Amid news from ABC that the Oscars would return to having a host for the first time since 2018, Twitter has been throwing out all sorts of suggestions on who should take the job. And Judd Apatow thinks the show should turn to legendary comedy pals Steve Martin and Martin Short.
The filmmaker and producer said on social media that he’d pick Martin and Short to host the Oscars, the friends who reteamed alongside Selena Gomez for the recent Hulu hit series “Only Murders in the Building” more than 35 years after their film “Three Amigos!” with Chevy Chase played in theaters.
“I would like to see @SteveMartinToGo and Martin Short host. It would be pure joy and we need that,” he tweeted.
Martin also has experience hosting the Oscars, having done so on his own in 2001 and 2003 and alongside Alec Baldwin in 2010. Since then, the Academy has called on James Franco, Anne Hathaway, Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres, Neil Patrick Harris, Chris Rock and Jimmy Kimmel to host before going without one for the past three ceremonies after Kevin Hart dropped out of the job over years-old homophobic tweets.
Ultimately, it will be up to producer Will Packer to choose the new emcee, with whom he will have to find some way to revive flagging ratings for the Academy Awards. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, last year’s Oscars, which were broadcast from L.A.’s Union Station and produced by Steven Soderbergh, saw an audience drop of more than 50% to 10.4 million viewers, down from 23.6 million in 2020.
The Oscar nominees will be announced on Feb. 8, with the ceremony taking place March 27.
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