Quickly following the aftermath of Brett Ratner and Eddie Murphy’s exit as Oscar producer and host, respectively, the Academy has picked itself up and now looks all the better for it. A day after Brian Grazer was tapped to jump in as producer of the event, perennial host Billy Crystal confirmed (and The Academy’s Twitter account re-tweeted, so there that is) he will step in to take on the duty of making wealthy, artistic people laugh once more.
This will be Crystal’s 9th time hosting the Academy Awards, second only behind Bob Hope‘s 18 turns as M.C.
Here was the actor’s confirmation tweet:
“Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions. Looking forward to the show.”
This is a step in a different direction for the Academy, which has recently tried to inject some young life into the show’s proceedings, with Hugh Jackman offering his showmanship a few years back to noted success and James Franco and Anne Hathaway doing exactly the opposite in late year’s fiasco.
It’s a smart move by the producing team, and a welcome return for Crystal in perhaps the most comfortable role he’s ever played on screen.
The Academy Awards take place on February 26th, 2012
What do you think of this move? Is this just the Academy playing it safe?