Martin And Baldwin To Host The Oscars Wow. We did NOT see that coming... Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Whoa – just when you thought the Oscars had lost its capacity to surprise, along comes news like this. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin have been tapped to co-host the 82nd Academy Awards ceremony next March.
Martin, of course, has hosted the ceremony before on two occasions, but this will be Baldwin’s first time. The ceremony has had multiple hosts before, but this is the first time, according to The Hollywood Reporter, that two people will have hosted the Oscars while standing in the same room since the very first ceremony in 1929, when Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and William C. DeMille pulled double duty. And who can forget how that turned out.
We’ve no idea how this new pairing will work, but frankly we’re hugely excited. It’s something fresh and different, even if the potential for Roy Evans/Gerard Houllier-style disaster is very real, and the Oscars can never have enough of both elements. Both Baldwin and Martin – who are vying with each other for the Saturday Night Live guest hosting record – are extremely funny guys and, let’s not be coy, frickin’ legends.
And, although our initial reaction was that this would simply be a shameless way of plugging their upcoming film, It’s Complicated, in which they play two guys competing for Meryl Streep’s affections, that movie comes out in December, almost three months before the ceremony. So we prefer to think of this as a victory for the wonderful 30 Rock, in which Martin once guest-starred and which, of course, Baldwin dominates.
The decision is a sign that new Oscar producers, Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic, are determined to shake things up. "We think the team of Steve and Alec are the perfect pair of hosts for the Oscars,” they said, as a single entity, in a statement.
"Steve will bring the experience of having hosted the show in the past and Alec will be a completely fresh personality for this event." And the jokes have already started, with Martin calling Baldwin “his enemy”. Mark March 7 in your film calendar, folks. This could be a good ‘un.
Great choice, but who actively introduces himself as Bill Mechanic? Is he a terrible robot in disguise? He's about as incognito as Bill Cosby in South Park. ... Read More
Iv'e already marked March 7th. It's my birthday. Ha!
Erm, i'm not really sure how significant that is here though.
Best of luck Steven and the Baldwin brother. ... Read More
The intention of hosting the Oscars is not to piss everyone off. The intention is to be entertaining and funny, Letterman was neither. Who can forget his awful "Uma/Oprah" running gag? Letterman is widely recognised as the worst Oscar host of recent years, if not all time. ... Read More
You kidding me!? Letterman was awesome - he pissed everyone off. I think Jon Stewart did a great job a couple of years ago as well, under difficult circumstances. ... Read More
from his 30 Rock guest appearance it's that Steve Martin, despite all those turgid films, can still be VERY funny. His "don't fall in love with me" remark to Tina Fey when they presented an Oscar together at last year's cerimony was priceless! And Baldwin has gone through a career reinvention in the past few years. 30 Rock, his small role in The Departed, jeebus, even his Hulu advert are all proof that he can do funny. ... Read More
I liked the Steve Martin monologue at the Oscars when he called Jack Nicholson gay and old Jack played right up to it. Very funny stuff. As for him and Baldwin? Well, they can't be any worse than Letterman, can they? ... Read More
Yep, have to agree with FoxDhoj, and of course Mr Hewitt - the 30 Rock episode with Baldwin and Martin was superb, and Baldwin has turned out to be a comedy genius, so this could be one show worth watching - just need to get Tina Fey to write it now... ... Read More
