Jimmy Kimmel Is Your Oscar Host
Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at 12:24AM Chris here with a long-awaited announcement. After months of waiting we finally have our Oscar host: comedian Jimmy Kimmel. The choice is somewhat expected considering The Oscars will be on ABC and he's their current flagship late-nighter. If Kimmel is either overly safe or uninspired, remember things could be even worse: Jimmy Fallon is hosting the Golden Globes and James Corden is hosting the Grammys. Maybe we should find hosting options beyond the James/Jimmys of the world?
The next concern is what a Kimmel-hosted Oscarcast will look and sound like. Oscar hosts typically have at least nine months to prepare, so might he just rely on his standard late-night schtick? One shudders to think what a Mean Tweets segment might look like with our favorites like Viola Davis being potential victims. However, wouldn't it be something to see Isabelle Huppert lead one of those "I ate all of your Halloween candy" pranks - like duping the eventual nominees into believing their nomination has been revoked?
Kimmel pulled off some good notices for hosting the Emmys, but he doesn't have much of a film background. We'll see if he does enough catch up on this year's films to make the smooth transition. What do you think of Kimmel as a host?
Reader Comments (38)
Trying hard to stay positive,but....*nervous laughter* At least it's not Jimmy Fallon, right???
We need J. Law as a host. Her farting and falling is adorable!
On the plus side: Matt Damon.
I wonder if Samantha Bee would ever be up for hosting something like this.
Yup, yup. Could be worse as you said. At least it's not Jimmy Fallon.
And honestly after this year, a safe predictable choice is probably what was the top priority for whoever was picking the host.
Kate McKinnon and Kumail Nanjiani absolutely *slayed* the Independent Spirit Awards...Why not them?
We'll see if he does enough catch up on this year's films to make the smooth transition.
Late night hosts tend to be very up-to-date on what's happening in pop culture, so I think he'll be fine in that regard.
I think Kimmel is a good choice. His recent Emmy hosting gig was very solid, and he's good with celebrity skits, etc.
I don't want the host to have any "bits" any more. I just want them to say hello, and introduce the presenters. And I don't want any "themes" from other years.
I don't want the host to impose his personality or style on the proceedings. I am so sick of hosts and their stupid jokes and their failure to appreciate anything interesting. They slow down the show, and they are not the reason I am watching.
Wasn't there one year where 4 different actors/actresses shared the hosting between them?
As long as there is a fight between him and Matt Damon, I'll watch it.
Will be interesting to see if he goes after Trump. He did at the Emmy's, but that was prior to the election. I look forward to Guillermo's antics.
Do we have more options ?
Anything is better than the atrocity that was Hathaway and Franco.
I am sure Kimmel will be nice and polite. He won't dare upset Donald Trump or any of his deplorable supporters like Jon Voight, Steven Seagal and Clint Eastwood.
I just hope some of the other actors like Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro and Bryan Cranston let it rip and do a Michael Moore and tell Trump what 3/4 of the entire world think of him.
Being from the UK, I don't watch Kimmel's late night show, but from seeing him on previous awards shows, he has done some funny, close-to-the-knuckle bits: just at this year's Emmys he called out Maggie Smith for never showing up, pretended to bring out Bill Cosby, embarrassed the producer of The Voice for creating Trump, etc.
I don't think he will be as safe and sycophantic as everyone assumes.
I hope he gives a short intro speech -full of reaction shots- and disappears.
Boring! It was expected since ABC has more say in these things with the new deal with the Academy but they so should go outside of late night hosts for this gigs. Still dreaming that they will give the job to Kevin Spacey at least once, he would kill it.
He's a middle of the road choice, which may be a relief. I hope he does as well as Ellen did a few years ago. Kimmel is very good friends with Emily Blunt & John Karanski, and did quite well with the Emmy's.
I do wish they would go for some of the funny women - my dream line up is either Tina & Amy or Melissa McCarthy & Sandra Bullock.
Kimmel always aces awards shows, is funny with a nice bit of edge (it's not like he'll skip out on Trump this year-how could you possibly?), and Carson hosted for years with very little connection to the world of cinema. I think this is worth a shot, and kind of stunning that ABC has never pushed this before considering his post-Oscar show is usually solid and he's their only late night host.
Plus, he's a million times better than Jimmy Fallon.
Emma Thompson and Meryl Streep!
Um, no connection to movies? So who are all those guests on those late night shows? Oh, just the actors IN the films, with a handful of directors, writers, and producers.
.
i think jimmy kimmel KILLED as the emmy host...wonderfully funny, not safe and in fact perfect balance between appropriate and inappropriate. i think he's a great choice for oscars...a thousand times funnier than chris rock, that's for sure.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah, I usually can't stand Kimmel, BUT I was really impressed with his performance hosting the Emmys, so I'm thinking at least this won't be terrible.
