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Eddie Murphy to Host Oscars

Eddie Murphy has been named the host of the 84th Annual Academy Awards which will air on February 26, 2012.

Now I know that Murphy has had some success the voice of Donkey in the Shrek movies and getting a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Dreamgirls a few years back. But Murphy hasn't been funny since Beverly Hills Cop. I would have preferred to have seen Billy Crystal come back but it would appear that train has left the station.

Well, the dynamic duo of Anne Hathaway and James Franco didn't work out so well this year so the bar has been set pretty low. Either this gig puts Murphy back on the A list or gives him a pass to the D train.

View all comments (4) | Leave a comment

Big Jim| 9.6.11 @ 5:36PM

Who cares? I haven't watched an Oscar show for many years. They simply suck, just like the movies they are supposed to "honor".

Occam's Tool| 9.6.11 @ 8:43PM

It lets me know, sometimes, what the best animated shorts are.

gerald brennan| 9.7.11 @ 5:24AM

Who cares.
What's this doing here?

astorian| 9.7.11 @ 9:16AM

It really doesn't matter who the host is, because people don't tune in to the Oscars to watch the host perform. They watch in hopes of seeing a movie they liked win some major awards.

Well, for quite some time now, the Oscars have been honoring independent movies that most people have never seen! Nowadays, the Oscars are indistinguishable from the Spirit awards.

Jon Stewart got pitiful ratings as host of the Oscars, and I'd LOVE to gloat over that. But the truth is, it's not Stewart's fault. People WOULD have watched his telecasts if any POPULAR movies had a chance of winning awards. In reality, everybody knew all the awards would go to movies they'd never seen.

If "The Dark Knight" had been up for Best Picture, millions of people would have watched the Academy Awards with Yahoo Serious as the host. But NOBODY (not Stewart, not Eddie Murphy, not Billy Crystal, not Johnny Carson) could have gotten huge ratings for a show devoted to honoring "Slumdog Millionaire."

If there's a hit movie with a strong chance to win Best Picture next February, Eddie Murphy will get great ratings. But if the Academy nominates 10 depressing art-house films again, the ratings will plummet yet again.