And the Oscar-Hosting Job Goes to...Ricky Gervais?
Los Angeles (E! Online) - Ricky Gervais as the next host of the Oscars?
Not so fast.
No doubt the Extras funnyman knows how to crack us up, but reports of him already being a leading contender for hosting duties have been greatly—well, hugely—exaggerated.
"We haven't made one single phone call," Larry Mark, who was announced yesterday as a coproducer of the 81st Annual Academy Awards show with writer-director Bill Condon, said earlier today. "There has been no reaching out."
"We haven't gotten that far yet," said Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. "We're just not there yet."
Ganis knows they'll never please everyone no matter who they pick for the top job. "If you toss up all the opinions on last year's shows and they all came down, 50 percent of them will say, 'It was a sensational show' and fifty percent of them say, 'Uck, it's the worst thing I have ever seen on television,' " he said. "It's hard. Everyone has an opinion."
Unfortunately, last year's Oscar telecast with Jon Stewart as host hit an all-time ratings low with just 32 million U.S. viewers, down about 8 million from 2007.
This will be Mark and Condon's first time producing the Oscars. The show telecasts live from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on ABC Feb. 22.
"We were taken aback for a moment," Mark said about being offered the gig. "And then we took a moment to figure our schedules and whatever else, and then we were like, This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance." (Condon wasn't available for an interview today because he is finishing a script for a movie he's going to direct about comedian Richard Pryor.)
Mark comes to the job with a lengthy producing résumé that includes Jerry Maguire, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion and Dreamgirls. Condon wrote and directed Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters and Kinsey.
As for pumping up the ratings, Ganis said a lot depends on what movies are nominated. "Hopefully, there will be films in contention this year that are of a more populist nature," he said.
Not that he wasn't a fan of last year's big winners like No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, but "I also know that all of them were kind of on the low side in terms of eyeballs."
Letterman keeps up verbal assault on John McCain
NEW YORK - David Letterman kept up his verbal assault on John McCain, commiserating with Paris Hilton and saying he felt like an "ugly date" because the GOP presidential candidate backed out of an appearance on the "Late Show."
The late-night CBS comedian was upset Wednesday when McCain canceled an appearance to deal with the economic crisis. After backing out of the Letterman show, McCain sat for an interview with Katie Couric, then didn't leave New York until Thursday, further angering Letterman.
At first, Letterman said, he felt like a "patriot" to let McCain off.
"Now I'm feeling like an ugly date," Letterman said. "I feel used. I feel cheap. I feel sullied."
McCain spokeswoman Nicolle Wallace said the campaign "felt this wasn't a night for comedy."
"We deeply regret offending Mr. Letterman, but our candidate's priority at this moment is to focus on this crisis," Wallace said Thursday on NBC's "Today."
Later Thursday, Letterman banged away at McCain in his opening monologue.
"You're here on a good night," he told the audience. "So far none of our guests have canceled."
He talked about daredevil David Blaine's feat of hanging upside-down in New York's Central Park for 60 hours.
"They just left the guy hanging there," he said. "It's the same thing McCain did to me last night."
He described Hilton — Thursday's guest whose celebrity was once used in a McCain campaign ad to mock Democrat Barack Obama — as McCain's first choice for a running mate.
"Here's how it works: You don't come to see me? You don't come to see me? Well, we might not see you on Inauguration Day," Letterman said.
Noting that McCain wanted to postpone Friday's first debate with Obama, Letterman said running mate Sarah Palin wanted to put off her debate with Democrat Joe Biden until after Election Day. Letterman said Palin's meeting with world leaders at the United Nations was like "take-your-daughter-to-work day."
Letterman's Top 10 list was "surprising facts about Sarah Palin," read by citizens of Wasilla, Alaska, where she was once mayor.
No. 10: Palin "sometimes calls John McCain grandpa."
Later in the show, Letterman couldn't resist another mention of "that John McCain" while chatting with Hilton, who replied, "I heard he dissed you. He dissed me."
Milking the moment, Letterman consoled her: "You had a little run-in with him, too, didn't you?"