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Ricky Gervais Says He’ll Be Asleep During Tonight’s Oscars; Shares How He’d Open if Hosting – Opinion

By Pluralist / March 27, 2022

The 2022 Oscars award show airs Sunday night, but if you either don’t care or haven’t heard much about this year’s show, you’re not alone. In addition to the fact that COVID dramatically (and probably permanently) changed the world’s movie-going habits, the broadcast is going to be hosted by the world’s unfunniest woman (and niece of Chuck), Amy Schumer.

There’s one thing Academy Awards show producers could do that would dramatically increase viewership that they’ve been unwilling to do, and that’s to allow someone to host who is actually funny and who won’t use the gig as a platform for three hours of virtue signaling. Ricky Gervais is an example of such a host. Back in January, Gervais told the ladies of “The View” that he would host the Oscars for free – but only under certain conditions:

“I might be allowed to host [the Oscars] if I did what I was told, but there’s the rub,” Gervais said when Sunny Hostin asked him about his hesitation. “The good thing about the Globes was [that]They told me that I could make my jokes up, tell what I want and not have to practice. And that is just too good for a comedian to turn down, whereas I don’t think the Oscars would ever allow me that freedom, and rightly so. I think they would be mad.”

But Gervais admitted that if the Academy agreed to those rules, “I’d definitely do it. I’d do it for free.”

Whoopi Goldberg said that Gervais had been wrong.

“I think you’re wrong. I think they would absolutely adore it, if you were up for it…

“Did I hear you say you might be interested? ‘Cause if you’re serious, I could talk to a couple people. I know people.”

Who knows if Goldberg actually talked to a couple people or not, but Gervais isn’t hosting the award show. Sunday morning, a random Twitter user posted a video from Gervais’ opening monologue at the Golden Globes, saying, “RT if you wish @RickyGervais was hosting the Oscars tonight.”

Gervais responded, sharing how he’d open the show:

I’d start with “Hello. This show will bring joy to the people who are watching it at home. If you’re unemployed for example, take some comfort in the fact that even if you had a job, your salary probably wouldn’t be as much as the goody bag all the actors have just been given.”

“I’m proud to announce that this is the most diverse and progressive Oscars ever. When I look around, I can see people of all walks. There is no shortage of people from every demographic. The only exception is the poor. F**k them.”

Gervais replied in a manner that RedState readers would agree with when he was asked if it would be possible to tweet these sentiments.

Although Gervais is from England, he’d probably still be sleeping. If he wasn’t, the blowhard speeches would surely be a wonderful sleep aid. But, he won’t be alone. Ratings for what used to be one of the biggest nights in television have tanked over the last decade, and one expert says “the iceberg is in sight.”

Entertainment and IP attorney Tom Lallas — who represented the late comic book and Marvel legend Stan Lee before his death in 2018 — spoke to Fox News Digital, explaining what he believes is the “real problem” as it pertains to the Academy Awards show itself.

“ABC controls a television product that has ratings that have fallen off a cliff,” he said, explaining that in 1998 when James Cameron was the Oscars’ star attraction with “Titanic,” there were 57.25 million viewers. Last year in 2021, there were 9.85 million viewers — a whopping one-sixth, as many as there were barely 20 years ago.

They could change that trajectory quickly, but that would require more self-awareness than they’re probably capable of.

(BONUS: If you have not yet watched Gervais’ series “Afterlife” on Netflix, you have got to binge it.)

 

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