21.05.12

Plus some sexually graphic remarks on Howard Stern’s radio show (reported first by Deadline). Murphy followed Ratner out the door the next day. To resolve the chaos that November 9th, mega-producer Brian Grazer saved the day by quickly stepping in to take the reins of the show with Mischer, and on November 10 the pair announced that 8-time host Billy Crystal had agreed to become Master of Ceremonies. Disaster averted. Even without that turmoil, early November was rough because of the sudden death of 14-time Oscar show producer Gil Cates.

But, frankly, 2011 started out poorly with the terribly reviewed 83rd Oscar show back on February 27th. At least everyone now agrees that hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco flopped as hosts hired to draw a younger audience. Although the ratings were fairly flat compared to the previous year, it was interesting to see even the Academy acknowledge the pair bombed once the critics spoke. For instance, at the Governors Ball immediately after the show, I spoke with several Acad honchos who seemed delighted with their view as part of the audience, with one very prominent Board member even telling me it was “the best show in years”. But it became hard to find defenders of the hosts or producer Bruce Cohen soon afterwards. Even Franco and longtime Oscar show writer Bruce Vilanch publicly sparred about it a month later.

Source: Deadline.com