Six Degrees: Photos of Jon Stewart hosting the 80th Academy Awards
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Just a couple of early photos from Jon’s hosting gig at this thing called the ‘Oscars’… sharp tux!
And hey, let’s start the morning on a high note with a glowing review from a blogger at the New Orleans Times-Picayune:
The Oscars: Stewart rules the night
By Dave WalkerThe Oscar host’s success or failure drives next-morning gab almost as much as whichever nutty dress and whoever’s stirring acceptance speech.
This time out, Stewart delivered a confident, frisky — elegant, almost — performance that echoed and at times rivaled Oscar’s best-ever hosts, from Bob Hope to Johnny Carson to Billy Crystal.
Stewart gave a breezy opening monologue that courted his limo-delivered live audience while putting them on notice that they were not, actually, the center of the galaxy, not even for this one night.
References to the recently-settled Writers Guild of America strike were inevitable, and Stewart led with one.
The threat of a canceled or curtailed Academy Awards, he noted, was actually credited with shoving the striking writers and the stricken studios back together. (That and the near-total shutdown of scripted TV, including Stewart’s show for a while at least, but still.)
“Before we spend the next four to five hours giving each other golden statues, let’s take a moment to congratulate ourselves,” he said.
“Tonight we look beyond the dark days to focus on happier fare — this year’s slate of Oscar-nominated, psychopathic-killer movies … Does this town need a hug?”
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26 Comments
February 25th, 2008 at 12:07 am
When Jon brought the woman who helped write the song from Once back out so she could make her speech he re-earned my undying love. He’s just such a good, good man.
And, sheesh! He looked fab in that tux! Has he lost weight? Were those french cuffs? Who knew his shoulders were that broad?
He did really really well–I think it’s a pretty sure bet he’ll be asked back.
My favorite joke: “Oscar is 80 so that means he’s the front runner for the Republican nomination”. Bwah!
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February 25th, 2008 at 5:16 am
He made it look fun this year. I hope it was.
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February 25th, 2008 at 5:35 am
Jon did such an amazing job last night and he really seemed relaxed and confidant! I was laughing non-stop during the entire opening monologue. I hope Jon had as much fun performing as I did watching him up there.
@imoldfashioned
I agree about Jon bringing that woman back out so she could make her speech. Who else would have been thoughtful enough to do that?
Some favorite moments:
“Normally, when you see a black man or a woman president, an asteroid is about to hit the Statue of Liberty. How will we know it’s the future? Silver unitards? That can’t be all!”
“In case you’re wondering what we all do here during the commercial breaks, mostly we just sit around making catty remarks about the outfits you’re wearing at home.”
I loved Jon’s shout outs to the writers last night.
Is it just me or did Steve Carell seem more subdued than normal? I thought he was funny but he didn’t have the charisma that he sometimes does.
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February 25th, 2008 at 5:55 am
@One of the Heroes: Maybe he’s still recovering from that enlarged balls syndrome that kept him out of work during the strike. ;)
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February 25th, 2008 at 6:14 am
I haven’t seen the Oscars yet :-( does anyone know if its available on the internet somewhere? I’ve never seen Jon in a tux before! I swear he always wears a suit and tie =D
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February 25th, 2008 at 6:35 am
@SazzrahUK: Rapidshare?
http://www.rslinks.org/movies/80th-annual-academy-awards-2008-hdtv-xvid-aaf/
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February 25th, 2008 at 6:55 am
@SazzrahUK
You can try going to the oscar web site (www.oscar.com). I know they have a lot of videos up now but I haven’t seen any of Jon yet. Maybe they will be there shortly. I’m sure someone will put Jon’s parts up on YouTube at some point in the near future.
@Gaia Faye
LMAO!
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February 25th, 2008 at 8:09 am
I agree that his best moment was when he let the Once lady speak, such a mensch! The evening went off well, given the lack of time. The only thing I missed was the funny film montages at the opening.
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February 25th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Jon was really at his best here! I love that man! He did so well in a limited amount of time I’m going to Oscars.com today to see him again. Jon is now the second person I want to meet next to Stephen. I love those two!
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February 25th, 2008 at 8:34 am
“Tonight we look beyond the dark days to focus on happier fare — this year’s slate of Oscar-nominated, psychopathic-killer movies … Does this town need a hug?”
