Ricky Gervais‘ memorable appearance on the Sept. 21 Emmys tipped off Hollywood to its next possible Oscar host. Shortly after Gervais jokingly scolded Steve Carell for stealing the Emmy he won last year for Extras, his reps were besieged with inquiries about his availability and were urged to book a meeting with Academy Awards organizers, stat. "The buzz around town is that Ricky should host the Oscars," says one source close to the star. He’s already racking up the movie credits, including the requisite bomb that could become a punchline during the ceremony (Ghost Town earned a disappointing $5 million last weekend) and an intriguing upcoming project. He co-directed and co-wrote This Side of the Truth, a 2009 romantic comedy in which he stars with Jennifer Garner and Tina Fey. Gervais will also appear in his own comedy special for HBO this November.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
Video: EW’s Dave Karger talks to Ricky Gervais about The Office, Extras, and Ghost Town
Lisa Schwarzbaum’s review of Ghost Town
Ricky Gervais blogs the production of his new movie
EW’s 2008 Emmys coverage
EW’s 2009 Oscars coverage
Comments (1-30) of 81 Add your comment
he is great!!… I don´t need to add anymore.
PLEASE!!!!
Pretty please with sugar on top get Ricky Gervais to host the Emmys or Oscars or a paint drying contest.
ANYTHING! That man is funny.
If not, Jon Stewart, Steve Carell, Steven Colbert or Neil Patrick Harris would do a fine job hosting the Emmys.
Brilliant. He was the only entertaining part of the Emmys. By far.
Can he host every major awards ceremony? Please?
FANTASTIC idea! This man was the only funny thing about the Emmys on Sunday. (Him and Tina Fey, anyway)
This is awesome. I hope it happens.
Great choice, this would be good.
How about him and Tina Fey as cohosts?
Despite my ambivalence about the Brits slowly taking over pop culture (some days I love it, some days wish for a real american accent on network TV), Gervais is a great pick. It could be tricky. Much as I love him, the other half doesn’t see what the hoo-ha is about. Much of the time he doesn’t even understand what Gervais is saying. (He has a master’s degree, so he’s not completely slow. Some people don’t have an ear for accents.)
Good choice!
I’d watch…especially if they let him go off notes and say whatever he wanted to…brilliant!
If he does, I hope they let him write his own stuff and improv…don’t cripple him with the usual boring award show tripe. Man, if it was Ricky and Steven Merchant, I could die happy!
Yes! That’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time. Clear your schedule Ricky!
I love Ricky. But the thing is, I’ve seen him do standup several times over the last couple of years and he ALWAYS repeats the same material which he originally started on his radio show anyway. I know it’s customary for comics to use the same shticks, but not this much. I’ve heard his story about peeing in a sink on the radio TWICE, on talk shows, and in his standup routine. I just don’t know how original he can be. Merchant on the other hand, on his own BBC radio show, is always new and fresh and I THINK the brains behind that operation. So if he is writing the stuff, then I am down.
Please please please please with sugar on top!!
If I were him, I’d say hell no! Hollywood and the mainstream media constantly delude themselves into thinking they’re progressive enough to pick an extremely talented but lesser known cult comic to host and then spend the weeks after the show tearing them down because most people (meaning people whose idea of comedy is “According to Jim”) didn’t understand their humor. See Chris Rock, David Letterman, John Stewart, Russell Brand, etc. etc.
Oh heavens, I hope so!!!
Please NO! I’d so rather watch Stewart or Colbert. Half the appeal of watching the Academy Awards comes from the sharp political jokes…something Gervais couldn’t handle well.
Great idea! Even better if he’s allowed to go off-teleprompter! Let’s leave the politics out of it for a change; how about just get somebody who is funny up there. It’s exhausting to hear all of the “witty” politically-related jokes coming out of Hollywood. I like Ricky’s brand of humor.
I’d like Eddie Izzard to do it.
no! His kind of jokes are great for a few minutes, but not 3 hours. I mean Extras was funny at first, but after a while it was just depressing!
Yes! He was the best part of the show and he was ROBBED!
This must happen! I love him! Let’s hope he has good material though.
Can someone tell me why every hosting job these days goes to an Englishman? Is this globalization gone mad?! Are the networks purposefully shoving these guys down our throats or what?BTW, I don’t have anything against this guy.
Ghost Town is a good movie and much of the credit should go to its unlikely leading man. I am now a huger(yep, I said huger) Ricky Gervais fan than ever!!
I think Ricky would be perfect to host. We could all use a laugh right now. He’s hilarious. And there is nothing wrong with Englishmen, it depends on which ones you’re talking about.
Jools Holland and Jonathan Ross are both awesome TV hosts. I’m not sure where Zane Lowe is from originally but I give them all credit anyway
Ricky would be awesome! He was the only part of the Emmy’s that was worth watching. I would love for him to host the Oscars!!!
Ricky and Steve Carell together would make more sense
Cherilyn, Zane is a New Zealander, but he’s been living in the UK for a long time, and doing really well. I agree with you – there’s no need to discriminate based on country of origin (really, I’m surprised at some of the complaints here…what’s wrong with Brits?). If you’re good, you’re good – and Ricky Gervais is *great*
I love the idea, but I feel like Jon Stewart should do it again…he does a fine job, and I feel like it would be nice for the Oscars to have the kind of consistency it once had. The more he does it, the more comfortable he would feel, and the better it would be. Stop changing things that aren’t broke!