If you tuned in the 68th annual Golden Globe Awards expecting Ricky Gervais’ Snark-o-Palooza, you may have been slightly disappointed by the three-hour extravaganza that aired Sunday evening on NBC.

To be sure, the drolly acerbic host was in fine form during his opening monologue, cheerfully gnawing on the hands that were feeding him (he more or less dismissed members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as bribe-taking, star fuckers) when he wasn’t aiming withering zingers or sarcastic snipes at Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen and other Hollywood luminaries.

(After one gasp-producing, not-so-veiled allusion to a certain superstar Scientologist's sexual preference, he dryly noted: “My lawyers helped me with the wording of that joke.”)

And as the evening progressed, Gervais continued to behave as though the entire awards show was his very own comedy of bad manners, abounding in opportunities for him to spike his mock-obsequious introductions with snidely sardonic insults. (Was it just me, or did Bruce Willis really, really look like he wanted to punch out the Brit bad boy after Gervais described him as “Ashton Kutcher’s father”?)

Did he go too far? Of course he did. That’s what you expect Ricky Gervais to do. My only complaint is that he wasn’t able to go too far often enough.

Gervais was conspicuously and unaccountably absent from the stage during long portions of Golden Globes telecast, especially during the third hour. At one point, in fact, he was gone for so long that several Twitterers offering live commentary on the proceedings wondered whether HFPA bigwigs — or Bruce Willis himself — had contrived to have Gervais banished from the building, or at least bound and gagged backstage.

Fortunately, other presenters and even a few award-winners did their best to sustain the snark quotient with their own irreverent remarks while Gervais was otherwise engaged. Blame it on the booze that famously flows freely at Golden Globe shindigs. Or, more likely, chalk it up to a highly contagious strain of what-the-hell cheekiness that Gervais introduced to an awards show that, even before his first hosting gig last year, never has been as stuffy or self-congratulatory as the Oscars or the Emmys.

Robert Downey Jr. saucily insinuated a history of sexually congress with each of the nominees in the Best Actress — Comedy or Musical category, then turned a familiar awards-presenter cliché into a brazen come-on: “I’d like to give it to all five of you.”

Melissa Leo — atypically stunningly glamorous — claimed she was cast by director David O. Russell in The Fighter only after “those few hours we spent at the Maritime Hotel.”

And Robert De Niro — an actor rarely accused of excessive jocularity — accepted his Lifetime Achievement prize with an extended comic riff that suggested he might be ready to try out his stand-up stylings as a Las Vegas headliners. He expressed relief that the HFPA had committed to honoring him before they had a chance to see and review Little Fockers. But, then again, he seemed even less impressed than Gervais by the makeup of the HFPA membership.

“Many of them were deported right before the show,” De Niro quipped. “Along with most of the waiters. And Javier Bardem."

(Keep in mind: Members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are, well, critics and journalists who cover Hollywood for foreign publications. Many, if not most, are stringers and freelancers, not full-timers, and rely heavily on paychecks for other gigs. Which is why you often hear snotty remarks about HFPA members toiling throughout the rest of the year as waiters at other Hollywood events. And why many film industry observers claim HFPA members can easily be swayed by whining and dining and occasional ass kissing.)

In sharp, borderline-embarrassing contrast to De Niro’s free-wheeling remarks, Natalie Portman responded to her Best Actress — Drama win for Black Swan with a shameless osculation of HFPA posteriors. Indeed, she actually took time during her gushing thank you speech to describe meeting and greeting HFPA members as “the most meaningful thing I will take away from this post-movie experience.” No, really.

To his credit, Christian Bale managed to signal a certain lack of sincerity — if not a heaping helping of Gervaisian snark — in his own acceptance speech. Grasping the Golden Globe he won as Best Supporting Actor for his brutally effective turn in The Fighter, he admitted that there was a time not so long ago — like, maybe, up until the moment before his name was announced Sunday evening — that he thought members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association were, well, a bit strange.

And scary.

“But now I know who you are,” Bale quickly added, “and suddenly I realize how wise and perceptive and spectacular you guys are."

Wherever he was at that moment, Ricky Gervais had to be smiling.

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A taste of Gervais at the Globes: