Normally, I look skeptically upon "TV" personalities hosting the biggest movie event of the year. The hosting gigs by Ellen Degeneres and John Stewart never impressed me, but then again, movie-star hosts can fall flat too. I say it's got potential. MacFarlane's talents as a comedian and singer are considerable, but it all depends on how producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (of the musical series Smash) intend to tap those talents. If they aim for a level of showbiz cheese that's somewhere between Billy Crystal's one-man shtick and Hugh Jackman's all-out razzle dazzle (with only subtle hints of MacFarlan'es new-age smarm), I daresay they may have a winner on their hands. If they try to replicate the sort of raunch and cynicism that's made MacFarlane such a huge success on the small screen (and so help me, one single Family Guy reference is an automatic deal-breaker), then I smell possible disaster. Call me conditionally hopeful.
