Top 10 Worst Award Show Hosts Ever
In hindsight, these celebrities really shouldn't have hosted award shows. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for award ceremony hosts who, despite all their talents, failed to be engaging, didn’t read the room, or put in a lackluster effort.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 "Sorry, that's as far as we got in rehearsal."
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for award ceremony hosts who,
00:09 despite all their talents, failed to be engaging, didn't read the room, or put in a lackluster effort.
00:15 "Hi, Silver Linings Senior Center."
00:17 Number 10, Joe Coy, the 81st Golden Globe Awards.
00:24 Coy claimed that he was only given the gig of hosting the Golden Globes
00:28 10 days before the ceremony took place, and boy does it show in his opening monologue.
00:33 "Look, I'm just taking this all in. Let me look around. I'm taking this all in. I'm so excited to be here."
00:38 What should have been a defining moment in the stand-up comedian's career was instead
00:42 riddled with miscalculated and lazy jokes that were met with pitiful smiles,
00:46 cringing, and icy glares from some stars.
00:49 "Oppenheimer is based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project.
00:56 And Barbie is on a plastic doll with big boobies."
01:00 The one positive from his set was that Coy acknowledged that the jokes weren't all landing,
01:06 which was a little refreshing in its openness, although throwing his writers under the bus wasn't.
01:11 "Slow down. I wrote some of these, and they're the ones you're laughing at. Look."
01:14 After the wave of criticism in reaction to his monologue,
01:19 Coy acknowledged that it was a quote "off night."
01:22 "It's brilliant. Do it again. You better cross. Cross. Cross. Wakanda fabadoo. Yes! That's it!"
01:28 Number 9. Angela Lansbury, the 45th Primetime Emmy Awards.
01:34 Murder, She Wrote legend Angela Lansbury was an Emmys icon.
01:37 "You're not threatening me, are you?"
01:40 Between 1983 and 2005, she was nominated for an award 18 times and, unfortunately, didn't win once.
01:48 "And the Emmy goes to...Patricia Wedding. 30-something."
01:54 With that rich history, Lansbury was given the hosting reigns at the 45th
02:01 Primetime Emmy Awards in 1993, but it was a mixed bag. While she was described as charming
02:06 by some reviewers, not everyone was a fan of the more traditional approach Lansbury took.
02:12 While an immensely talented star, she didn't boast the purely comedic chops that the Emmys'
02:17 hosts usually have. With Lansbury, the grace and style was there, but the funny entertainment,
02:23 not so much.
02:24 "Sounds like a real break."
02:25 "Oh, I'm sure it is."
02:26 Number 8. Kelsey Grammer, the 40th Annual Grammy Awards.
02:31 Kelsey Grammer hosting the Grammy Awards in 1998 sounded like a perfect match.
02:36 "I should probably answer the question that is on everyone's mind tonight.
02:39 Why have I been asked to be your host? Well, the Grammy's turned 40 tonight. And who better
02:45 to guide her into middle age than a mature, sober individual such as myself?"
02:50 After all, in Frasier, he was the titular star radio host very comfortable as the center of
02:57 attention. But Grammer was out of his depth on this fateful music night, and his discomfort
03:03 was palpable from the start.
03:04 "I managed to stay more current than you'd think, thanks mainly to my 14-year-old daughter,
03:08 Spencer, who has exposed me to the likes of Radiohead, Baruch Assault, and the subtle
03:14 artistry of Marilyn Manson."
03:16 It got worse when he had to utter words and phrases like "getting jiggy with it" or "mmm bop."
03:21 "The runaway hit 'mmm bop' is the most infectious thing to hit the music world since Marilyn,
03:26 well, Marilyn Manson. Please welcome Hanson."
03:29 In one review of his performance, Grammer was compared to a, quote, "nervous substitute
03:36 teacher." Yikes. Regardless, having the actor hosting still worked in the Grammy's favor,
03:41 as they brought in their highest TV ratings in five years.
03:44 Since 2014, Michael Che and Colin Jost have been the faces of Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live.
04:02 So, when the familiar duo was set to host the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2018,
04:08 it was not clear how their style of awkwardly edgy comedy would go over.
04:12 "It is an honor to be here sharing this night with the many,
04:15 many talented and creative people in Hollywood who haven't been caught yet."
04:19 And once they got on stage, both seemed somewhat out of sorts without a desk,
04:25 and defaulted to more stilted joke deliveries.
04:28 "Netflix, of course, has the most nominations tonight.
04:33 That's right. That's right. And if you're a network executive, that's the scariest thing
04:39 you can possibly hear. Except maybe, 'Sir Ronan Farrow is on line one.' Yeah."
04:46 Several of the topics they chose to jest about, particularly in the opening monologue,
04:51 were too raw and sensitive to land well.
04:53 "And Roseanne was canceled by herself, but picked up by white nationalists."
04:59 "Oh."
05:01 And numerous jokes fell flat with the audience, getting mostly uncomfortable laughter.
05:06 "With the amazing contributions from everyone in this room tonight,
05:10 I think we can keep television going for another five, six years tops."
05:14 "Tops."
