Bye-bye Ricky, hello Tina and Amy for Golden Globes

Actress Tina Fey arrives at the 84th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 26, 2012.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedy duo Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will host next year's Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, bringing perhaps a gentler touch to a ceremony helmed for the past three years by acerbic Briton Rick Gervais.

Organizers the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) and NBC said on Monday that Fey and Poehler would bring their tried and tested chemistry to the January 13, 2013 gala dinner for Hollywood's leading film and TV stars.

Fey, 42, creator and star of "30 Rock," and "Parks and Recreation" actress Poehler, 41, have worked together for years - first on satirical sketch show "Saturday Night Live" and later on 2008 comedy movie "Baby Mama."

"Tina and Amy have a proven chemistry and comedic timing from their many years together," NBC alternative programming president Paul Telegdy said in a statement.

The executive producers of dick clark productions, which owns the rights to the Golden Globes, said they were excited "to have two of the most respected names in comedy" at the helm of the 70th Globes ceremony.

Fey has won seven Emmy awards for her TV work, including her piercing impersonations of 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Poehler worked for eight years on "Saturday Night Live," often playing politician Hillary Clinton, and went on to create and star in popular TV comedy "Parks and Recreation." She also appeared alongside Fey in the 2004 comedy "Mean Girls."

Gervais hosted the event, which hands out awards to the best films, actors and TV shows of the previous year, from 2010-2012, attracting plenty of publicity along with criticism for his acid one-liners about the assembled celebrities.

The British creator of the TV series "The Office" was the first person to host the Golden Globes ceremony since 1995. In the interim, the live, televised show went without a formal host and used presenters to introduce the various awards.

The Golden Globes is one of Hollywood's key award ceremonies ahead of the Oscars, which take place next year on February 24 and will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane, creator of animated comedy "Family Guy."

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Todd Eastham and Eric Walsh)