As the glitter is gently swept from the stage following the 72nd Annual Golden Globes Awards, the question on many lips is ‘who will replace Amy and Tina when they leave?’

The question that should be asked more loudly, though, is ‘Can they take their writers with them?’

They write well for the hosts – or possibly the hosts make their work shine – but they were woeful when called on to do any heavy lifting.

· Golden Globes best and worst dressed
· Golden Globe Awards 2015 winners 

Amy Poehler and Tina Fey were once again the stars of the show in their third and final turn as hosts of this upstart awards ceremony. They have promised it was their last and they go out with a perfect record. Three from three.

Proving the natural successors to Ricky Gervais’ somewhat controversial (among the celebrities, if not the audience) era, the dynamically funny duo have adopted his habit of roasting those in the room – if somewhat more gently – as well as the organisation that hosts the awards, while also bringing a touch of Saturday Night Live news headline satire to the opening monologue as well.

Addressing a room filled with “despicable, spoiled, minimally-talented brats” the pair rightly mocked the disparity between the way film and television are treated by this industry celebration. They gently ridiculed Joaquin Phoenix for attending an event that represents everything he has previously railed against. They even addressed the feigned adoration for The Interview in response to the North Korean hack attack.

They roasted Cecile B De Mille Award winner George Clooney for having a wife vastly more deserving of a lifetime achievement award than he is, used the Martin Luther King Jr biopic Selma to make a veiled reference to American racial conflicts (“The movie Selma is about the America Civil Rights movement that totally worked and now everything’s fine.”)

Then they let loose the Bill Cosby jokes that had been foreshadowed in interviews the previous day, yet still made the most headlines on the night, written by lazy journalists with faux shock and indignation. The Sleeping Beauty gag with reference to Into The Woods (“[she] just thought she was getting coffee with Bill Cosby”) was a perfect topical Globes gag.

The follow-up impressions probably belonged more on SNL but then so did the entire drawn-out North Korean entertainment journalist schtick that took up the rest of the hosts’ time for the evening. Benedict Cumberbatch made the first such skit work with a pearler of a #Cumberbomb. The second and third appearances by Cho Yung Ja were just bombs, even if she did make a good point about Orange Is the New Black’s category confusion.

The fault for this has to go to the writers who offered up woeful C-grade material. Presumably endorsed by the production team that also decided to make a feature of the strange staircase many of the recipients had to clamber up to take the stage, often passing a bemused presenter in waiting (Catherine Zeta-Jones seemed most out of place).

The amusing Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader were given a terrible ‘famous movie misquote’ spot that dragged on for six interminable movies. There have been calls for them to take on the hosts mantle, but not on this evidence.

Capable comedic performers such as Vince Vaughn, Melissa McCarthy, Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson were given literally or figuratively nothing to work with. Jeremy Renner’s “globes” gag regarding Jennifer Lopez shouldn’t make any list of most quotable quips yet in a vacuum it travelled too far.

Two presenting pairs shone above their material. Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda joked about smart phones and pot as though it was second nature. Anna Faris and Chris Pratt proved an adorable couple and possibly the rightful successors to Fey and Poehler. Pratt’s quip that they are “raising our child HBO” received such a reception it almost drowned out the throwaway gag “take your own helicopter home”.

It was a night featuring plenty of upsets and surprises but only in the results – with the exception of the mock indignation George Clooney expressed to Don Cheadle’s gag that he had toured a disaster region with Clooney when he visited the set of Monuments Men. Cheadle credited the writers with that gag and if that’s true there’s hope yet.

[jwplayer player=”1″ mediaid=”191524″]

On the night though, the acceptance speeches more often than not proved more entertaining than the presenters. Clooney gave the sort of wedding speech (in his wedding tuxedo) that every groom yearns to pen. Gina Rodriguez was great after she ran the length of the room to accept her award for Jane the Virgin.

And Joanne Froggatt proved you can combine genuine surprise with elegant preparation in her acceptance for Downton Abbey, acknowledging the victims of rape as well as those who aided her performance.

Michael Keaton also further endeared himself to the world by giving a touching ode to his son.

The best speech, however, was made by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who dared to be thoughtful, funny and prepared. If Faris and Pratt turn the gig down next year, the HFPA could do a lot worse than enlisting her aid.

[jwplayer player=”1″ mediaid=”191538″]

As for the surprises, well according to the bookmakers The Lego Movie was a lock for Best Animated Feature (it went to How To Train Your Dragon 2), The Affair wasn’t expected to win anything – let alone seemingly everything – and Birdman was supposed to win Best Musical or Comedy. The latter went to The Grand Budapest Hotel, which allowed Wes Anderson to deliver an imminently witty speech naming a host of the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. In a few short minutes he probably managed to name about half of them – which says far too much about the voting base for these awards.

Sadly, unlike the results, there were few surprises on the night. More life was shown in Kate Beckinsale’s facial muscles or Frances McDormand’s smile. This was a flat show saved by good hosts and some good speeches.

At the start of the night Fey and Poehler welcomed us to the 72nd “and final” Golden Globes. Here’s hoping as far as this year’s writers are concerned, they’re right.