The Academy Awards are returning for the 95th time and are bringing talk show host Jimmy Kimmel along for the ride. This is the third time Jimmy Kimmel will be seen taking the center stage at the Oscars, previously having hosted the ceremony in 2017 and 2018.
In recent years, the Academy Awards have seen a steep decline in viewership. Approaching Jimmy Kimmel might be just what the award show needs to re-ignite its previous glory as he is a familiar face and has experience hosting the Oscars, as well as the Emmys. However, the Internet is divided after hearing the news, and not a clean fifty-fifty division. The majority of viewers took to Twitter to express their disappointment.
The Academy Awards will see Jimmy Kimmel as the Host
The upcoming 2023 Academy Awards will be seeing Jimmy Kimmel as host, as announced by executive producers and showrunners of the award show, Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner. They stated that they believe Kimmel would be down for anything on the stage while maintaining his hilarious personality.
“We’re super thrilled to have Jimmy score his hat trick on this global stage. We know he will be funny and ready for anything.”
Kimmel himself expressed his gratitude for getting to host for the third time, jokingly adding that it the gig could either be an honor, or a trap. Well, his worries do not come out of nowhere. Remember what happened the last time someone made a joke on-stage?
“Being invited to host the Oscars for a third time is either a great honor or a trap. Either way I am grateful to the Academy for asking me so quickly after everyone said no.”
The Oscars have seen quite a decline in views for a past few years. The viewership which used to be above 50 million is now struggling to even reach 20 million. The 2022 Oscars hosted by Amy Schumer, Wanda Skyes, and Regina Hall accumulated a mere16.6 million viewers. This was only a slight increase from the 2021 Oscars having an audience of only 10.4 million, the lowest for the award show.
Kimmel’s addition to the team is the Oscars’ way of trying to regain that popularity as his previous turn hosting the award show received an average of 26.5 million viewers. Maybe choosing a familiar face and going down the safe route is just what the Academy Awards need.
Internet Unhappy with the Oscars’ Decision
While the president of ABC Entertainment, Craig Erwich, believes that Kimmel returning as host is “a dream come true,” the viewers couldn’t help but disagree. Many stated that the Oscars’ could have picked anyone else, but him. Twitter shed a light on the worries of viewers that the 95th Academy Awards are simply going to be unfunny.
On one hand people stated that they would rather see Ricky Gervais, Amy Poehler and Tiny Fey as hosts and on the other hand a few are relieved saying that they at least didn’t pick Amy Schumer as host again. Fans worry that Kimmel’s hosting would once again bring back the over done Matt Damon rivalry. All fans seem to want is a more interesting Oscars show for once, even if it takes another “slapgate” controversy to do it. Some even believe that the Oscars was doing just fine without a host, entirely. However, the viewership begs to differ.
Even though Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang stated that they believe Kimmel’s love for movies and ability to connect with audience is perfect for the show, only time (and number of views) will reveal how well thought-out the plan was.
The 2023 Academy Awards will take place in Los Angeles on March 12.
Source: Twitter