I need a hug, Jon! ;)
“What happened? ‘No Country For Old Men,’ ‘Sweeney Todd,’ ‘There Will Be Blood.’ All I can say is thank God for teen pregnancy.”
LOL!
And I too thought it was sweet of Jon to bring out Marketa Irglova to give her speech! Aww!
I also loved Jon’s tux! He needs to wear one to the Emmys this year so we can see both Stephen and Jon in tuxes… *double sigh*
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February 25th, 2008 at 8:50 am
He’s going to be a tired puppy on TDS tonight.
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February 25th, 2008 at 8:58 am
@ vigwig – TDS is a rerun tonight. New show tomorrow night.
I second (third? fourth?) the metaphorical wolf whistles for Jon in a tux. He looked fantastic last night.
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February 25th, 2008 at 9:28 am
@ann g, thanks that makes more sense! He deserves a little rest.
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February 25th, 2008 at 10:54 am
What a wonderful night! Jon did an amazing job up there and HUGE props to him for bringing the girl back on stage to finish her speech. I have this feeling he had everything to do with that. (My other half contends the Oscar folks stopped the music so she could finish speaking, but she’d already started to walk away. I heartily disagree. Not once in the history of all the acceptance speeches that have been terminated way too early, have the Oscars [as far as I can remember anyway] ever allowed someone back on stage to finish their speech.)
He’s such a great stand-up guy and I think he and the writers did a wonderful job last night. Despite the fact they didn’t have the usual amount of time to prepare and write for them, watching Jon do stand-up for was incredibly refreshing and a nice change from some of the cheesy musical numbers we’re usually forced to watch at the beginning of the show.
Congratulations TDS writers and Jon!! You did a wonderful job! Now get some well deserved sleep, and I’ll see you live and in person on Thursday afternoon! : )
PS–And I personally enjoyed the Vanity Fair party joke. It actually was one of my favorites…aside from “Does this town need a hug?” Hahahhaaa!
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February 25th, 2008 at 11:03 am
He hit it out of the park with this one. Yay! I plan on watching him host the Oscars every year from now on. :)
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February 25th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Jon was great last night.
Any questions? No, right, good… :D
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February 25th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
@Eris
I’m all for Jon hosting the Oscars every year, unless the Oscar people want Stephen to do some time. Maybe Jon can host the Oscars and Stephen can host the Tonys, Grammys, or Emmys (or all of them).
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February 25th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
My son & I also adored the bit with Jon playing Wii Tennis with the girl from August Rush. “Thanks, Mr. Jon!” lol :-)
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February 25th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Because I just can’t help myself from watching stuff on dailyshow.com on a nearly constant basis, I thought this video of Stephen’s coverage of the 2004 Oscars might alleviate the Stephen-centric doldrums the news and blogosphere has been in lately. Enjoy. : )
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February 25th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I can`t get over that tux!Just Jon in clothes that actually both fit and suit him is surely an event bigger than some awards ceremony.A shout out for Mister Georgio of The Immaculate Suit,the blessed Armani maybe?
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February 25th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
hah I thoroughly enjoyed Jon hosting the oscars. I loved that “Gaydolf Tittler” joke. XD
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February 25th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Jon won BIG points with my friend, who’s not a huge fan of his, when he let the woman who got cut off back on to give her speech. My friend had been complaining that it was always the women who got stuck at the end and got cut off, and then Jon let her back on… Class act, he is.
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February 26th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I know I’m late to the game here, but I watched some post awards interviews I taped and Anne Hathaway said that one of the fun memories of the night for her was when Jon Stewart came out to the audience during the commercials and gave the stars Red Vines to eat. Cute.
Regarding his tux, he showed the label and said whose it was on E! but I can’t recall who the designer was now. I don’t think it was Armani, but it might have been.
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February 26th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
@SD – It didn’t look like an Armani cut of tux to me. I know that 2 years ago he wore a Ralph Lauren custom made tux (but with a tie). I would guess this might be RL as well.
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February 26th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
@Jennie – I just found the video on E!’s site and his tux was Armani. He even flipped his jacket to show the label.
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February 26th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
@SD:
The closing credits had a blurb that Jon’s suit was by Georgio Armani.
And by gawd, he looked fabulous in it! =:-o
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