How would you grade Seff MacFarlane's hosting abilities?

What did we think of Seff's hosting? Too low brow? Not funny?

• He was terrible. Thread closed.

• He said in an interview with EW that he was just too busy to host the show again.

• Very bad hosting job.

• He was awful. Worst Oscars ever. And all the surprises about who won didn't make up for that "eating shit at Auschwitz" joke.

• He sucked, just like I knew he would. What a jackass.

• He's now the permanent host.

  John%20Titor

• Other than the Magic Mike opening musical number where he, Daniel Radcliffe and Gordon Love Levitt stripped to thongs and shook their moneymakers, it was just awful all around.

• He was horrid;e! So nervous!! He was a big sweat ball and his songs sucked.

• He was an embarrassment!

• R7 JGL did the Magic Mike routine AGAIN? He already did that on SNL. Kind of tired now.

• Yeah, they did the Magic Mike routine AGAIN. So tired. It wasn't even a nominated movie.

• Horrible

• from the NYTimes: Jon Caramanica: "There is a difference between a host who knows how to align himself or herself amid a group of famous talents, and a human ego vapor who aspires to fill all the air in the room and in people’s lungs. The depth of MacFarlane’s flubbing is profound. Tone deaf jokes that touched on all the -isms. High self-regard and low self-awareness." Dave Itzkoff: "I tried to enjoy the randomness of his shtick, at first, or at least give him the benefit of the doubt. But there was an undercurrent of mean-spiritedness that kept cropping up – jokes at the expense of ethnicity or people’s weight, for example – that plays better on “Family Guy” than it does at an Oscars ceremony."

• I rather liked the opening, with the stars singing and dancing and the gay men's chorus. When he showed up between awards to make jokes that fell flat he was awful, but that's true of every host that ever lived. Better him than Billy Crystal, or any other old commedian I've seen in recent years.

• He's a cutie, I'd keep him. But, frankly, I don't care.

• I feel sorry for anyone who attempts to host that show. They get eviscerated the next day.

• What the hell was up with his hairline? DId they Sharpie it in?

• I thought he was great, even though I didn't watch the show.

• Gay men don't care what he said; so long as he was funny. Hell, two years ago they loved James Franco here!

• Then you have no say, R18.

• [quote]But there was an undercurrent of mean-spiritedness that kept cropping up – jokes at the expense of ethnicity or people’s weight, for example – that plays better on “Family Guy” than it does at an Oscars ceremony. WTF? What mean jokes did he make about people's ethnicity? This guy is way too sensitive.

• Seth MacFarlane was the best Oscar host in a long time. He was wonderful, engaging and funny. Have him back! Great opening to the show too.

• [quote]WTF? What mean jokes did he make about people's ethnicity? Jew jokes, for one.

• This is an impossible show to host. It's just too damn long! If they want an entertaining show, they need to cut out the other awards like best sound or best short documentary that no one else care about and doesn't get included in other shows. If they want to present these awards, just announce the winners so they can't make those long boring speeches. No host can manage this cumbersome waste of space.

  Ted

• Being host of the Oscars is an absolutely thankless job. Everyone is bashed for it. It's not the hosts, it's the show itself. The Oscars is corny and full of uptight people who don't want to laugh at themselves.

• I thought it was great. Most of the hosts have gotten horrible reviews.

• [quote]uptight people who don't want to laugh at themselves And this is why the GG awards seem more fun.

• I thought his Jew joke was the only funny joke. He was otherwise too safe. I expected more. He was watered down and boring.

• He was passable. He won't be asked back.

• He was great.

• I said it in the main thread, but I was a bit surprised what a dud he was when it came to being spontaneous. He couldn't improvise a single line, even when the situation begged for some kind of commentary. Billy Crystal is way past it for sure r14, but at least he was relaxed and able to roll with the action. I'll cut Seth a little slack because of all the technical fuckery with the sound throughout the show.

• I thought he wouldve been better if he didn't laugh at his own jokes and he plowed through the riskier material with gusto. Instead he flinched, which caused a lot of jokes to fall flat. Still better than Franco!

• [quote]I feel sorry for anyone who attempts to host that show. They get eviscerated the next day. No, they don't.

• [quote]Jew jokes, for one. That's a religion, dumbass.

• Actually, Seth was great. All the people complaining are the old, out of touch people who can't believe Seth was being disrespectful to this scared telecast. Boobs? Oh my! Barbara? Thank God that Goddress came and saved the Oscars. I was moved to tears.

• "Better him than Billy Crystal, or any other old commedian I've seen in recent years." Seth will be forty this year. Not exactly a spring chicken himself. I think he knew he was in over his head. That's why he made that comment to EW. Better for his massive ego to say that he has other things to do. Like the academy is going to invite him back next year anyway.

• I thought he was awful, both as a performer and as a writer. He's been working on this gig for months, but it looked like it was cobbled together last week. Amateurish.

• How is he not actually gay?

  The Voice of the Night

• Stick with Ellen.

