Seth McFarlane’s Oscar gig last night seemed a bit of a departure from the safe and more palatable hosts of years past, and, while the Family Guy creator’s humor is often known to be off-color, another criticism cropped up about the man who voices Stewie Griffin following the Academy Awards ceremonies — that he relies on being offensive rather than being funny to pique and audience.
Seth McFarlane has come up with some pretty funny bits over the years, but his schtick (and the sheer volume of material he must produce for Family Guy, The Cleveland Show , etc.) can indeed wear thin even for fans.
Seth McFarlane hosting the Oscars seemed a bit like Ricky Gervais hosting the Golden Globes — an injection of controversy and edgy humor to what is (let’s face it) a somewhat dry night of entertainment otherwise.
Perhaps any style of making viewers laugh will grate after what, four hours? Five? But McFarlane did come in for both accolades and criticism at the close of the ceremonies, with The Atlantic opining:
“The oddness of the hire — middlebrow frat-boy hero emcees Hollywood’s glitziest night — was only heightened by MacFarlane’s unpleasant demeanor. When he wasn’t making tired jokes about Jewish people in Hollywood and haha gay people, he was entirely preoccupied with being liked. His whole opening bit, an annoyingly meta thing involving too much pre-taped material, was about himself and his hosting ability … the show has to be about the show, not about Seth MacFarlane snickering at himself.”
Similarly, Twitter users were mixed on Seth McFarlane’s success as an Oscar host:
“I really hope Buzzfeed does a Top Ten Funniest Seth MacFarlane Jokes list tomorrow that’s just a blank page.”
“Offensive humour is the best kind of humour. The problem with Seth Macfarlane is that his stuff is dull and easy, not that it’s offensive.”
“Hey everybody, I’m livetweeting Seth MacFarlane’s career suicide. #oscars2013 “
Did you tune in for Seth McFarlane’s Oscar debut? Funny or flat?
