Seth MacFarlane To Host The Oscars!

In a move that has seemed to surprise everyone, Seth MacFarlane will be the host of the 85th Academy Awards on Feb. 24. The move is indeed somewhat surprising considering Seth Macfarlane is not really a household name; sure he might be huge in the animation world…but to Oscar fans? One has to wonder if they’ll even know who he is.

So, some people might say that having Seth (who is known for his raunchy humor) host the Oscars is a bit of a risk, but that is not the case. Awards Daily editor Sasha Stone talked to Celebuzz about the news and had this to say about the pick,

“He was hired because he’s the safest possible choice. He’s a popular straight white male who will bring in the target demographic and flyover state audiences. They took a risk with Eddie Murphy and Brett Ratner last year, but that blew up in their faces. So, risk isn’t the direction they want to be headed again.”

Stone also admitted that she was hoping they would pick a female duo to host the show. A Tina Fey and Kristen Wiig type combo, but she claims that the Academy wanted to go with the safe “white male” pick.

MacFarlane isn’t thinking about why they picked him, or the politics behind it all. He’s a little busy trying to figure out what he is going to say and do,

“It’s a very specific ceremony with a very specific tone. The challenge will be to keep it funny, keep it lively and stay true to what it is I do. But at the same time adapt to the tone of this event. It’s a challenge but I’m looking forward to it.” MacFarlane said.

It’ll be interesting to see how he does. I’m guessing it will be a very average performance with few surprises and no big mistakes, which is just what the Academy wants.