September 30th, 2008 -- Written by Rodney
Mr. Gervais isn’t out of the running for the Oscars; he just doesn’t have it in the bag. We get this news of clarification from the Oscar lords themselves thanks to the thespian caves of Yahoo:
No doubt the Extras funnyman knows how to crack us up, but reports of him already being a leading contender for hosting duties have been greatly—well, hugely—exaggerated.“We haven’t made one single phone call,” Larry Mark, who was announced yesterday as a coproducer of the 81st Annual Academy Awards show with writer-director Bill Condon (above, left with Jennifer Hudson and Mark), told me earlier today. “There has been no reaching out.” “We haven’t gotten that far yet,” said Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. “We’re just not there yet.”
I wouldn’t mind Gervais as an Oscars host. I think he’s certainly talented enough to pull it off; I’m just not sure he’s the correct choice this year. Following up a very poor ratings year, I think it may be time to tap Mr. Clooney for the job. He has widespread appeal and the necessary wit to be a successful host.
Eventually, I would like them to give Steve Martin another shot. I enjoyed his hosting and thought his jokes were the best oscar zingers of my lifetime.
International friends - would you like to see Gervais get the gig? If not him, then who?
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Naw, not Gervais. I just don’t see him as host material for anything. Steve Martin is the only person I want to see hosting it right now. The last time he did it reminded me just how funny he still can be, despite the movies he ends up in these days.
I’d rather it be someone more involved in the Hollywood community. Yes, Ricky’s an actor, but people don’t really know him.
That could also work in his favor. No one knows him, so people don’t come in with expectations, and he blows it out of the water. Part of the reason why Chris Rock sucked to me is because I was expecting him to be raunchy, and he was neutered. Ellen Degeneres…I don’t know what I expected, but she sucked, and nearly caught Penelope Cruz’s dress in her vacuum cleaner. Jon Stewart I expected to be a bit more political, and he really wasn’t. I did like him playing the Wii with the little girl, though:) I agree with John’s previous wish of getting Clooney to do it. He’s such a fucking pimp. He could stand up there with a glass of Scotch in his hand and own that whole fucking room.
And I know Dougie wrote the post, but John has been begging Clooney to do it for a while. Just clarifying before the correction police roll in here.
Gervais wouldn’t be terrible but it’s not a right fit for him or the oscars, clooney would be good.
Robert Downey Jr.?
Will Ferrell. All his previous award skits have been brilliant (Neil/Lance Armstrong Song, Comedians at the Oscars). The Oscars need him.
Ricky maybe… but how about Ben Elton.
He would be bloody brilliant! To bad the event is to lame for him to do properly.
english comedians should not do the oscars…..half there comedy americans dont get and the other half is meh at best.
Not a fan of this guy.
Him hosting the oscars wouldn’t be a big deal to me because the oscars are pants anyway.
Ricky Gervais’ style of humor is just not suited for the oscars.
The guy is probably the most talented comedian there is at the moment, but i’m afraid he’s too offensive for the oscars. The people in charge would ruin his material with censorship.
He would be forced to use very subtle innuendo and puns (which he does very well) but 80% of americans just wouldn’t get it.
Peace
(Greetings from New Zealand)