Conan hosting the Oscars? This could work
Hosting the Academy Awards is the most thankless job in showbiz- but Coco could be the exception.
When it comes to Oscar hosts, I’ve been consistent for quite a few years: It’s a thankless job, and it’s no wonder nobody wants it.
Whether you’re an actor, a comedian, or a singer, Oscar hosting isn’t a gig that lets anybody consistently do what they’re best at. The structural challenges of the Academy Awards are such that it’s hard for the host to shine, and if the show is considered a disappointment and the ratings are down — which, let’s face it, is the case most years — the host will wind up getting the blame.
Jimmy Kimmel has done a serviceable job the last few years but has clearly wanted to get out of the Oscar-hosting game.
John Mulaney killed as host of the Governor’s Awards last year, and as a presenter at the Oscars — remember his Field of Dreams bit? — so everyone saw him as a natural as the next Oscars host. But he turned them down early on, mostly because he had other projects going on at the same time (and also, as my parasocial freaks know, he just became a father again.) Even beyond that, would hosting the Oscars allow him to do John Mulaney things for three-and-a-half hours?
After another annual panic about the lack of an Oscar host, the Academy announced their choice last week: Conan O’Brien, who will serve as Oscars emcee for the first time, on March 2.
Sure, he was probably their fifth choice. And yes, he might run into the same trouble that the talented likes of Jon Stewart, Chris Rock, and Neil Patrick Harris have in the past. That said, I’m excited about this, and I think it could work.
I’m a Conan Guy and always have been. The way a lot of people talk with early reverence about the 1980s incarnation of David Letterman is how I view Conan. The peak of his Late Night show was when I was in college, and young enough to stay up to watch a show that started at 12:30, and my roommates and I would laugh so hard that we would occasionally wake up the neighbors.
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