By The show must go on, as they say. After Kevin Hart bowed out as the Academy Awards emcee, the annual Oscars awards ceremony will go on without a host. The last time a black comedian stepped down as Oscars host (Eddie Murphy in 2011) as a result of homophobic comments (in Murphy’s case, from his producer and overall massive tool Brett Ratner), the show nabbed frequent host Billy Crystal—this time around, the Academy will try a different approach.
Producers for the ceremony will reportedly try to enlist a horde of A-list celebrities for various segments, rather than focus on one single host for a monologue and probably some silly video opening before it. The last time the Oscars went on without a host was for the 1989 ceremony, which infamously had an 11-minute musical number featuring Rob Lowe and Snow White. Seems like we’re overdue for a throwback to that!
It’s a situation that seems surprising at first, but in the past few years, the gig has been a thankless job that all celebrities seem to be adverse to. Jon Stewart and David Letterman once traded their own feelings of disdain for the role, Ellen Degeneres doesn’t seem to be interested anymore, awards show addicts Hugh Jackman and Neil Patrick Harris are nowhere to be seen, and so on.
Perhaps the Academy Awards themselves are still important in this day and age, but the ceremony itself is growing tedious and utterly pointless. I dream of a future where instead of a several-hours-long telecast, the Academy will instead leave trophies at winners’ front porches and knock on their doors before running away.
After Kevin Hart Debacle, Oscars Forge Ahead Hostless [Variety]