amy were funnier last year. And if they got paid the same, well, that's the punchline.