Billy Crystal They Aren’t: James Franco and Anne Hathaway set to host 2011 Oscars

After relying on a strong cast of regular players, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has gone waaaay off script, and has announced that 2011’s 83rd Academy Awards ceremonies will be hosted by none other than James Franco and Anne Hathaway, two young, up-and-comers in A-List Hollywood with major film roles under their belts, but young nonetheless. For the past twenty years, the biggest awards show in pop culture has had just a handful of recurring hosts, with Jon Stewart and Steve Martin hosting twice apiece, Whoopi Goldberg hosting four times, and Billy Crystal taking the reins a whopping eight times. But with Hollywood, and pop culture in general, becoming a younger man’s game, it seems like the Academy is gunning for a more youthful demographic, and with both Franco and Hathaway having hosted SNL in the past year, the obvious draw is to get teens interested in a ceremony that has generally alienated them for years.

This news is coming as quite a shock to most. After last year’s ceremony starring co-hosts Martin and Alec Baldwin, you could have said the Academy was leaning toward the edgier, as Baldwin’s brand of comedy is popular with the “30 Rock” crowd, who while relatively small, generally skews young. But in light of the decision to nominate 10 films in the Best Picture category, the Academy also looks to be overreaching for an overhaul that’ll bring about a wider audience, which might’ve worked, seeing as how the show bolstered its best ratings since 2005. But Martin and Baldwin are comedic legends, and both are very familiar with hosting duties, sharing the top spot of all-time SNL hosts with 15 apiece. What kind of experience does Hathaway, whose tear-jerker of a romantic comedy Love and Other Drugs opened up this past month,  have when it comes to live comedy? And let’s be honest, James Franco is well known to be a total weirdo, shunning the spotlight at times, and what was up with that stint on “General Hospital”???!!! But only time will tell if this is all just a ratings-grab intended to get younger viewers, or if by chance, the Academy is seeing something we apparently aren’t.

Know this certainty, however, that Franco may just be the first host in history to win the Oscar the same night they pull emcee duties, as he will no doubt be nominated for his work in 127 Hours. A potentially Worst Award Show Host “Razzie” might be in the making that night, as well.