Deadline is reporting that the host of the 64th Academy Awards will be Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. Nikki Finke calls the choice “inspired” and refers to his well received hosting stint on Saturday Night Live’s fall premiere as “a tryout.”
It’s true that MacFarlane is tailor-made for an Oscar sing-along—in case you missed his album of old-fashioned crooners, Music Is Better Than Words, the man can really belt a tune. His talents as a voice-actor may also be put to good use. What’s more, MacFarlane’s notoriously digressive and disjunctive writing style would suit the stop-and-start setting of an awards ceremony better than it fits, say, narrative film or television—if, that is, he and his stable of writers will be providing any of the material. (Deadline doesn’t say.) On the other hand, his style of humor is not only fundamentally crass (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but also has a cruel edge to it, and neither of those qualities seem especially Oscar-friendly.
Otherwise, though, Oscar host might be just the gig MacFarlane was born to do. So long as he can find he mic this time. Here’s hoping that MacFarlane—a strong supporter of gay marriage who is nonetheless not above a homophobic joke or three—doesn’t think that rehearsal is only for gay people.
