The mood is one of cautious contentment since the big announcement that Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin would be tag-teaming Oscar-hosting duties this year. (Movieline, meanwhile, was pleased to see that the Academy had come around to taking our advice on such matters, and can only hope they similarly see the light regarding our upcoming post, "They Should Totally Hold the Oscars On That World's Biggest Cruise Ship.") In any case, Martin and Baldwin seem a fitting choice -- their names even sound like a throwback comedy duo; we've compiled for you a list of talents these two veterans might draw upon to spice up the proceedings.
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Looks like the Oscars are into the whole group thing after all, as Nikki Finke reports that producers approached Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. to host the show together. Good move, but the duo declined, which probably owes a little bit to Downey Jr's ultra-packed schedule right now (and may rule out our dream co-host Tina Fey). Is it too late to approach Paranormal Activity's Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat and simply shoot the whole thing on video? [Deadline]
Everyone saw it coming, but at some point Hugh Jackman had to make it official: He will not be returning to host the Oscars in 2010, choosing instead to take time off between his Broadway run in A Steady Rain and Shawn Levy's film The Real Steel next spring. His reasoning: He didn't want to host the show two years in a row. So let the replacement speculation run wild today! Or just give it to Zach Galifianakis like seemingly every other job in Hollywood. [Variety]
While lauding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for its coup-like recruitment of Ricky Gervais to host the upcoming Golden Globes, the LAT's Patrick Goldstein buried a response from Academy president Tom Sherak halfway down the piece. In doing so, he smothered a pair of delicious rumors about the Oscars' own potential hosting strategy. Let's exhume them!
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