Ricky Gervais playfully berates Steve Carell at last week's Emmys. (AP file)
Although the gamut of suggestions from various entertainment bloggers run wide -- from a return by Steve Martin to two suggestions of Will Smith -- the question of who will host the upcoming Oscars is beginning to boil down to one name: Ricky Gervais.
As originally reported by Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider, based on the British "Office" star's "give me back my Emmy" bit at last week's Emmys -- one of a small handful of moments featuring actual entertainment during the leaden broadcast (watch it below) -- Gervais was encouraged to meet with the newly announced Oscar telecast producers to discuss hosting duties. EW followed up with more commentary, saying that having Gervais as the show's emcee "could make Oscar night an unpredictable, brilliantly subversive mess."
Gervais is slowly working his way into movies, though his recently released I-see-dead-people comedy "Ghost Town" flopped, failing to crack $10 million in two weekends.
Producers for the Oscars have not shot down the rumors, but they have been quick to caution -- hey, we just got on the job, and we haven't gotten that far yet. Ease up, there, rumor mill.
Then again, with declining ratings for all awards shows in recent years, would Gervais have any kind of drawing power? NBC's "The Office" is a big hit, but how many people know of the show's British roots?
Watch Gervais' hilarious bit at the Emmys ...
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When I watched the Emmys, having known of Gervais (and yes, I saw "Ghost Town" and loved it), I thought to myself, "That guy would be the best host in years, provided they didn't try to script him too much..". I, for one, would love to see him host. The last several years have been terribly droll and it would be fantastic to see someone spice them up. The only other suggestion that I have would be Robin Williams.