Academy Member Admits Franco and Hathaway Were Bad Oscar Hosts

By Michael Musto Sun., Mar. 6 2011 at 10:01 AM

In a very ungracious move, a high-ranking member of the Academy of blah, blah has given an interview saying that James Franco and Anne Hathaway were terrible choices as Oscar hosts.

Let me add to the ungraciousness by saying, "Hallelujah!"

The Academy member cites the two comely stars' lack of chemistry as a problem, not to mention the fact that they're not comics, so they weren't able to spontaneously react to the awards-show happenings as they played out around them.

Let me add the fact that Franco became more passive as Hathaway got more needy, and he even seemed to impulsively roll his eyes at some of her chirpy shtick. You could smell the hostility.

And the material!

The mystifying "let's-do-drag" routine went for cheap laughs and barely got them!

And the "On My Own" song they made poor Hathaway screech about how she was up there without Hugh Jackman made no sense to the vast majority of the populace, and wasn't funny even if you got it. (Hathaway and Jackman were never any classic Oscar couple to begin with, so this whole routine was extremely weird.)

Other stuff, like Franco's "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" remark, was similarly mysterious and cheesy.

Oh, well. Those two are super-talented and will survive.

But I've said it before, I'll say it again:

Stick to comics, Oscars!

We Recommend

corrective_unconscious

Talk about your thankless tasks....Speaking of which, while not a huge fan, I bet Musto hosting the Oscars would be memorable, if not palatable to the Academy. For sheer, cruel fun: Kathy Griffin.

Scruff712

Comic + going after a younger generation probably = Daniel Tosh. Based on the Academy's history of choosing hosts it seems likely. Maybe not next year, but sometime in the next few.

Jonster

Besides backstage bong blasts, Franco looked like he was trying to channel a disinterested James Dean. He always looks like he's stoned. Maybe it helps with the work but how does he get all these Ivy League degrees? Oh well, at least Allan Carr can rest easy in his grave knowing someone finally topped the awfulness of his Rob Lowe/Snow White debacle.

Amy

The word is uninterested.

egghumor

I stopped watching the Oscars a number of years ago. What I don't get is how often people complain about the bad scripts/jokes and yet they keep hiring Bruce Vilanch to write yet another groan of a show again and again. The problem I suspect is not the hosts, it's what they're expected to make work.