A year after the Golden Globes were reduced to a glorified press conference by the writers' strike, the always unpredictable awards show returned in all its goofy glory Sunday night (January 11). The broadcast went from paying solemn tribute to Heath Ledger, to Tina Fey informing "BabsonLacrosse" to "suck it," a four-peat by "Slumdog Millionaire" and a resurgent Mickey Rourke giving a shout-out to his omnipresent Chihuahuas.

It was that kind of night.

Draped behind a mop of greasy hair and dark shades, and dressed in a black-on-black tuxedo accented by a spangly scarf, Rourke nearly wiped out on his way up to accept the award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama for his career-reviving role in the hard-luck drama "The Wrestler." Thanking his dogs, Bruce Springsteen, Axl Rose and "tough son-of-a-bi---" director Darren Aronofsky, the wonderfully profane actor admitted, "It's been a very long road back for me."

But the biggest winner of the night was equally scrappy Indian drama "Slumdog Millionaire," which took home the Best Motion Picture - Drama award, as well as nods for Best Director for Danny Boyle, Best Original Score and Best Screenplay.

Another multiple winner was actress Kate Winslet, who scored the night's first nod for Best Supporting Actress in the WWII drama "The Reader" and was so flustered she had to stop herself from setting down her Globe on the stage while accepting. Later in the night, the actress was even more overcome, forgetting the names of one of the other actresses in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama, (Anne, Meryl, Kristin and, oh, Angelina, by the way). Barely able to breathe, Winslet had to remind herself to "gather" while accepting for her role as a 1950s housewife in a crumbling marriage in "Revolutionary Road."

In what many think could be a foreshadowing of the Oscars, one of the first major movie acting prizes of Sunday night's Golden Globes went posthumously to Heath Ledger for his harrowing work as the Joker in "The Dark Knight."

Ledger, who died last January of an accidental overdose of prescription medication, triumphed over a field of Hollywood legends in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture category, besting such top billers as Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr., Ralph Fiennes and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Taking the stage as the star-studded audience rose to their feet, somber "Dark Knight" director Chris Nolan accepted on Ledger's behalf. "All of us who worked with Heath on 'The Dark Knight' accept this with an awful mixture of sadness but incredible pride," Nolan said with a drawn look on his face.

"After Heath passed on, you saw a hole ripped in the future of cinema — but with the extraordinary response to his work that we've seen all over the world, I, for one, start to be able to look a bit less at that gap in the future and a little bit more at the incredible place in the history of cinema that he built for himself with his talent and with his dedication to his artistry."

In an only-at-the-Golden Globes moment, Colin Farrell won for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for the little-seen hit man comedy "In Bruges." Explaining his own shock at the win that few predicted, the gruff actor loudly cleared his throat and joked, "They must have done the counting in Florida." Another big winner was the historical drama "John Adams," which won three acting awards and a Best Mini-Series nod.

Tracy Morgan hijacked the award for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy from "30 Rock" creator, writer and star Tina Fey, explaining, "Tina Fey and I had an agreement that if Barack Obama won I would speak for the show from now on."

Fey had her time to shine a short time later when she won for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy, telling all the haters on the Internet (she's talking to you, Babs in Lacrosse) to "suck it."

First-time nominee Miley Cyrus was forced to take some solace in the fact that she was in some amazing company in the Best Original Song category — which also included Peter Gabriel, Clint Eastwood, Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen. The Boss took the honors for his title song in "The Wrestler," quipping, "This is the only time I'm going to be in competition with Clint Eastwood. It felt pretty good too."

The ranks of the presenters were filled with some of young Hollywood's finest, including Hayden Panettiere, Zac Efron, "Star Trek" actors Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, Jake Gyllenhaal, the Jonas Brothers ... oh, and Johnny Depp, who is seemingly ageless.

Setting the stage for what some think could be a run at a Best Picture Oscar bid, "WALL-E" won the award for Outstanding Animated Feature. Anna Paquin, 26, already the second-youngest Oscar winner ever, added a Globe to her shelf, with a win over a raft of veteran actresses in the Best Actress in a TV Series Drama for her work in the spooky HBO series "True Blood." "This is awesome. I am so excited!" she said, giving a special shout-out to her costumers, while wearing a body-hugging dress that our fashion expert wasn't so sure about.

Here's a full list of the night's winners:

Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, "The Reader"
Best Original Song: Bruce Springsteen, "The Wrestler"
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Movie: Tom Wilkinson, "John Adams"
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Movie: Laura Dern, "Recount"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama: Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment"
Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama: Anna Paquin, "True Blood"
Outstanding Animated Feature: "WALL-E"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: Sally Hawkins, "Happy-Go-Lucky"
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: "John Adams"
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Best Foreign Language Film: "Waltz With Bashir"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Laura Linney, "John Adams"
Best Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Paul Giamatti, "John Adams"
Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy: "30 Rock"
Best Original Score, A.R. Rahman: "Slumdog Millionaire"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy: Tina Fey, "30 Rock"
Cecil B. DeMille Award: Steven Spielberg
Best Director - Motion Picture: Danny Boyle "Slumdog Millionaire"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: Colin Farrell, "In Bruges"
Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture -Drama: Kate Winslet, "Revolutionary Road"
Best Television Series - Drama: "Mad Men"
Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama: Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"
Best Motion Picture - Drama: "Slumdog Millionaire"

We've got every angle of the Golden Globes covered! Head to the Movies Blog to check out our live blog of the show as it happened. Plus, get a fashion flashback with our red-carpet blog. All the Globes glamour is here.