Let Wanda Sykes Host the Oscars Alone

After three years of host-less ceremonies, the Oscars will have not one but three hosts this year. According to Variety, Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall, and Amy Schumer will be emceeing the ceremony in March, a trio that makes sense if you squint a little bit. All three of them are funny, Schumer has an upcoming TV show to promote, Hall worked with Oscars producer Will Packer several times, and Sykes… well in a perfect world she’d be hosting the ceremony every year until it goes off the air due to lack of interest (at the rate things are going, that will be in 2027).

Packer allegedly cast a wide net when looking for his hosts in an attempt to bring in as many viewers as possible. There’s a little something for everyone here except misogynists, and I’m sure that Schumer and Hall will do a perfectly fine-to-good job ushering us through the ceremony. I can’t wait for Schumer’s inevitable Worst Person in the World joke (“That’s what Twitter trolls called me after I Feel Pretty came out.”). But if we’re being honest, this should be Sykes's show.

A personal opinion that I believe to be 100 percent correct is that Wanda Sykes is the funniest person in the world. I say this as someone who has watched a lot of her stand-up and as someone who watched almost all of The New Adventures of Old Christine as it aired. Sykes is so talented that you can watch several of her Ellen appearances in a row and not feel like your brain is about to melt. Not many people have that kind of power.

In fact, here’s a clip from one of her Ellen appearances where she riffs on the 2019 Oscars (it starts at 5:58).

Talking about Rami Malek’s prosthetic teeth in Bohemian Rhapsody and saying, “I don’t remember looking at Freddie Mercury and going… damn,” is a perfect, ready-made Oscar host joke. It’s just the right amount of mean, it says what we were all thinking, and most importantly it is funny. Also note the way Sykes sat quietly while DeGeneres said, “Green Book is really great, too.” I just know that she had something to say, and having something to say is one of the only things you need to be a great Oscars host. Speaking to a live audience without Ellen’s murderous glare, she could finally let loose.

As a nation, we have not respected Sykes enough. Remember when Netflix offered her less than $250,000 for a comedy special and she had to go to Epix? Meanwhile, we let James Franco host the Oscars before we even considered her. Do you know how rude that is?

Like Franco, Sykes will be sharing the stage, but this time the three hosts will reportedly be switching duties every hour of the telecast. As we wait for more details, here are two things I know to be true: Sykes could do it all by herself, and I swear to god if they only give her the boring part in the middle I will riot.