And we begin the countdown to the Oscars, this Sunday! The writer’s are back, the stars will be there, so we’re all set. Let’s start off with some talk about the Oscar Host. For a second year in a row the host will be Jon Stewart. I’m a big Jon Stewart fan, and last year I thought he did fine, not great, but not horrible. There’s a NYT article on his shortened preparations for this year (because of the writer’s strike), and also on his thoughts about the ‘tension’ in hosting the Oscars:

“The thing I always have to fight is I have a tendency to undercut. It’s the comedy of deflation in large amount. That doesn’t necessarily work on the greatest night of their lives. There is a strong tension between respecting these people and somehow deflating them while standing in that room. I like that. I find that tension interesting.”

But where does he rank in the history of Oscar hosts? I think he’s an improvement over Billy Crystal, although I did like the much-maligned hosting by Chris Rock. Taking a look through Oscars past (Wikipedia provides a list here) reveals that before the Billy Crystal takeover in 1990 (with a few Steve Martin years thrown in the mix) the Oscars had a lot of stars host as a group. Take 1987 when the unlikely trio of Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Paul Hogan hosted the Oscars. Or 1973 that saw Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Charlton Heston and Rock Hudson. Wow.

New York Magazine picks up on this earlier trend of stars-group hosting the Oscars, suggesting Francis Ford Coppola, Vince Vaughn, Ricky Gervais, and Jennifer Hudson as a potential foursome.

Thoughts on your favorite Oscar host? Or on what host(s) you would love to see?

The NY Times confirms that

Jon Stewart will be the 2008 Oscar host!

Here’s a picture of him a long time ago:

Did he go to William & Mary?