Hugh Jackman to host Oscars

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on December 12th, 2008

So, why should we care that Hugh Jackman has been chosen as the host of the Academy Awards telecast? Because it’s usually handled by a comedian. And the producers usually get a lot publicity by handling all the press speculation about how offensive/vulgar the comedian-host will be (after, of course, dropping hints in the press about just how offensive/vulgar the comedian-host might be). It’s a time-honored tradition.

We’re especially fascinated by this quote, from the People article:

The Australia star, 40, who’ll be hosting the Oscars for the first time, was selected “because we want the ceremony to be fun,” says Laurence Mark, producer of the telecast.

Fun? Fun?! Fun for whom, exactly? And how does a 40-year-old Australian actor who has just been crowned “The Sexiest Man Alive” become more fun than a comedian? (Even a comedian who “offends” the delicate sensibilities of the Hollywood cranks who assemble every year for this elaborate circle-jerk?)

We’re reading between the lines here. There is a whole new definition of what constitutes “fun” in Hollywood. Apparently, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldbert, Steve Martin, Jon Stewart, David Letterman, Bob Hope, Chris Rock and Johnny Carson getting up there and cracking wise about the winners, the losers, the nominees and the movies isn’t really fun. It’s off-putting, it’s offensive, it’s nothing more than an ego trip for the smug comics who simply don’t understand just how important Hollywood is and just don’t get that the product of The Dream Factory can change lives and make the world a better place.

We should’ve seen this coming. Here’s a chunk of Tom Shales’ review of Stewart’s ’06 hosting stint:

Stewart began the show drearily, loping through a monologue that lacked a single hilarious joke with the possible exception of “Bjork couldn’t be here tonight. She was trying on her Oscar dress and Dick Cheney shot her.”

That was about it– and Stewart had five months, working with his legions of writers from the Daily Show on Comedy Central, to come up with good material. It goes to prove that there’s still a big, big difference between basic cable and big-time network television after all.”

It got pretty ugly in ’06. Then they gave it to Ellen Degeneres. That was pretty awkward. But no one got offended. Then they brought back Stewart. There seems to be a tug of war going on– no one can decide on which kind of comic, which kind of humor, to use when skewering Tinseltown at their biggest party.

It’s the new Hollywood. They’re going to try it this way for a while.

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