Jimmy Kimmel, Your Next Oscar Host? 5 Reasons Why He'd Be Great

Why the Academy should consider tapping the late-night host to emcee next year's ceremony

By Josh Grossberg Mar 01, 2013 8:08 PMTags
Jimmy KimmelABC/TODD WAWRYCHUK

Jimmy Kimmel, this could be your time.

With criticism directed at Seth MacFarlane for last Sunday's Oscar duties, there are rumors that the Jimmy Kimmel Live host may be the go-to guy for the 2014 edition of the Academy Awards.

A source close to ABC and familiar with the behind the scenes discussions told the New York Post that "Jimmy is favored to host the Oscars next year; ABC has been pushing him for the role."

A rep for the Academy, however, dismissed the speculation, saying it was "way too early" to start talking about next year's choice.

In any case, we like the idea. So here are five terrific reasons Kimmel could be a great choice.

ABC/Eric McCandless

1. He's Got His Own Oscar Tradition: First and foremost, Kimmel's already proven himself to his bosses at the Alphabet network with his top-rated Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars special. Now in its 8th year, Sunday's edition saw Kimmel, dressed in an awards-show appropriate tuxedo, interview Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx, the latter of whom reminisced about bringing home a golden guy for Ray.

2. Celebs Love Him (Including Matt Damon): Kimmel has a knack for creating viral must-sees with his star-studded Oscar video spoofs like last year's Movie: The Movie trailer which saw Tinseltown A-listers like Tom Hanks, Charlize Theron, George Clooney and Meryl Streep hamming it up in a blockbuster to end all blockbusters. And this year, Kimmel did one better with a sequel: Movie: The Movie: 2V featuring the likes of Channing Tatum, Jessica Chastain and Matt Damon. Just imagine what he'd do to open the Oscars? Watch out, Billy Crystal.

Watch! Jimmy Kimmel's start-studded Movie: The Movie trailer

ABC/TODD WAWRYCHUK

3. He's Got the Experience: Forget about those long-ago days when he served as a roastmaster for Comedy Central Roast specials. Kimmel has since moved up to the big time, emceeing last September's Primetime Emmy awards to high praise. He's also entertained President Barack Obama at the annual White House Correspondence's Dinner in D.C. If Kimmel's good enough for the prez, he's good enough for Oscar viewers—and he does after all have a star on the Walk of Fame.

ABC, NBC

4. He Can Crack More Jokes About Jay Leno: With an audience of more than one billion people, the comedian will have his biggest platform yet to stick it to The Tonight Show host, his late-night rival and the butt of many jokes (most memorably those made to Jay's face on the latter's ill-fated The Jay Leno Show) after Jay reclaimed the Tonight throne from Conan O'Brien. Kimmel can also redeem his idol David Letterman's disastrous Oscar-hosting performance in the '90s by proving that, yes, late-night comics can indeed do the job well.

5. With Apologies to Matt Damon: Last but not least, after being routinely bumped from JKL night after night for years, Matt Damon finally got his revenge by kidnapping the late-night host and taking over his show. It's likely Jimmy wouldn't be able to resist getting back at his faux nemesis—and what better way to do it than bumping Damon from the Oscars?! Unless, of course, the Academy picks Matt to host. Only time will tell.