Good Evening, Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver

Or as I like to call it, “Hello, Oscar Night 2013”. I get it. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences desperately wanted the approval of that much desired target audience of males aged 35 and under.  I imagine what might have happened prior to the hiring of Seth as the host was someone on the board of “whatever” had a light bulb appear above his head as he exclaimed, “Let’s get Seth McFarlane! He’s snarky and young and he’ll bring an edge to our show.” “Boffo!” says some white hair dude from the ol’ boys club. “He’ll slay ‘em!” exclaims another while puffing on a cigar. “The ratings will fly through the roof!” shouts still another as he frantically dials numbers on his rotary phone trying to connect with Seth’s agent.

Even with all the talents and snarkiness Seth exudes, the powers-that-be missed the fact that Seth is actually a real-life version of Eddie Haskell. Yep, I admit I’m old enough to remember Wally’s best friend and Beaver’s nemesis. Sneaky, snide and rude around his friends but in front of the adults he reigned it in. Kinda the same thing that Seth did around the old dudes who direct and run The Academy...oops, I mean The Oscars. I think if Seth had gone all-out it would have played better but instead he tested the waters ever so slightly, afraid to step on too many toes. My suggestion for next year? How about Jimmy Kimmel or Tina Fey and Amy Poehler? Don't get me wrong, I am all for honoring age and experience but I have never been a fan of the "good ol' boys club" that seems to continue to prevail in Hollywood and make major decisions. This time their collective reasoning of choosing Seth to host flopped or as TIME so aptly put it, "American Dud". My choice would be to bring back Billy Crystal to which my 25 year old son complained, "But mom! He's so OLD!!" I countered with, "better old and entertaining than some whippersnapper trying to impress the parents".

FYI: The Academy Awards, was officially rebranded as The Oscars as of February 20, 2013. No lie, the Co-producer Neil Meron said, “We’re not calling it ‘the 85^th annual Academy Awards,’ which keeps it mired somewhat in a musty way. It’s called ‘The Oscars.’ Musty? Seriously, why doesn’t he just say it? They changed the name so it’d be easier to text.