Seth MacFarlane to Host Academy Awards

When it comes time to pick a host for the Academy Awards, being an established actor seems to be part of the criteria. Hosts include names such as Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman and now Seth MacFarlane?
He may not be the most conventional pick, but it was recently announced that Seth MacFarlane will host the 85th Annual Academy Awards. Most known as the creator of his animated shows on FOX including “Family Guy,” “American Dad” and “The Cleveland Show,” MacFarlane made his first foray into film with “Ted,” the surprise hit of last summer. In the movie, Macfarlane voiced a teddy bear that came to life when John (Mark Wahlberg) was just a kid, and became his best friend for life. The R rated comedy ended up grossing over 217 Million dollars at the box office.

At first glance MacFarlane may seem like an odd selection, but he is known for his impressions and singing voice. One can expect some kind of musical performance that has become more prominent since Hugh Jackman in 2009 and Anne Hathaway in 2011. In this regard, MacFarlane is more than qualified.

Those against MacFarlane will point out that his raunchy brand of humor may not exactly mesh with the more mainstream and primetime focused show. It may be a concern, but it is not the first time the Academy has made a somewhat controversial pick to host the show. Comic Chris Rock hosted the show in 2005. Rock, best known for his more mature stand up routines ended up working out in the end.

This will be the second time in three years that the Academy has decided to go for a younger demographic. In 2010 James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosted the show to middling reviews. Last year Eddie Murphy was scheduled to host, but dropped out and was replaced with Oscar mainstay Billy Crystal.

The Academy tends to go with established hosts such as Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and Steve Martin, who have hosted 15 out of the last 23 shows. Three people have hosted about 65 percent of the shows the last two decades. It will be interesting to see if MacFarlane succeeds, whether the Academy will decide to keep going for a younger demographic and branch away from their select list of hosts.

MacFarlane may not have a lot of experience in front of the camera, as most of his work comes behind the scenes creating his animated shows and “Ted,” but he does have some acting experience. He has appeared in a couple episodes of “Gilmore Girls” in 2003, and two episodes of “Star Trek: Enterprise” in 2005. MacFarlane also hosted “Comedy Central’s Roast of Charlie Sheen,” and was able to get some live hosting experience under his belt last month when he hosted the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live” in what very well could have been an audition for the show.

MacFarlane may seem out of place hosting the Academy Awards, and he may bomb, but at least the Academy is taking a chance and keeping things interesting. To find out for yourself how MacFarlane fares, you can watch the 85th Academy Awards air live Feb. 24, 2013 on ABC.