Golden Globes 2018: 15 things to know, from Oprah's speech to James Franco's weird win

It was a night of passionate speeches, weird wins and lots of commentary about the current culture of Hollywood. Here are 15 things you need to know about Sunday night's Golden Globe Awards.

1) Seth Meyers's monologue.

The NBC late-night star had a challenging role as host, balancing comedy with the horrific sexual harassment allegations that have been pouring out of Hollywood. So he went after everyone and everything, from Harvey Weinstein ("Don't worry, he'll be back in 20 years when he becomes the first person ever booed during the In Memoriam") to Woody Allen ("When I first heard about a film where a naive young woman falls in love with a disgusting sea monster, I thought, 'Oh, man, not another Woody Allen movie'").

2) Oprah Winfrey's speech.

The talk show queen and business mogul won the Cecil B. DeMille Award - essentially a lifetime achievement prize - and delivered a truly stirring address to the audience. (It immediately kicked off some "Oprah for president" memes.)

"A new day is on the horizon," she said. "And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, are fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say 'me too' again." Read the full transcript here.

3) Natalie Portman's introduction.

Ron Howard and Portman had the unenviable task of following up Oprah's stirring speech as they announced the best director category. Portman didn't back down from the challenge.

"Here are the all-male nominees," she said, before they read the names. Indeed, all five nominees were men (Guillermo del Toro won for "The Shape of Water") - but it still earned some gasps from the crowd.

4) The mere presence of Oprah.

Oprah had the best seat in the house - the chair at the center table in the front of the room - and some winners became a bit frazzled during their acceptance speeches as she was directly in their line of sight.

"Oprah!" Sterling K. Brown ("This Is Us") boomed at the top of his speech.

"Thank you to Ken and my entire team, to Carol - hi, Oprah," said Rachel Brosnahan ("The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"), interrupting herself.

5) Sterling K. Brown's speech.

Brown has spent a lot of time on award-show stages in the last year, thanks to his emotional role on "This Is Us" as a man bonding with his biological father, and for his incredible portrayal of prosecutor Chris Darden on "The People v. O.J. Simpson." As he picked up the trophy for best actor in a TV drama, he proved he's one of the most inspiring speakers in the game, as he got personal once again:

"Throughout the majority of my career, I've benefited from colorblind casting, which means, you know what, 'Hey, let's throw a brother in this role, right?' . . . then ['This Is Us' creator] Dan Fogelman, you wrote a role for a black man. Like, that could only be played by a black man," Brown said. "And so what I appreciate so much about this thing is that I've been seen for who I am and being appreciated for who I am. And it makes it that much more difficult to dismiss me or dismiss anybody who looks like me."

6) James Franco invited Tommy Wiseau onstage, then shoved him out of the way.

"The Disaster Artist's" Franco won best actor in a comedy for playing noted weirdo filmmaker Wiseau, the brains behind "The Room," a film known for being "the best worst movie ever." When Wiseau arrived onstage, he attempted to take the microphone - but Franco cut him off. Sadly, we'll never know the strangeness that could have taken place.

7) Nicole Kidman's speech.

Similar to the Emmys, Kidman raised awareness of domestic violence when she accepted her prize for best actress in a limited series or TV movie for HBO's "Big Little Lies." Her character, a lawyer-turned-housewife, is in an abusive relationship with her husband, played by Alexander Skarsgard.

"This character that I played represents something that is the center of our conversation right now: abuse. I do believe, and I hope, we can elicit change through the stories we tell and the way we tell them. Let's keep the conversation alive," she said.

8) Allison Janney wore a parrot.

In "I, Tonya," Janney plays LaVona Golden, Tonya Harding's abusive, chain-smoking mother who has a bird on her shoulder for much of the film. When she arrived to present a clip of "I, Tonya," nominated for best drama, Janney channeled her character.

9) Kelly Clarkson and Keith Urban sang.

The music stars were a bit too excited to be onstage, and decided to sing before they announced the winner for best original song. "And the Golden Globe goes to ...," they warbled.

"We've now officially sung on the Golden Globes!" Clarkson exclaimed.

10) Roseanne Barr and John Goodman reunited.

The "Roseanne" co-stars arrived together on the Globes stage to plug the imminent reboot of the hit 1990s sitcom and present the award for best TV drama series.

"I'm known for creating some great drama," Barr announced.

"Yeah," Goodman acknowledged. "Not the kind you get awards for."

11) Wage-gap jokes.

While much of the evening focused on the "Me Too" movement and Time's Up initiative to prevent harassment, there were a few jokes about the notable Hollywood gender wage gap.

"I'm so happy to announce that the winner of this category will also receive the 23 percent of her salary that went missing in the wage gap," Jessica Chastain said, before announcing the best actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy. "It's not a problem as we saved so much money kicking people out of Hollywood this year."

"Thelma & Louise" stars Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis presented the trophy for best actor in a motion picture, drama, and also made some jokes.

"These five nominees have agreed to give half of their salary back so the women can make more than them," Davis said.

12) Frances McDormand's weirdly bleeped speech.

The censors got pretty nervous when McDormand accepted the trophy for best actress in a motion picture, drama, for her role in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." She started to thank Fox Searchlight - and was bleeped. (People on Twitter mused if someone thought she said a different word that started with the letter "f.") Then she said a modified version of a curse word, and the censor cut off her next sentence. Then, the censor kicked into gear once more when McDormand said the phrase "tectonic shift." No clue about that one.

13) Barbra Streisand's speech.

Streisand arrived to present the last award of the night (best motion picture, drama) to "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." Before she announced the winner, she had some things to say.

"I'm very proud to stand in a room with people who speak out against gender inequality, sexual harassment and the pettiness that has poisoned our politics," she said. "And I'm proud that our industry faced with uncomfortable truths has vowed to change the way we do business. Truth is powerful. And in a really good film, we recognize the truth about ourselves, about others, and it's so powerful that it can even change people's minds, touch people's hearts and ultimately even change society itself."

14) "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" won best comedy and comedy actress.

The Globes voters love to pick a relatively new show that makes the TV viewing audience go "huh?" Sure enough, this year the honor went to Amazon's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," about a housewife in the late 1950s who turns to stand-up comedy after she splits with her husband. It won best TV comedy and its star, Highland Park native Rachel Brosnahan, won best actress in a TV comedy. (Disclosure: Amazon founder Jeffrey P. Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)

15) Laura Dern's speech.

In a night of inspirational speeches, Laura Dern's also stood out as she won best supporting actress in a limited series or TV movie for "Big Little Lies."

"Many of us were taught not to tattle. It was a culture of silencing and that was normalized. I urge all of us to not only support survivors and bystanders who are brave enough to tell their truth, but to promote restorative justice," she said. "May we also please protect and employ them. May we teach our children that speaking out without the fear of retribution is our culture's new north star."