Oscar hosts come in two flavors.
There are filmdom insiders — Hugh Jackman, Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, etc. — and filmdom outsiders such as David Letterman, Chris Rock and Jon Stewart.
More from Lisa de Moraes
Pulitzer Prize winner, Peabody recipient, Medal of Freedom honoree -- Lisa de Moraes is none of these, but she is an authority on the bad direction, over-acting, and muddled plot lines being played out in the TV industry's executive suites.
(Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) - Seth MacFarlane helped with the unveiling of the Academy nominations in January, drawing ire for some of his quips during the presentation.
Looking for things to do?
Select one or more criteria to search
Outsiders tend to favor a scorched-earth approach.
Remember Rock’s “Who is Jude Law” Oscar gag? “You want Tom Cruise and all you can get is Jude Law? Wait! . . . Why is he in every movie I have seen, the last four years? Even the movies he’s not acting in, if you look at the credits, he made cupcakes or something,” which got presenter Sean Penn hopping mad?
Scorched earth.
This year’s host, Seth MacFarlane, is a member of the outsiders, although, yes, he directed, co-produced, co-wrote and co-starred in “Ted” — the highest-grossing, original R-rated comedy film of all time.
Mostly, MacFarlane’s known as the guy TV critics love to hate — the brains behind Fox’s animated “Family Guy,” the much-derided magnet for young-guy viewers, the elusive unicorns of the television industry.
Looking to put his stamp on the Oscar-hosting tradition, MacFarlane decided not to wait for the actual ceremony to begin scorching the earth. In January, MacFarlane became the first Academy Awards host to help unveil the nominees since Charlton Heston, more than 40 years ago.
“These are five people who are the very best at sitting in a chair and watching other people make a movie,” MacFarlane snipped after the best-director noms were announced.
“These are adapted screenplays, so that means that the writers basically copied stuff from Microsoft Word and pasted it into Final Draft,” he cracked when the names of the movies nominated for best adapted screenplay were read.
MacFarlane no doubt was inspired by Jimmy Kimmel’s performance at the Emmy nominations unveiling last July — Kimmel having stepped in gallantly to participate in the pre-dawn ceremony, in his jammies, when “Parks & Rec’s” Nick Offerman bailed at the 11th hour, and turned the moment into gold:
“The Emmys should be spelled ‘M-E’, ’cause that what this is all about,” Kimmel quipped at the nom-name reading.
“I think they all stink. I don’t like any of them,” he said of his fellow nominees, after it was announced his show had received its first nomination for best late-night talk show.
“Only old people get up this early, I guess,” he snarked when Betty White’s nomination for outstanding reality show host was greeted with loud cheers in the TV academy theater where the unveiling was held.
The Reporters Who Cover Trophy Shows lapped it up.
“If Thursday’s announcement of the Emmy Awards nominations is any indication, TV fans will be laughing out loud when the show, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, airs live Sept. 23 . . . because Kimmel . . . was a hoot,” People magazine raved. There was loads more where that came from.
MacFarlane aped Kimmel during the Oscar noms-naming — but died on stage.
“Seth MacFarlane Shows Hollywood Just How Big of a Jerk He’ll Be at the Oscars,” stormed the Atlantic Wire in a headline when it was over.
“In the less than 10 minutes it took to announce the nominees, MacFarlane managed to insult his co-presenter, belittle the achievements of several nominees and make a Hitler joke,” sniffed Slate, which appears not to know that MacFarlane makes Hitler jokes like other people breathe.