• What r31 said about his inability to improvise and another poster who noted the months that McFarlane had to prepare and he still was amateurish and seemed unprepared. Billy Crstal, in his prime, could run with any situation. A great example were his improvised jokes (and yes, I'm sure they were hastily written back stage and he didn't utter them off the top of his head) after Jack Palance, when he accepted his best supporting actor award, got down on the stage and did some push-ups. Crystal, to great hiarious effect, riffed on that throughout the broadcast I blame the the basic format of show. I don't know how they should reformat it, but it's a dinosaur.

  Della

• [quote] Being host of the Oscars is an absolutely thankless job. Everyone is bashed for it. Really?

  Bob%20Hope%20and%20Johnny%20Carson

• He applauded too often and way too loudly.

• Why are you calling him Seff?

• That "it's a thankless job" "always get bad reviews" is bull. There have been plenty of other hosts who have not bombed and have not been ripped to shreds (deserved). most recent Tina and Amy.

• He was awful. Absolutely horrible. This type of low brow, frat boy, lowest common denominator humor is so old and tired.

• Nothing would make you guys happy. Nothing.

• He's strange. He seems to long for this era if glamour and civility, and yet he goes out of his way to fuck up any chance we might have to bring even a little of that back with his shitty fratboy humor.

• Who made the comment that Seth would be with the Gay Men's Chorus next year?

• He was a lot better than the press gave him credit for, The worst part of the night were the horrible hallmark sycophantic acceptance speeches. The Argo and Django Unchained speeches were the worst. Ang Lee and Adele were the best. Naomi Watts was brilliant during the staged Boob song.

• What do DLers think of William Shatner as a potential host? I think he would be great. He's funny, quirky and can laugh at himself. The ratings would be phenomenal. I thought he was the second best thing on the show after Streisand. (Maybe a thread of it's own anyone?)

• omg! Not "jews jokes" at the Oscars , why it's just not done never ever ever. My God "jew jokes" at the Oscars...

  Or%20as%20we%20call%20it%20at%20%20my%20house%20%22Passover%22%2C%20B.C.

• BTW who do you think writes all those "jew jokes"? Must be those damned Belgiums, who secretly control Hollywood.

  Oy%2C%20what%20a%20putz....

• Loved the nod to THE SOUND OF MUSIC joke.

• He was beyond inept. No star power, no class, not funny at all - and I love "Family Guy"! He seems to think a lot of himself.

  Brian

• I like some of his shows, so I'm not a "hater," but I thought he was mostly meh - and at times outright terrible. His humor might have had more "bite" if he wasn't constantly laughing at his own dumb jokes.

• Did Seth write the whole show as well as host? I always thought they had teams of writers working months in advance, and even writing new jokes as the show was being broadcast .....

• I liked him.

• Get rid of the song and dance numbers. It's the Oscars, not the Tonys. The vast majority of movies aren't musicals. The vast majority of songs nominated for an Oscar aren't any good. We shouldnt't have to sit through so much craptacular singing and dancing.

• The genius of "We Saw Your Boobs" is that this is priority #1 for the majority of the straight male movie-going public in choosing any movie with a female lead. Otherwise it's a chick flick. And yes, that includes The Accused or Monster. Story? Cinematography? Nope. "Does she show her tits?" "OK, two for Revolutionary Road"

• Love the awakward pause and look reaction of Seth after Shatner's line that in 2015 Seth will be joining the Gay Men's chorus. Seth's humor works, because a big part of his humor comes from making fun of himself (or his movie Ted). Same goes for D-listed blogger Michael K. When you don't take yourself too serious your jokes at others expense look less mean and bitter and more teasing and good natured instead.

• He gets a B-. What he did show from time to time is an ease with hosting that Carson had. He should get another shot but go back and watch some of the shows Carson hosted. I don't want a carbon copy or bad imitation. He should be his own person, but see how well a certain casual cool works for this mess. A bit of detachment goes a long way. He showed a lot of promise.

• "Love the awakward pause and look reaction of Seth after Shatner's line that in 2015 Seth will be joining the Gay Men's chorus" That was obviously scripted, rehearsed and approved by MacFarlane. He's obviously not homophobic.

• His forte is mean-spirited, juvenile, bad taste humor geared toward young males. That might go over well on a cartoon show, but it doesn't work for an Academy Awards presentation. I don't think I've ever heard a collective groan of disapproval on an Academy Awards show like the one the audience gave him for his Lincoln joke. It was Family Guy humor...and it BOMBED. Big time. But what did people expect from him? That's what he DOES.

• I cringed with embarrasment multiple times during the broadcast. I tend to like his brand of humor and I love his shows, but for the most part he bombed. He just isn't polished enough to host a show like this. If his delivery was better I think many of his just could have worked.

• R3, R7, R9, R11, R12, and R13 and a few others are negative reviews R30 and R35 are positive reviews By the same person.

  troll-dar

• As I posted on the other thread, I love Seth's humor. I'm a long time Family Guy fan. I also like American Dad. However, I found his humor during the Oscars very offensive on many different levels and I don't offend easily.