Although if I'm being honest, I really wish they'd bring Whoopi back. We need some more color on that stage - literally and figuratively.
And every year I say: Bette Midler.
Part of me wishes that they would just make Ellen the default Billy Crystal/Bob Hope Oscar host of this era. She likes movies and movie stars, both the home and the in-house audiences like her, and she isn't risque, which is important, considering that children are watching. But I understand she doesn't want the work of hosting every year.
I wonder if they approached Amy Schumer. They hardly ever have women host (and if they do it's only Whoopi or Ellen, with the random one-off of Hathaway as co-host) and Tina and Amy have said they don't want to do it. Now that Schumer is part of the film world due to Trainwreck, she could've been a fun choice.
The two best recent hosts have been Hugh Jackman and Steve Martin. A level of class is required for the job. Kimmel does not have it quite yet. An uninspired choice.
I'm very happy with Kimmel. I think he is very funny and could be a great host. I would love to see Billy Eichner host though.
The last Oscars show that I thought was stellar was the 2008/9 Oscars with Hugh Jackman as host because it was a great tribute to Hollywood glamour and it was impeccably organized. I wish the Oscars would bring back those producers as they put together a great show.
My beef with the Oscars these days is that they make the telecast too much like late night shows and it doesn't work for a 3 hour telecast.
I know that Eddie Murphy is a polarizing figure but I think he has the showmanship and hilarity to anchor the show. Make the Oscars Great Again!
His light roasting of Maggie Smith is just the right amount sting the ceremony needs.
Paul Outlaw: Honestly, I think this gig should lean, primarily, on the great un-nominated (as in 0 and anyone seriously in the hunt for a nom in a given year (cough, that was the grossest part of Franco being the co-host, cough) should be DQ'd from Oscar hosting consideration) between a standby or two. Simon Pegg. ScarJo. John Goodman. Jason Bateman. David Oyelowo. Emily Blunt. In my mind, THOSE are among what the typical field should be for Oscar Hosts. Yes, that mind set turns the typical Oscar hosting field into both a hyper eclectic roster of potentials AND a de facto honorary, but to that I respond: 1. That just adds to the surprise and anticipation "How would they do it" and 2. Shouldn't it be viewed that way anyway?
They pick these talk show hosts because no film actor wants to touch it. In my fantasy, it would be Meryl Streep hosting with Emily Blunt, or Meryl Streep hosting with Amy Schumer. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. they would be funny, but probably don't want to do it. So, we get Kimmel. Cry face.
But with Kimmel, even more reason to nominate Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. They want ratings, so why not nominate real movie stars who did great work? If you have Kimmel and a squad of unknowns, the ratings will tank. Just my humble opinion.
@ Volvagia
Simon Pegg, John Goodman, Jason Bateman: yes. They have the charm, comedy chops and don't-give-a-fuck ease. ScarJo, David Oyelowo, Emily Blunt: no. They all might get self-conscious and choke in a crunch.
Bette Midler is a movie star, a singer, an incredible live performer and quite irreverent. With her return to Broadway this spring in Hello, Dolly!, the timing would have been perfect.
But they could also return to the multi-host format (late '50s, most of the '70s, late '80s): think of the modern-day equivalent of the 48th Academy Awards, hosted by Oscar winners John Huston and David Niven alongside past and future Oscar nominees Diana Ross and Burt Reynolds. Something along the lines of Oliver Stone, Jeremy Irons, Gabourey Sidibe and Chris Pratt.
Jane: Did you read what I said? Streep has 19 nominations, and three wins, from them. Hosting on top of that is too much. Yes, I'd want Blunt to get a shot at one point, but that's STRICTLY from a "she's never been nominated" perspective. The ratings tank for a variety of reasons (the other, bigger, one is a near pathological neglect of the mainstream), but partially because it's very similar styles of hosting every year. There's none of that "them?" sense of wonder and anticipation to even really try to draw in an increasingly jaded audience. Until he died, my #1 hope was that we'd get to see Alan Rickman, Hans Gruber and Severus Snape himself, hosting the proceedings to try and make up for that ZERO nomination career.
I nominate Leonard Pinth-Garnell
Yes!
Bette Midler or Whoopi Goldberg are my wishful thinking every year. But it's another straight white guy. Yawn. I'm sure he'll be solid, but it's just so predictable and uneventful. Sure Franco and Hathaway was a train wreck, but at least they were TRYING to do something different/interesting.
Not a huge fan of Kimmel's brand of comedy but I enjoyed his hosting of the Emmys like most people. Call me crazy but every time a television person hosts the Oscars, I think the result is mediocre. I think Ellen was successful because of her very original and unique person and being very much larger than life in her special way.
Julie. Andrews. Mic drop.