Nobody one should ever do it alone—again.
That’s paraphrasing the Neil Patrick Harris song which opened up the 82nd annual Academy Awards ceremony. But in the case of the Oscars broadcast, whomever helms the production yearly may want to consider letting duos host it for good.
After years of recalling some of the best hosts (Billy Crystal and Hugh Jackman) and scratching your head to scarcely remember some of the worst (Ellen DeGeneres and many more) the 2010 Oscar hosting team of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin was a hit. They injected a hilarious new energy into a nearly century old tradition; there was plenty self deprecating humor, barbs between them, funny taped segments and my favorite part of all— pokes at the Academy Award nominees themselves. Which, in all good fun, is always refreshing because so many actors can occasionally take themselves so seriously. Pointing the ego-deflating bow and arrow at those in attendance serves as reminder that’s it’s ‘just an awards show folks.’ And Martin and Baldwin proved that hosts can actually walk that fine line between gently ribbing and 'putting on a show' seemlessly without acrid overtones. The newly birthed comedy duo of Martin and Baldwin definitely deserves a return hosting engagement, and if the audience for this broadcast is any indication they just might get it. Viewership for the 82nd Academy Awards was up 14% from last year—the highest audience the show has enjoyed in five years.
Not only did this year pioneer how the Oscars could be hosted, it was also a year honoring wonderful first wins. The Hurt Locker’s six awards was topped by the Best Director win, helping director Kathryn Bigelow make history as the first female director ever bestowed with the honor. After decades in the industry veteran Best Actor winner Jeff Bridges (for Crazy Heart) and romantic comedy queen Best Actress winner Sandra Bullock (for The Blind Side) each got their first year in the winners circle. BET talk show host and Best Supporting Actress winner Mo’Nique (for Precious) paid homage to the first black Oscar winner, Hattie McDaniel, in her acceptance speech. And Geoffrey Fletcher became the first African American screenwriter in Oscar history to win the coveted trophy, for Best Adapted Screenplay also for Precious.
It was also a broadcast that sought to celebrate youth and bridge the gaps between young Hollywood and the established guard. The stirring tribute to late director John Hughes, the cinematic pied piper of teenage angst, was capped off by an onstage reunion of the various graduating classes of some of his most popular films. Despite their mostly fortysomething faces and physiques the assembled group, which included Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy and Anthony Michael Hall were reminders that thanks to Hughes' body of work the group will forever be christened our eternal big screen, high school best friends forever.
In their own way the directors of this year Oscar broadcast, yet another duo, Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman sought to pass that torch from our perennial onscreen 80s teens to the actors who play them today. The new and young Hollywood including Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried and Taylor Lautner, were all represented and appeared on the broadcast for Oscar presenting duties. But then finally, nothing commemorates a celebratory night more than dance. And having Shankman, a So You Think You Can Dance judge, codirect the Oscars meant we got the eye dazzling The League of Extraordinary Dancers troupe to interpret the best song nominees. LXD were so unbelievably amazing—watching them was akin to having defibrillators placed on your chest just when you thought you were about to doze off. And that wasn't because the Oscar broadcast was boring; it even had it's own Kanye West moment when director Roger Ross Williams, winner for best documentary short got rushed on stage by his film's ostracized producer.
Yes as always, the 82nd annual Academy Awards broadcast was long. But overall this year, it was also exceptionally good.
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