The Oscars will finally have a host again... but who?
Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at 4:35PM by Nathaniel R
This just in: The Oscars will have a host again after two years of going without, two very tumultuous years! We assume that the Academy will select someone safe, like Jimmy Kimmel again, but we really hope they take a risk and think "entertainer" rather than "talk show host". Given the Academy's talk show host preferences we live in absolute fear of James Corden being asked to host. But the Oscars are not meant to be a conversation but a spectacle/party. The best hosts have nearly always been Oscar-ceremony loving actors who are naturally fun (funny is less important) and at ease with live performance like Hugh Jackman, Whoopi Goldberg, or Billy Crystal. We know Hugh Jackman is off the table as a returning host since he's in the middle of a Broadway run with the revival of The Music Man. We're not sure who started the "Tom Holland should host" thing on the internet (during the Spider-Man No Way Home Oscar-campaign frenzy) but he'd mostly fit that bill minus maybe the Oscar-loving part. We enjoy him onscreen but in interviews he doesn't sound remotely aware of THE MOVIES beyond his own tiny corner of them. Nevertheless he'd probably be a good risk. He's charismatic, a great dancer, and very popular at the moment.
In our actressexual world here at TFE we always dream of naturally hilarious actresses hosting...
Imagine Emma Thompson, kicking off her painful shoes, mid-hosting. Hell, pair her with her Cruella co-star Emma Stone who gives off a similar kind of 'life of the party while not taking it too seriously' energy. Or imagine Meryl Streep being silly for three hours. Heaven.
Pitching unlikely Oscar hosts is always great fun. We giggled all throughout our friend Joe Reid's twitter thread of suggestions:
50 Recommended Hosts for the Oscars:
— Joe Reid (@joereid) January 11, 2022
1. The pig from "Pig"
2. The lamb from "Lamb"
3. The Boss Baby
4. Baby Annette
5. Bruno pic.twitter.com/OTwAC56pdF
But we know that naturally amusing actresses is not at all what the Oscars looks for in a host.
But what should they look for? We'd love your take in the comments.
No matter who the host ends up being above all else we wish the Academy would loosen up and try new things with the ceremony -- provided those things fit the needs of the ceremony (glamour & fun & movie love) and don't instead feel like desecrations of the institution, like so many of the ideas floated have. Whenever people suggest leaving the craft categories off the air we personally know that they have never understood why the Oscars remain the greatest and most discussed of all awards shows (and still the highest rated despite every media effort to convince you otherwise).
It's a high pressure moment for the Oscars and we feel for the Board of Governors at the Academy. We've often felt that one of their problems is lack of confidence in their brand -- judging from the frequent changes and thankfully aborted bad ideas like "popular film" Oscar and chucking the craft categories off the air -- but at this point the insecurity is a little bit warranted. The tumultuous changes in the industry, which have been highly acerbated by COVID-19 have everyone in Hollywood on shaky ground. Last year's disastrous experiment of a ceremony in which the glamour had to be curtailed and, much much worse, no clips from movies were shown in a legacy show entirely created to promote and celebrate movies! WTF? The show is now in recovery mode.
But whatever happens we hope that ratings aren't the focus of the story. The ongoing ratings slide is completely natural and we wish the media could acknowledge it as such. Nothing on television goes "up" in ratings now from 20th century viewing since everything is more niche and audiences are splintered and there are infinitely more options for entertainment at all times. This will not be changing. Once this is accepted as fact, things will get easier for the Oscars but it is not yet accepted as fact and the media doesn't yet seem willing to come to grips with that.
Oscar Ceremonies, Oscars (21), Tom Holland
Reader Comments (29)
Is Lin-Manuel Miranda too obvious? Maybe he has too many movies in the mix competitively for this year but he hits all the quadrants I'd think.
Would love to see Hugh Jackman return. Your actress suggestions are also great.
Normally, I would guess that it would be James Corden, but I wonder if being on CBS would keep him from hosting. I imagine ABC wouldn't want to highlight the competition.
I'd say bring back Jane Fonda - she's already done it twice, why not again? However, there is no way that happens.
I suspect the academy will chase Gen Z and try to get someone like Tom Holland, Zendaya, or Timothee Chalamet. However, if they were smart, they'd go with someone like Melissa McCarthy, who I could easily see being this generation's Whoppi Goldberg. She seems like she'd be a top tier host, and her sketch with Bryan Tyree Henry was really funny.
This is fun.
Perhaps the irreverent Graham Norton or a hosting team of Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock.
I second the nod to Ryan Reynolds. But I would pair him with Gal Godot or The Rock or both, rather than Sandra Bullock. Their combined chemistry and charisma would attract a higher number of viewers (see Red Notice) and they could easily pull off the lame banter with which hosts are often saddled. Besides, they have everything to gain by ingratiating themselves with the Academy.
Alternatively, let the multiple Spidermen co-host. Or bring in the Avengers to save the ratings.
I do not want to see the fucking Crock at the Oscars. Honestly, I would much prefer to see him at the Tokyo Dome where he gets beaten by the most sadistic motherfucker in the entire world of professional wrestling in Minoru Suzuki who will remind Dwayne that all of his charisma won't save him when death is on the fucking line!
Bowen Yang would be fun. Tracee Ellis Ross could be a safe but still out of the box in-network choice.
Here's my random pick: Daniel Radcliffe.
DAVIDE -- i will never understand why people think bringing in the avengers would save ratings. If people dont care about the Oscars now, they're not going to care just because an actor who plays a superhero hosts. I think this is evident in the fact that actors who play superheroes dont' have enormous hits when they're not playing those big superheroes. The superheroes themselves, not the actors, are the draw.
I want the Muppets to host this year's Oscars and here is a list of who I want as alternatives just in case at https://www.imdb.com/list/ls500167638?ref_=rltls_3.
Why not RUPAUL??? He is extremely popular, funny, well-liked. Seriously. Consider it!
Also the DragRace premiere just had the highest ratings in years… it would definitely be a bold progressive pick!
I'm all for hosting duos:
Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively
Tom Hanks & Meryl Streep
Bette Midler & RuPaul
Tracee Ellis Ross & Tom Holland
Kristen Wiig? Ben Stiller?
I just realized that Will Packer is producing. He's worked with most of Black Hollywood, and has a sense of choosing comedy talent.
I'm tempted to say that he could get someone like Issa Rae or Tiffany Haddish, but I suspect Queen Latifah is a top contender? She feels like she has the right mix of humor, gravitas, likeability and name recognition to pull this off. She's also a previous nominee.
I'd love to see her and Melissa McCarthy do this.
I vote for Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig to co-host! They are beyond hilarious whenever we are lucky enough to have them as presenters.
@ Joe G.
Oooooo...Tiffany Haddish and Keke Palmer co-hosting. But they'd never let two outspoken Black women host that show.
Steve Martin. Classy, funny, witty. Perfect.
this doesn’t necessarily fulfill the fun part of the brief but a succession of former winners who could talk - seriously or facetiously - about winning. start with recent winners and work backwards to living legends, adding gravitas so by the time we get to the final award [best picture, producers] there’s a sense of earned history
I said Maya Rudolph elsewhere, maybe teamed with Steve Martin who's back on people's radar with his new series. They wouldn't exactly dazzle younger people, though.
How about Dan Levy? He'd be a charming host, but I can't see him eliciting belly laughs in a monologue.
I am completely serious...
Florence Pugh
John Waters. He's been around long enough to become a beloved elder statesman; he can say the harsh things that need to be said in a way that will have everyone laughing; and he can't be embarrassed out of the job because giving equal offense to everyone has been the basis of his career.
Who I think they'd prefer - Tom Holland
Idea in this thread that makes tons of sense - Ryan Reynolds
But my first thought was - Elizabeth Banks
@Ben Miller-AMEN!!!!!! She's just fucking awesome.
Nathaniel -. I've never actually seen an Avengers film, but I am aware of some of the actors who play superheroes in those movies precisely because they have had popular success in other non-superhero projects. Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner have all had big hits at the box office: they have drawn audiences to a wide variety of films. And I'm sure you must know this as well as I do.
Jake Gyllenhaal, and maybe with a co-host. Anne Hathaway if she's out of Oscar probation? Emily Blunt?
So the thing about Tom Holland—if you're a calculating producer—is that he comes with an "entourage" of stars and a ton of gags that almost write themselves:
- Zendaya (his co-star girlfriend) & Timothée Chalamet (her co-star)
- Anthony Mackie & Sebastian Stan (his red carpet/interview "nemeses")
- Tom Hiddleston & Benedict Cumberbatch (his "babysitters")
- Robert Downey, Jr. (his "mentor")
- Jake Gyllenhaal (his pal)
- Andrew Garfield & Tobey Maguire (his "brothers")
- Mark Wahlberg & Antonio Banderas (his next co-stars)
- Robert Pattinson, Riley Keough, Bill Skarsgård, Jason Clarke, Haley Bennett, Eliza Scanlen, Mia Wasikowska, Sebastian Stan again (his castmates from The Devil All the Time)
- Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Oaklee Pendergast & Samuel Joslin (an Impossible family reunion)
etc. etc. (and they all have something to sell right now and/or would make the most of the exposure)
Even if the ratings don't improve, it could be quite the party.
All I can think about is what happened the last time the Oscars desperately tried to bring in a newer hipper crowd and all we got was James Franco stoned on TV for 3 hours. On paper, Holland and Zendaya sound like good choices (both are energetic, of the moment, and have backgrounds singing/dancing) but honestly the format without a host seemed to be working fine. Good luck to whoever gets picked. They will need it.
Anyone but freaking Tom Holland. That is the epitome of pandering
Ricky Gervais would be perfect though LMFAO Get off your high horses cause he would be brilliant.
As long as they bring Oscar clips again and cut the bullshit
My hope, every year, is that the Muppets will host.
Fadhil -- i will never understand why people want someone who hates showbiz awards to preside over the handing out of showbiz awards. I despised him hosting the Globes.