The Oscar Telecast Will Have No Traditional Host For Another Year

The 2020 Academy Awards will have no host. Karey Burke, entertainment president for ABC, the network that carries the Oscars, confirmed the decision during her executive session at TCA according to Deadline news.

“Together with the Academy, we have decided there will be no traditional host, repeating for us what worked last year, it will have huge entertainment values, big musical numbers, comedy and star power.”

The 2019 Oscars went host-less by necessity, not by design when Kevin Hart withdrew two days after being named to the job over controversial decade-old tweets, and efforts to get him back failed.

The Academy and ABC forged through with no host for the first time since 1989, betting on big-star presenters and big moments instead.

To the surprise of many, the set-up worked as a Queen medley followed by a set of “not hosts” Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph got the 2019 ceremony off to a hot start, with the Lady Gaga-Bradley Cooper performance of “Shallow” providing that “moment” Oscar producers dream about.

The Academy was believed to be following a similar blueprint for the 92nd Academy Awards, going after top entertainers to give the show the burst of energy a good opening monologue by a host provides.

The 2020 Oscars producers, Stephanie Allain and Lynette Howell Taylor, are also facing a compressed time table, with a shorter awards season leading to a February 9 date for the Academy Awards live on ABC.