The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. The awards have been run as a fundraiser since 1944 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). They are a major part of the film industry's "awards season" which culminates each year with the Oscars and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards generally ranks as the third most-watched awards show each year, behind only the Oscars and Grammys, and film studios solicit support from HFPA members and mention nominations and awards in their advertisements. The Golden Globe's similar British equivalent, considered equal in prestige, is the BAFTA.

The Golden Globes are awarded early in the year, based on votes from (as of 2005) 86 mostly part-time journalists living in Hollywood and affiliated with media outside of the United States. Unlike the Academy Awards, for which the eligibility period begins January 1, the eligibility period for the Golden Globe Awards begins October 1. Unlike the Oscars, the Grammys, and the Emmys, the Golden Globe Awards is one of two major Hollywood awards ceremonies (the other being the Screen Actors Guild Awards) that does not have a regular host: there is a presenter every year who introduces the ceremony at the beginning of the broadcast.