OSCARS 2011: The Hosts

Normally, the hosts for the Academy Awards have been comedians.  In most recent years, there have been only one host.  This year however, we get one actor, James Franco, and one actress, Anne Hathaway.  When I heard the hosting duties went to them, I was left with mixed feelings.  I like both of them for their movies (although Anne Hathaway is in hot water with me for the crappy Love and Other Drugs movie), but I wonder if they'll be able to carry an entire show.  Neither of them are known for being funny, and I feel comedy is a big part of hosting.  That being said, I'm sure they will have a large team of writers whose sole goal is to make them amazing.  It's just that actual comedians have had a tough time hosting successfully, so it makes it all the more difficult for these two.

If I could have chosen the host, I would have picked Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman, or recent Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais.  All three of them have both small screen and large screen comedy experience.  But who knows, maybe these two will be great.   I am wondering if when the committee in charge of choosing the hosts got together, someone said something like "I think we should choose two people who are likely to be nominated."  As you may have noticed, James Franco did get a nomination for best actor (127 Hours) but thankfully, Hathaway did not for her overrated performance in the sex-fest Love and Other Drugs.

My favorite host of all time has to be either Billy Crystal or Whoopi Goldberg.  I can remember laughing so hard at both of them.  I remember Billy Crystal pushing his movie My Giant and for some reason I found that hilarious.  I remember when Whoopi changed into a bunch of silly costumes based on the costume design nominees.  These memorable moments aren't likely to come from this year's hosts, but who knows, maybe I'll be left surprised.  What are your thoughts?