The Oscars Will Have A Three Act Structure With Three Hosts This Year

Back in 2018, Jimmy Kimmel hosted the 90th annual Academy Awards ceremony. Though we didn't know it at the time, that would also be the last instance — thus far, at least — that we would have a single host in charge of keeping the celebrity guests in-person (and all the rest of us commoners at home) entertained throughout the prestigious night. 

The next year, would-be host Kevin Hart managed to get himself removed from the program entirely in the span of 2 (two!) days between his hiring and his subsequent stepping down once a slew of homophobic tweets were uncovered. (The actor is still enjoying a thriving and successful career that hasn't missed a beat whatsoever since then, so kindly pipe down about make-believe issues like "cancel culture" or what have you.) After an exhaustive but ultimately fruitless search for a replacement, the producers behind the Oscars ceremony decided to forego a host entirely and, in all honesty, many viewers considered it a marked improvement. They repeated the same experiment for the 2020 award ceremony, and again in 2021, but this year's 94th Academy Awards will apparently be throwing something of a curveball at us.

We've known that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences intended to go back to tradition and find someone to take the stage and headline the show ... but it seems like we're going to have to amend that to "someones," instead. According to THR's sources, this year's ceremony will take the form of three separate hosts, each responsible for hosting a single one-hour segment throughout the show. You can start firing up your speculative brainstorming sessions now, as the report doesn't mention any prospective candidates just yet. Could we somehow get Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgård for a "Mamma Mia" reunion? Or maybe the three "Spider-Man" actors might volunteer for the job(s), to soothe any ill will among fans caused by a supposed "snub" of "Spider-Man: No Way Home"? Dare I even ask that this be the year we finally get the answer to all our prayers and see the Muppets host Hollywood's biggest awards show in town???

The possibilities are endless! The space I have to baselessly speculate, unfortunately, is not. Read on for all the details below.

The Oscars are looking to shake things up this year even beyond the various 2022 nominations, and the organizers are clearly hoping that a three-host system may be the trick. Hosting the Oscars is a lot of pressure to put on anyone's shoulders, usually bearing the brunt of the public-facing responsibility for how well the evening fares in general, but maybe three separate ones can help share the load a bit. In effect, the plans for this year's telecast will merely be a more formalized and streamlined version of what each ceremony has already done in the last three years, with multiple actors and public figures announcing categories and winners throughout the night. 

The advantage of this idea, in theory, will be to hire different hosts who bring their own appeal to multiple demographics who will be watching the proceedings that Sunday night. After seemingly annual controversies regarding representation for women, people of color, and other marginalized communities, this will be a prime opportunity for the producers in charge to walk the walk after talking the talk.

Now ... who else do we want to see taking turns behind the wheel of the Oscars? The trio of stars leading Hulu's hit series "Only Murders in the Building" – Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez — would definitely be the people's choice (at least based on the results of a very official, very formal /Film staff poll). The love for Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn from "The Lord of the Rings" doesn't seem to have waned one bit in the last few decades. If anyone's looking for a whole series of the absolute best choices, well, we already weighed in with our choices just last month. However it turns out, keep an eye on /Film once the news finally breaks. I can't condone riots on the streets if the Muppets are, once again, left out in the cold, but I'd understand.

This year's awards ceremony will broadcast on March 27, 2022 on ABC.