O''Brien, NBC separation may upstage Golden Globes

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The bitter separation between TV network NBC and late-night talk show host Conan O''Brien threatened to cast a dark shadow on Sunday over one of Hollywood''s most glittering affairs, the Golden Globe Awards.

The Golden Globes, which reach an audience in the hundreds of millions on NBC in the United States and various TV networks around the world, is among Hollywood''s top film and TV awards shows.

This year, Gervais has been hired to host, bringing his off-the-cuff and often controversial humor to Sunday''s show.

But even with A-list stars such as George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock turning up to accept acting and other trophies, talk on the glitzy red carpet and likely onstage from host Gervais will center on the acrimonious affair among NBC and popular talk show hosts O''Brien and Jay Leno.

Last week, NBC said it would move "The Jay Leno Show" to late-night TV and push "The Tonight Show with Conan O''Brien" to a slot immediately after Leno. But O''Brien refused and talks began with NBC to end his contract, while he and Leno took verbal jabs at each other and at NBC on their respective shows.

In Hollywood, where bitter affairs often play out behind closed doors, NBC wanted to settle talks that would see O''Brien leave "The Tonight Show" and reinstall Leno as host before the Golden Globes to avoid further public airing of dirty laundry.

GET THE PARTY STARTED

The Golden Globe Awards, set to air live starting at 8 p.m. EST, are given out by members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and are closely watched for their impact on Hollywood''s race for Oscars.

But they also are billed as one of Hollywood''s biggest parties because as the champagne flows while awards are handed out, the stars loosen up and often strange things happen. In 1999, Jack Nicholson mooned the crowd, and this year speculation has soared over what Gervais might say.

After being named host, he told Reuters: "Everyone is sitting around drinking. I''m going to be drunk, and I''m not going to rehearse. So, it''s the perfect gig for me."

Among nominees for best film drama, Iraq war film "The Hurt Locker," which on Friday was named best film by U.S. broadcast critics, will compete against director James Cameron''s box office smash, action-adventure "Avatar."