It is official. Eddie Murphy replacing Anne Hathaway is out and Billy Crystal is hosting the next Academy Awards show. Will fans tune in and tune out if his old jokes become a bore?
Green celebrity Billy Crystal has just confirmed via Twitter that he will be replacing funny Eddie Murphy as the next Oscars host. The actor has already hosted the famous awards show 9 times, so producers know they can count on him to do a good job hosting. Sort of.
Funny celeb Murphy was scheduled to replace Anne Hathaway and James Franco, the pair that resoundingly flopped hosting last year’s event. While Hollywood social circles are small, the choice to rehire Crystal (considering his relative obscurity in recent years) surprises and somewhat bores most. Except Hollywood insiders, of course.
Billy Crystal has had a long show biz career and he has used his star power wisely supporting a wide variety of charities. He’s well liked as a person and as an actor, but time has taken its toll on the formerly cute and slender host. Nowadays, the Baby Boomer is fighting midlife battles of the bulge. Now a celebrity senior, he’s barely recognizable as his former self.
His weight gain has been a limiting factor in casting Crystal in movie roles. While he is still funny and personally darling on the inside, it’s tough to cast him as the lead in a romantic comedy role.
While we love him helping the homeless with Comic Relief, advocating for New Orleans folks affected by natural disasters, and giving his celebrity endorsement to fight Parkinson’s Disease. However, his appeal as an Oscars host with a contemporary flare waned 30 lbs and two or three bad facelifts ago.
Having Eddie Murphy host the Oscars instead of Anne Hathaway was a bold move. Gen X fans who grew up laughing at the raunchy jokes in the former SNL comedian’s show left viewers with the expectation that the Oscars would be full of racy and borderline inappropriate jokes. When the organization and director Bret Ratner parted ways over him making a gay joke, Murphy (probably quite wisely) opted to ditch the gig. As an available host, he’d perhaps be better suited to partner with MTV for the next MTV Movie Awards.
Both men are Hollywood icons in their own way. It’s simply that Eddie Murphy fans are likely to embrace more cutting edge and savory flavor in jokes, while Billy Crystal fans prefer vanilla or milk toast humor to keep them awake and watching the show.
But that’s just one entertainment news writers opinion. What’s yours?