MacFarlane is the bold hosting choice that the academy needed to make after last February’s debacle, in which Billy Crystal wound up getting his ninth hosting at-bat.
For the first time in maybe forever, that Oscars wound up attracting a smaller audience than did the Grammy Awards show, at which the music industry laid its heart at the feet of its fallen heroine, Whitney Houston.
More from Lisa de Moraes
Pulitzer Prize winner, Peabody recipient, Medal of Freedom honoree -- Lisa de Moraes is none of these, but she is an authority on the bad direction, over-acting, and muddled plot lines being played out in the TV industry's executive suites.
(John Shearer/INVISION/AP) - Seth MacFarlane presents an award onstage at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre on Sept. 23, 2012, in Los Angeles.
Crystal was an 11th hour fill-in when designated host Eddie Murphy stepped down after Brett Ratner “resigned” as Oscar producer in the wake of a string of slur-and-potty-mouth moments at a movie screening and on Howard Stern’s radio show.
Although the Oscars scored nearly 40 million viewers — a good number for the franchise, and nearly 2 million better than the previous year — Crystal’s performance was generally panned. Especially the bit in which he performed in blackface.
More credit for those decent ratings was given to Jennifer Lopez’s left nipple playing hide-and-seek with her gown in the broadcast’s early moments and Angelina Jolie’s uber-ambitious right leg pulling an Eve Harrington and stealing the show, turning The Angelina into a Thing.
Perry signs with OWN
OWN network has struck an exclusive multi-year deal with Tyler Perry in which he will create scripted programming for the co-venture between Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications.
OWN will become Perry’s “singular destination” for all new TV series, including the network’s first two scripted shows, scheduled to debut in mid-2013. Perry will exec-produce, write and direct both series.
Winfrey and Perry previously collaborated on the flick “Precious.”
Until now, Perry’s TV series have run on TBS — including the very popular “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” “Meet the Browns” and “For Better or Worse.”
OWN will retain all the rights to Perry’s programming for the network, according to a network rep.
“Bringing Tyler Perry exclusively to OWN is a major coup. Today’s announcement demonstrates the power of the Oprah brand to attract some of the biggest names in television and film to OWN,” Discovery chief executive David Zaslav crowed Monday.
For previous columns by Lisa de Moraes, visit washingtonpost.com/tvcolumn .
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