The 78th Golden Globe Awards honored the best in American television of 2020, as well as film in 2020 and early 2021,[2] as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

[3] Produced by Dick Clark Productions and the HFPA, and aired live on NBC in the United States, this was the first bi-coastal Golden Globes ceremony, with Tina Fey co-hosting from the Rainbow Room in New York City, and Amy Poehler co-hosting from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.

By June 2020, the HFPA decided to postpone the ceremony from its normal date in early January to February 28 due to both the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema and on television production.

[17] Author Viet Thanh Nguyen wrote that the "decision speaks powerfully to the issue of what makes something — a language or a person or a culture — foreign".

[21] Many other filmmakers, actors, and authors, including Nia DaCosta, Daniel Dae Kim, Min Jin Lee, Franklin Leonard, Simu Liu, Phil Lord, Celeste Ng, Harry Shum Jr., and Phillipa Soo criticized the decision on similar grounds.

[24] Hosts Fey and Amy Poehler also acknowledged the recent revelation that the HFPA has not had a single Black member for over twenty years.