OK, I (MOSTLY) TAKE IT BACK

Just two days ago I bemoaned Gil Cates’ hiring to produce the Academy Awards yet again. But one of, if not the, most important jobs of the Oscar-broadcast producer is the choice of host. Well today, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences announced that they’ve hired Chris Rock to host next February’s Oscar-cast.

There is absolutely postively not a better choice that could have been made in an attempt to draw younger viewers and a hipper sensibility to the show. I only hope that they don’t saddle him with too much Awards-show schtick and they work with Rock to develop a show that will mirror his sensibilities as its host. There’s only so far you can seemingly go in reformating an Awards show, and I don’t want to overstate the role of the host, but the personality of a show will often mimic that of its host, and with Rock leading the way, Oscar night could (hopefully) lose a bit of its oh-so-dull mantle. Huzzah.