How not to bomb as Oscar host
Oscar’s fluctuating ratings aside, the televised glam-fest remains for its hosts an unparalleled opportunity to either showcase their impeccable wit or bomb on the biggest stage in the world.
The list of hosts for the Academy Awards, whose 94th edition airs live Sunday (ABC, 8 EDT/5 PDT), is long and legendary, including nine-time master of ceremonies Billy Crystal as well as two-time hosts Chris Rock, Ellen Degeneres and, most recently, Jimmy Kimmel.
But Kimmel’s 2018 show was the last to have a host, when 2019’s choice, Kevin Hart, stepped down after his past homophobic tweets resurfaced. This year, the position has been reinstated and it falls to three talented women, only the second time a trio has done the honors: Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall.
While there is no guaranteed route to Oscar Hosting Fame, there are guidelines for avoiding Oscar Hosting Infamy. We offer up some do’s and don’ts for this year’s quick-witted stars:
Do: Something wildly unexpected
The possibilities are endless, as long as you add a pinch of good taste.
In 2014, Degeneres minted an Oscars Moment by cramming a gaggle of beaming stars, including Bradley Cooper and Meryl Streep, into her wide-angle phone lens for a selfie.
During a number of hosting gigs, Crystal created a clip reel where he popped himself into iconic movies and mind-read what the stars were thinking. (In 2000, Jack Nicholson’s face loomed on a large screen as Crystal mimicked: “You know what? I’m still the coolest guy in the room.”)
And in 2017, Kimmel surprised outof-towners on a Hollywood bus tour by bringing them into the Dolby Theatre during the telecast. He told one dazzled fan: “This is Ryan Gosling. He’s very handsome. Don’t look into his eyes!”
Don’t: Offend the celebrities
Walking that tightrope between being saying clever and offensive things to A-listers requires a deft mix of roomreading acumen and your own Hollywood star power.
There have been a number of uncomfortable moments, many courtesy of fearless comedian Rock, who in 2005 took a swing at Jude Law (“Who is Jude Law? You want Tom Cruise and all you can get is Jude Law? ... Why is he in every movie I have seen in the last four years?”).
But the all-time most offensive moment award goes to Oscar host and “Family Guy” creator Seth Macfarlane, who in 2013 tried to hitch his brand of racy humor to a classic Hollywood musical – and failed.
His song-and-dance number “We Saw Your Boobs,” in which Macfarlane runs down a painfully long list of female stars who bared their breasts in movies, was intercut with images of none-tooamused stars.
But do: Poke fun at Hollywood
In the early days of the Academy Awards, there was a palpable sense of reverence if not self-congratulation for the craft of moviemaking.
That hasn’t vanished, but in recent decades hosts have viewed the entire Tinseltown machine as fair game. “By the way,” joked host Steve Martin as the 2003 show opened, “the proceeds from tonight’s Oscar telecast, and I think this is so great, will be divvied up among huge corporations.”
But no one was more pointedly merciless about Hollywood’s shortcomings than host Rock, whose apex tell-it-likeit-is moment was his opening monologue in 2016, when #Oscarssowhite was trending and the lack of people of color in movies was being acknowledged as an addressable failure.
“I’m here at the Academy Awards – otherwise known as the White People’s Choice Awards,” Rock cracked. He added that Black actors were pushing back only now because in the ’60s, “we had real things to protest at the time, you know? ... We were too busy getting raped and lynched to care about who won best cinematographer.”