05:15 If you're announced as the host of an award ceremony and the network feels the need to
05:25 preemptively defend the appointment as a quote, 'unexpected choice,' you're not off to a great
05:30 start. "Sorry, that's as far as we got in rehearsal." And that's what happened when
05:38 Chelsea Handler was the face of the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. And from her walking onto
05:44 the stage, it was a rough experience. Handler seemed to let her inner hyperactive toddler out,
05:49 and produced a bizarre and somewhat incoherent display.
05:52 "I was excited to do this award show because every year something so exciting happens at
05:56 the VMAs, but what I'm scared most is that this year, everybody, all of you idiots will suddenly
06:03 get your acts together." Critics took shots at her inauthentic performance, the underwhelming
06:08 skits and jokes, and her quote, 'crass behavior and statements.' "My award, my choice!"
06:15 This hosting flop might explain why the year after, MTV went with a hostless event with
06:23 multiple presenters, before returning to the familiar format in 2012 with Kevin Hart.
06:28 In 1997, CBS poached Bryant Gumbel from NBC. "I'm Bryant Gumbel, welcome to the early show."
06:39 And following that coup, in addition to his usual type of journalistic and sports work,
06:44 he was chosen by the network to host the Emmys. Critics were bemused by the appointment,
06:48 and their concerns were proven warranted when the ceremony got underway. Gumbel
06:53 performed the role as straight as possible. After a light-hearted opening leaning into his
06:57 lack of experience in this field, he did the rest of the job with no real zing or pageantry.
07:03 And that was the problem, it was pretty dull. People were unhappy an entertainer wasn't selected
07:08 to make the event at least a little exciting. Instead, the 1997 ceremony was a lackluster
07:14 addition. Number 4. David Letterman, the 67th Academy Awards. Even decades after this event,
07:21 David Letterman still can't shake off the stink of hosting the 67th Academy Awards.
07:25 "The show was so bad that the Academy got together and they said, 'We can never let this happen
07:31 again.'" In his opening monologue, he attempted a joke about the first names of celebrities such
07:37 as Oprah Winfrey and Uma Thurman, saying their names repeatedly as he practiced introducing
07:42 them to each other. It was awkward, and made the audience sink into their seats before the
07:46 cringe could overwhelm them. And it got worse as Letterman doubled down without success.
07:52 The spinning dog skit later on also didn't help the former talk show legend.
07:57 In 2020, Letterman described this infamous night as the "biggest professional embarrassment of my
08:03 life." "And say what you will, read what you will, think what you will about my performance the night
08:08 I hosted the Academy Awards, but, and here's my point, no one got hit." Number 3. Reality show
08:16 hosts - the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards. You know the expression "too many cooks spoil the broth"?
08:22 Seemingly, the organizers for the Emmys in 2008 had never heard of this bit of wisdom,
08:27 as they brought in a whopping five hosts. This unprecedented number was composed of the nominees
08:32 for the inaugural category "outstanding host for a reality or competition program" - Tom Bergeron,
08:38 Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst, and Ryan Seacrest. And it was a mess from the very beginning.
08:45 "For the record, this is drama. And this is comedy."
08:54 After they arrived on stage, the fivesome did a load of awkward banter, if we can call it that,
09:02 and were strangely positioned as the stars of the event. Thankfully, all of the celeb award
09:07 presenters helped take the edge off the hosting awkwardness. "The Academy has voted, the votes
09:12 have been tabulated, and those of you who have received the lowest combined total will be asked
09:16 to leave the runway immediately." Number 2 - Seth MacFarlane, the 85th Academy Awards. As we know
09:23 from many of Seth MacFarlane's projects, he likes to push boundaries in comedy. "They will clean up
09:28 all your talking in a mannish such as this. They will make you take a tinkle when you wanna take
09:34 a piss." However, he greatly misjudged his ill-fated opening song at 2013's Oscars. As part
09:41 of a skit with William Shatner as Captain Kirk, MacFarlane went into a tune about seeing the
09:45 exposed chests of various actors in film, pointing at the performers in the audience as he crooned.
09:51 Yikes. Even the pre-recorded self-aware reactions of Charlize Theron and Naomi Watts didn't help.
09:57 Critics and watchers at home were livid at the crass opening of the biggest entertainment
10:01 ceremony of the year. "Some people are saying he was terrible, other people are saying he was
10:05 funny. Most people are saying he was terrible." MacFarlane also made further inappropriate jokes
10:10 throughout the Oscars, including referencing Chris Brown and Rihanna.
10:13 Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about
10:19 our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
10:24 If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
10:28 Number 1. James Franco - The 83rd Academy Awards
10:34 If you're gonna have two hosts for an awards ceremony, you need to make sure they have some
10:39 chemistry. Unfortunately, seemingly nobody checked this before James Franco and Anne Hathaway walked
10:53 onto the stage at the 2011 Academy Awards. The two were reportedly chosen to appeal to a younger
10:59 audience. Instead, they appealed to no one. While Hathaway came out of the experience slightly
11:04 damaged by association, Franco tanked badly with his sleepy energy and smarmy attitude.
11:10 The two seemed at odds with each other, leading to rumors of genuine dislike between them.
11:21 At least Hathaway can joke about it years later. In 2022, she stated they quote "sucked." When she
11:28 was on, watch what happens live with Andy Cohen. Who would you like to see host an award show?
11:42 Let us know in the comments. Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo
11:49 and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.