Hollywood’s 2005 box office woes has its new year’s hangover. According to the L.A. Times, Jon Stewart will be hosting the Oscars this year, to ensure that the show is even more politicized than last year’s, and probably with similar results in the ratings, as the Times article foreshadows:
But the barbed political humor of his nightly show on Comedy Central figures to make Stewart a perfect fit for the Oscars, especially in a year when many contenders–including “Brokeback Mountain,” “Good Night, and Good Luck, ” “Crash,” “Munich,” “Syriana” and “The Constant Gardener”–feature political and social themes.
Stewart will reportedly take at least a week off from “The Daily Show” to prepare for the Oscars, though hosts often spend far longer preparing for the task. Billy Crystal, in particular, often took a couple of months to plan, shoot and assemble his opening film and craft his song medley.
None of those films lit up the box office in 2005, and if Stewart bombs out as a performer, the Times has already supplied his ready-made excuse.
Update: Scott Ott “reports” that Old Hollywood will have a rebuttal to its four-hour love fest this year:
Just hours after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named Comedy Channel news anchor Jon Stewart to host this year
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