Entertainment

Why Seth MacFarlane was the most offensive Oscar host in recent memory

If the best defense is a good offense, Seth MacFarlane was positively the most offensive Oscar host in recent memory.

No, I’m not talking about the “We Saw Your Boobs” song, which was probably the only funny opening song in Oscar history.

And no, it wasn’t the Rihanna and Chris Brown joke. Oh come on. Yes, Brown did beat Rihanna and yes, she’s back with him again. It was worth a quip. Sorry.

And no again, it wasn’t even the Lincoln assassination joke or the silence that followed that bomb.

Especially since ham of hams, method actor Daniel Day-Lewis/Honest Abe/Constant Oscar Winner looked like he thought the joke was a personal affront to his assassination by Booth.

The offense I’m talking about was MacFarlane’s big offensive move of bringing Captain Kirk from the future to show us the next day’s review of MacFarlane, which read: “Worst Oscar Host Ever!”

Maybe it didn’t make MacFarlane review-proof, but no matter how bad people thought he was, (and I’m not among them), he could never be the worst host in history – that honor still belongs to Anne Hathaway and James Franco. Since Hathaway won “Best Actress” last night, her shame of two years ago was immediately and totally wiped out, leaving David Letterman as the: Worst Oscar Host Ever!

MacFarlane was surprisingly calm and self-assured – considering that the Academy likes to say (unsubstantiated by the way) that a billion people watch the show.

But all that calmness and self assuredness came off as annoying and even boring to the Twittering masses last night.

Why? Probably because the show itself is now a boring and controlled fashion show punctuated by awards and horrible song-and-dance routines, so the host has to knock it out of the park to keep it interesting.

Or failing that, he or she needs to be as bad as Hathaway and Franco. I mean, we need something – anything – to talk about the next day besides the damned clothes.

Somehow the hottest hosting gig in Hollywood has become a job only a flaggelite would love. Go in as a hot commodity, come out as a laughing stock – almost guaranteed.

What was shocking about MacFarlane though was that even he fell prey to the idiocy of the Oscar format.

How could “Family Guy” MacFarlane agree to not one but two cringe-making song-and-dance routines?

Unfortunately, after the opening of the Oscars, and the few good shots he took at the Hollywood stiffs, MacFarlane became just another semi-forgettable host; not quite Billy Crystal weirdly offensive, not Hathaway-Franco disastrous. He was just not bad – and that’s worse than being really bad.

Thing is, Oscar doesn’t need a new host every year – it needs a whole new format.