Official word came in today that this year's Oscar ceremonies are going to be hosted by the tag-team duo of Anne Hathaway and James Franco. This seems like an obvious ploy to attract the Holy Grail of television ratings: the 18-44 audience. The Academy Award's ratings have been trending downward (for the most part) for about a decade or so and this is largely due to an evaporating younger audience that has lost interest in the once prestigious Oscars. I'm not sure if Franco and Hathaway are big enough names to draw in the "youngin's", but I guess this is the Academy's compromise between maintaining a certain level of professionalism and prestige, and appealing to the "chic and hip" crowd. The other interesting aspect of this choice is that it is almost a certainty at this point that James Franco will be nominated as Best Actor for "127 Hours", which creates an odd sort of conflict of interest situation. To my memory, there has never been a nominated actor that simultaneously hosted the Oscars, so whether Franco wins or loses I guess it should be interested (if not awkward). The main thing that bothers me about the decision is nether of these actors strike me as great comedians. It's true that Franco was funny in the stoner comedy "Pineapple Express", but that's because he was playing a character, not hosting an awards show. No matter how good a comedian is, the nature of the job is going to make it hard to pull off something memorably funny, but it would help if they actually used talented stand-up comedians. For instance, someone like the Golden Globe's host Ricky Gervais would be good, but I guess they don't want to look at copy cats. I would also be excited to see a pairing Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. How about you? Who is your idea as a perfect Oscar host?
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