By Blair Thill, Gavel Blogger -

I love the idea of awards shows, but it always feels like once you’re actually watching them, you wonder why you’ve looked forward to them all year. Sunday night’s telecast of the Golden Globes was a delightful exception to the tedium of awards season. Here are three highlights I particularly enjoyed:

Best Dressed: Christina Hendricks

Female stars were having a tough time figuring out what to do with their cleavage. Stars like Mariah Carey and Halle Berry chose to put it all out there, while Patricia Arquette and Diane Krueger decided to frump it up and completely hide their femininity.

I think Mad Men star Christina Hendricks got the balance just right. Her character Joan is the envy of every Twiggy look-alike on the 1960s set skein. Her curves are the object of desire of every man working at Sterling Cooper. In the past, Hendricks’ red carpet style bordered on old maid, but this time the redheaded bombshell got it just right. The pale pastel color complements her porcelain skin (while almost everyone else chose black), the silhouette hugs her healthy curves, and the bust line … well, let’s just say I was jealous.

Best Ricky Gervais Dig:

The comedian proved that he is a dream match for the Golden Globes – the only awards show where it’s practically demanded to eat, drink, and be merry. Gervais held nothing back, constantly uttering phrases like, “Who cares? I’m not going to be asked back next year.” He took shots at venerable targets like Paul McCartney, but his best diss by far was the one he served to Mel Gibson. The best thing about it was that Gibson played along with a faux-woozy start to his presentation. Words cannot do it justice, so here’s a small highlight reel from Youtube (the Gibson joke is towards the end).

Most Emotional Acceptance Speech:

Mo’Nique created buzz at the beginning of awards season by publicly admitting she had no desire to campaign for her stark, honest performance in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. It’s unclear if the comedian thought she could get away with that because her performance spoke for itself or because she simply didn’t want to do the talk show circuit.

Luckily, Mo’Nique has rebounded elegantly by not only participating in the campaign, but giving some beautifully humble acceptance speeches, the best of which was at Sunday’s ceremony. Her tribute to her high-school sweetheart of a husband started the night’s acceptance speech trend of honoring your spouse. One can only hope that Mo’Nique has one more speech in her for her inevitable crash course with Mr. Oscar. Here’s a preview: