When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were sitting around brainstorming new ways to make the Oscars hip and cool for the youths of today, they should have been making a list of potential hosts. Because the Oscars are on February 24, 2019 and a host still hasn’t been announced.
The Hollywood Reporter posted an article about how no one wants to host the Oscars. They actually call it the “least wanted job in Hollywood.” Really? I would have thought that honor goes to whoever is hired to clean the wax nuggets off Johnny Depp’s earpiece after a scene. THR writes that ever since Billy Crystal gave up his sporadic hosting streak in the 2000s, the AMPAS has had a hard time finding someone who wanted to host more than twice. Back in the day, it seemed like hosts would stick around forever. Bob Hope hosted 19 times, Billy Crystal hosted 9, Johnny Carson did it 5 times. Then the numbers start to dwindle in the 2000s. Jimmy Kimmel and Ellen DeGeneres did it twice, and a bunch of random hosts tried it once. And according to THR, it’s because many of the latter hosts have vowed never to do it again.
THR blames it on a change in viewership. When Bob Hope and Johnny Carson were hosting, there were only three TV networks, and so everyone watched the Oscars when it aired. Now there’s a million TV network options, and people would rather watch anything other than actors gush over gold-plated statues. Viewership has continued to fall significantly since 2014. Last year’s broadcast took in 26.5 million viewers, a steep drop from 2017’s broadcast, which saw 33 million.
It doesn’t help that people keep passing on the gig. Plenty of stars like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Oprah, The Rock, and Jerry Seinfeld have all said no. The AMPAS could go with a popular late-night host like Stephen Colbert or James Corden, but they work at different networks, and ABC isn’t into that. The AMPAS also wants to play it safe with their choice of host, and have someone who can entertain without being offensive in any way.
So we know they’re looking for someone bland, but recognizable, that everyone will like, and possibly someone already hosting a show at ABC. Um, hello? They’ve got the perfect host right under their nose: America’s Funniest Home Videos host Alfonso Ribeiro! Who doesn’t love Carlton Banks? No one. Plus, when the show inevitably gets boring, Alfonso can save the show by throwing to a clip of a dad getting hit in the nuts with a baseball.
Pic: ABC via Wenn.com
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