Rumors surrounding who will host next year’s Oscars show on ABC have been swirling for some time now, but today we learned the truth. There will be not one but two men hosting, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. The news comes after Hugh Jackman said that he would not be interested in donning the tuxedo for a second year in a row; then Billy Crystal was discussed as likely to make a comeback. That would have been a hilarious albeit somewhat tired choice, considering all his previous efforts.

Martin is hardly a novel choice either; this will be his third time hosting the show. But having two guys do it is a new idea, and this will be Baldwin’s debut. He’s a pro just like Martin and there is no doubt that they will be very comfortable and very funny together (especially after co-starring in It’s Complicated, a movie that comes out this Christmas). One thing they might not bring to the party however is the kind of breezy charm and freshness that Jackman had and probably was one reason why both audiences and most critics thought this year’s Oscars did manage to come off as unusually entertaining.

The clips I’ve chosen are from Late Show with David Letterman. In the one above, Baldwin is talking to the host about the time he met Sarah Palin while doing Saturday Night Live. The clip below is a silly skit where Martin and Letterman are having a gay vacation. Oh, we definitely want to see Martin and Baldwin raid the Kodak Theatre together.

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Published 2009-11-03 23:51