Fey/Poehler vs. MacFarlane: The Golden Globes One-Up the Oscars

Have the Golden Globes just beaten the Oscars at its own game? Thanks to last night’s announcement of the shrewd hiring of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as hosts of its 2013 ceremony, it might have. High-fiving a million angels!

The Motion Picture Academy’s ceaseless struggle to produce an Oscars telecast that appeals to younger viewers while still maintaining a relatively high level of traditional pomp and circumstance is, by now, a point of ridicule. First there was the parading of a Tiger Beat troupe made up of High School Musical stars and  Miley Cyrus onto the broadcast. Then, the fateful hiring of Anne Hathaway and James Franco as hosts. The tremendous crash-and-burn of the Brett Ratner/Eddie Murphy “edgy” producing/hosting team that never was. Yet the very embodiment of the “If at first you don’t succeed mantra…,” the Academy made another attempt at reaching the 18-24 demo, booking Seth MacFarlane, the man behind Family Guy, Ted, and nearly nothing that a majority of the aging Academy members have ever heard of, to preside over this year’s telecast.

It was a risky choice, and one that might have ended up seeming wise in the long run. That is, until the Hollywood Foreign Press ruined everything by landing what may be the most perfect combination of award show hosts that there has ever been: Fey and Poehler.

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