No one saw this coming.

After his blistering attack on Hollywood as host of the 2011 Golden Globes, Ricky Gervais has been asked to come back and host the 2012 awards show. As Deadline reported earlier in the week, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was deeply split in the decision but NBC turned up the pressure on the HFPA to have Gervais host the ceremony for a third year with the hopes that he’ll be ratings gold for the struggling network.

Deadline reports a source close to the discussion said:

“NBC has put the HFPA in a lose-lose situation. If the Hollywood Foreign Press says yes to Ricky, it risks turning the Globes into The Ricky Gervais Show and leaving the impression that they’re annually throwing a great party while inviting someone who humiliates all of the guests. If it says no, the HFPA looks like it has no sense of humor about itself. The problem is, if you have Ricky, the show tends to wind up being all about him and how mean he can be. He effectively dwarfs the importance of the ceremony itself.”

Gervais commented on the decision on his blog:

So it looks like I’m hosting The Golden Globes for a third and definitely final time.
It was a tough decision to be honest. There were many pros and cons. I loved doing it, but I was worried that I couldn’t improve on last year. I’m in LA anyway as I’m launching Life’s Too Short on HBO. But then I didn’t want the Globes to overshadow the series. I knew some people would be uncomfortable with me being host. (This was a pro by the way.)
What actually tipped the balance and made me say yes, was the fact that it would shut up all those fucking idiots who said that I’d never be invited back. Is that the wrong reason to do something? Ha ha. I think it is.
Now here’s the thing. The outrage I caused was of course, as usual, totally out of proportion to the things I said. I don’t think anyone had any right to be offended but they were. This year I’m going to make sure their offence is completely justified. The best thing about it is writing the gags. I love writing one liners. Particularly when they can’t be used in any other context. It gives them a special weight on the night if you know what I mean.

So now Hollywood will be on high alert, but at least we know the Globes won’t be boring this year.