The hosts, in their third time presiding over the Globes, dived right into the hacking attack against Sony Pictures ahead of the release of the North Korean comedy film "The Interview." They also skewered some expected targets like George Clooney (joking that his new wife, Amal Clooney, was more deserving of his lifetime achievement award) and Bill Cosby, whose sexual assault allegations they parodied with dueling impressions.

The first award of the night went to J.K. Simmons for best supporting actor for his performance as a domineering jazz teacher in the acclaimed indie "Whiplash." He thanked his young and confident co-star, Miles Teller, who "inspired me every day to want to scream at him and hit him in the face."

The three-hour ceremony comes days after the deadly terrorist attack in Paris at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. It also follows Hollywood's own incident over provocative parody: the hacking attack against Sony Pictures.

Both events were on the minds of attendees, with some stars, including Clooney, sporting "Je Suis Charlie" pins, or, like Helen Mirren, holding up signs on the red carpet. Clooney, the night's Cecil B. DeMille Award honoree, was one of the movie industry's loudest voices clamoring for the release of "The Interview" after it was temporarily canceled because of terrorist threats.

With a leading seven nominations, including best picture, comedy or musical, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's backstage romp "Birdman" will rival Richard Linklater's 12-years-in-the-making "Boyhood" (five nods) and the Alan Turing World War II thriller "The Imitation Game" (also five nominations) for the night's dominant award-winner.

Thus far, Hollywood's award season has generally gone in favor of the critical darling "Boyhood," but the season has featured a diverse bunch of candidates, albeit ones lacking major box-office draws. The civil rights drama "Selma," the Stephen Hawking tale "The Theory of Everything" and Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" are also heavily in the mix.

Led by Fey and Poehler, the Globes have been on a terrific upswing in recent years. Last year's awards drew 20.9 million viewers, the most since 2004. As the only major awards show to honor both movies and TV, the Globes have also benefited from television's rise.

This year, AMC's "Fargo" leads with five nominations, including best TV miniseries or movie. Hit HBO shows ("Game of Thrones," ''Girls") will vie with Netflix entries ("House of Cards," ''Orange Is the New Black"), Amazon upstarts ("Transparent") and network standbys ("The Good Wife") for top TV honors.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of mostly freelance journalists that puts on the Globes, has lately cleaned up its reputation for idiosyncratic choices and awards swayed by celebrity. Last year, the HFPA chose the eventual Academy Awards best-picture winner, "12 Years a Slave," as best drama and "American Hustle" as best comedy. (***)

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