I've always liked Billy Crystal as Oscar host. Yeah, he does sometimes have a moment of self-adoration but he always manages to follow it with a self-effacing twinkle. So I suppose I should be pleased that he's stepping in to fill the void caused by Eddie Murphy's abdication.
But I was kinda hoping it would be Neil Patrick Harris or Hugh Jackman. They're both good hosts who still have the capacity to surprise us. I mean, Crystal probably already has someone writing the song parody about J. Edgar to the tune of "Goldfinger," rhyming "J. Edgar" with "Gay Edgar." And you see that tweet above? Toss in a reference to Eddie M. and you have the premise of Billy's whole opening monologue right there.
You know what I think would have been classy? If Mr. Crystal stopped hosting the Academy Awards until he's old enough to be an elder statesman of show business, having completed his long-range transformation into Alan King. Maybe he can still do it then but it would be more exciting if he didn't keep coming back to it every few years.