Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to host the Golden Globes

(thanks Alan of Montreal via EW) No more Ricky Gervais: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will host the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards. The duo will anchor NBC’s live coverage of the program on Jan. 13 from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.

“Having both Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on board to host this year’s festivities is a major coup,” said Paul Telegdy, NBC’s president of alternative and late night. “Tina and Amy have a proven chemistry and comedic timing from their many years together on SNL to their successful co-starring roles in Baby Mama.”

Gervais hosted the event the past three years, drawing some criticism for his jokes being supposedly too harsh the first couple times, and then too soft during his third round. Gervais managed to keep the show’s ratings relatively stable across all three telecasts, hovering just under 17 million viewers. The announcement comes on the heels of ABC tapping Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane to host the Oscars next year.

Fey and Poehler co-starred together in the films Mean Girls and Baby Mama, plus worked with each other for years on Saturday Night Live, including a stretch as co-anchors of Weekend Update (2004-06). Now both are stars on NBC’s Thursday night comedy block (with Fey on 30 Rock and Poehler on Parks & Recreation). The announcement makes total sense for NBC, both in terms of finding a pair with natural comedic chemistry and in terms of promoting its shows.

Executive producers of the special Allen Shapiro, Orly Adelson and Barry Adelman of Dick Clark Productions jointly stated: “It’s exciting to have two of the most respected names in comedy. Amy and Tina’s well known chemistry along with their spontaneity and glamour makes them a perfect fit for the Golden Globes.”