Various Articles About the Oscars

Q&A With Oscar Host Jon Stewart includes a number of quips, perhaps due to Jon's reluctance to talk about himself.

What were your plans going to be for this Sunday if the strike hadn’t ended?
They included Absolut vodka and a Lazy Boy chair and a large pile of ground meat. I was just going to sit there and I wasn't even going to cook it. I was just going to eat the meat, drink the vodka and just recline and sit back.

How have Oscar preps been going? Have you just been working feverishly?
Feverishly? Look at me! Look, you think I really look this bad? You think I am this old? I was 6'1” when we started this and now look at me! I don't know what happened.

If he pulls this off he deserves an Oscar has a great deal of background information (which most people reading this site presumably know, but is interesting to read anyway.  It describes Jon as:

the relatively little-known ... star of the cult television comedy series, The Daily Show.

In election years, Oscar hosts have many candidates for laughs is an overview of political humour in the Oscars over the past several decades, but offers no predictions for what tomorrow will bring.

7 simple rules for hosting Oscars is one of the few articles that discusses what Stewart did well two years ago:

1. Make fun of yourself.
Stewart tried the same thing two years ago when he said, "Tonight is the night we celebrate excellence in the movies, and you've got me, the fourth lead in 'Death to Smoochy.' "

2. Seize the moment.
When "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" captured best song, he reminded those keeping score at home that it was "Martin Scorsese zero Oscars, Three 6 Mafia one."

3. Make fun of celebrity strengths, not weaknesses.
Stewart, for instance, teased in 2006 that "Good Night, and Good Luck" was how George Clooney "ends all his dates."
...
7. If all else fails, emulate Johnny and Steve.  Can Stewart reach their heights? Possibly, if he trusts his instincts and displays the same confidence he uses on "The Daily Show" to set political pundits straight. If not, they can always ask Anderson Cooper to host next year.

Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily isn't expecting much:

And not only has the host done it before to really poor ratings, but Jon Stewart couldn't even find anything funny to say about it while guesting on Larry King Live.

The Oscar broadcast drew just 38.9 million viewers on Jon Stewart's watch in 2006. That number was smaller than the 39.9 million drawn by 2007's ceremony hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. (Compare both to the 55 million who tuned in for Billy Crystal back in 1998. Those were the good old days.) Most of the overseas audience for Oscars have never even heard of Jon Stewart. So he's been chosen twice to host after bombing first time out. At least he admitted last time he was a poor choice to host the Oscars, given that his film experience amounted to little more than "the fourth male lead from Death to Smoochy".

(He'll prove her wrong.  I'm sure of it.)

E Online has an interview with Daily Show Alumnus Rob Corddry:

“He calls me up, and he’s like, 'Hey, I’m funny, right?' ” Corddry cracked. “He kind of begs for me to go over past Daily Show moments where he was funny. And I’m like, ‘Remember when you had John McCain on? You were great that night. I love your leather jacket. It looks very good on you.’ ”

(Updated Sunday 4 PM ET - thanks to stellardust for the last few links)