Seth MacFarlane to host 85th Oscars

[Mister Tee]

There's a whiff of "At this point we'll try anything" about the decision. I don't know all that much about McFarlane -- Family Guy is one of many shows that some hip people swear by of which I've never watched a minute. I do seem to remember he was on The Daily Show when Ted came out.

I agree with BJ -- I'm intrigued to see someone so out-of-the-box given a try (this has got to be the least famous Oscar host of my lifetime) -- and also with Sabin: this will always have the potential to turn into Letterman II...a guy whose sensibility might be so far from the Academy norm that the Hollywood powers that be turn on it viciously. In fact, that's kind of the contradiction any Oscar producer faces: they're told to do something to draw in "the young crowd", but the people quoted the next day by Nikki Finke and Tom O'Neil will be guys in their 60s and 70s who miss the nice comedians of the Borscht Belt era.

[Sonic Youth]

I have no feeling about this one way or the other, since I wouldn't know who this guy was if he walked into my living room. I do know that I've seen enough of Family Guy - about 20 minutes worth, not to mention countless unfunny TV commercials - to know that it's pretty witless. But if they want Seth MacFarlane to host, fine. Let Seth MacFarlane host. It will be interesting for me to see an Oscar host with whom I have no familiarity with whatsoever, and see how a perfect stranger (to me) measures up to more familiar faces. On that level, maybe it'll be an interesting experiment.

[Sabin]

Not an awful choice at all.
Billy Crystal was pretty stale this past year. Didn't do much for me.
Franco & Hathaway were abysmal.
Steve Martin & Alec Balwin were intermittently engaging...Hugh Jackman, the same...

Seth MacFarlane is certainly an entertainer, a more than competent song and dance man with great comic timing and a planet full of voices in his head. I'm sure he can wheel out a few impersonations...or he'll have his people do animated parodies of every film. But he's impossibly smug, with his grin creasing shut those perennially closed self-satisfied eyes. This will be another Academy Awards ceremony that aims to ridicule the movies nominated and the institution, perhaps more than any we've seen before.

[The Original BJ]

I've been forced to watch Family Guy on countless occasions by friends and roommates over the years, and I can't say I've ever really been taken with its sense of humor...but I kind of like this (really unexpected, to me) choice anyway.

For starters, there's something so unusual about someone at his fame level being asked to host. Surely my generation is familiar with him, but I'd bet there's a sizable chunk of my parents' generation (and older) who have never heard of the guy. And even among those who know his resume, even less would be able to put a face to the name (recent SNL hosting gig notwithstanding). I think it's admirably risky for the Academy to pick a host on something other than massive fame.

Also, I like that someone who is, first and foremost, a comedy writer/producer has been given an opportunity like this. The potential for an entertaining show seems quite a bit higher than giving the gig to well-known (and not untalented) actors who just don't have the skills necessary to pull off a hosting gig (i.e. Hathaway/Franco).

And if this choice clearly seems an attempt to pull in a younger audience, it does so in a way that actually seems inspired and edgy, rather than pandering, or straining to be hip by throwing tradition to the winds.

[Sonic Youth]

I've always considered Mel Blanc never hosting to be one of the great crimes of Oscar history.

[OscarGuy]

I'm flabbergasted.

This is probably the most bizarre choice the Academy has ever made. It would be like asking the South Park guys to host. I still think it could be quite entertaining...and it will definitely get tongues wagging.

[anonymous1980]

Story..

He's a man who's hit or miss for me. I hate Family Guy but I think American Dad is hysterical.