Dennis HinzmannSeeing how well the host of the Academy Awards does is one of the biggest toss-ups of the entertainment year. There are all-time highs like Ellen DeGeneres’ Twitter-breaking selfie, and romps that we’d sooner forget (sorry Anne Hathaway and James Franco).
Chris Rock, who will emcee the movie industry’s most glamorous night this time around, hasn’t been on the Oscar stage hosting since 2005, and while he was good enough to be asked back, he’ll have his work cut out for him this time around.
During Rock’s inaugural turn at the mic the term “social media” hadn’t been coined yet, and while Oscar hosts have always been the subjects of intense criticism, these days every second of the telecast will be dissected by Twitter and gifed on Tumblr forevermore.
Expect plenty of jokes about diversity among nominees, especially since this season’s Emmy pool was one of the most diverse in history, which shouldn’t still be a thing in 2015. And if Cate Blanchett and/or Rooney Mara get nominations for Carol, definitely expect something about closeted white lesbians. Oh, and Rock would probably be remiss if he didn’t throw a jab at Bill Cosby in his monologue.
Good luck, Rock. We have faith that you can maintain the proper balance of crass and class.
The 88th Annual Academy Awards will air on February 28, 2016.
00Chris Rock Named Oscar Host