For the third time, TCM host and The Hollywood Reporter scribe Robert Osborne will be greeting Academy Award nominees, presenters, and performers on the 2008 Oscar's red carpet in front of the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center on Sunday, February 24.
Red carpet arrivals are expected to begin at approximately 3 p.m. Pacific Time and conclude at the start of the Oscar telecast two hours later. As per the Academy's press release, "Osborne's red carpet celebrity chats will be audible to the other arriving guests as well as to the bleacher fans on the opposite side of the carpet."
I'm assuming that means Osborne's "chats" will not be audible (or visible) to TV audiences in the US or elsewhere. Pity. Unlike most Oscar "chatters," Osborne knows his film history.
In addition to writing a column for The Hollywood Reporter, Osborne is the prime-time host of what may well be the greatest TV channel in the whole infinite universe, Turner Classic Movies. He is also a frequent host of Academy events in New York and Los Angeles, and is the author of the upcoming 80 Years of the Oscar, the latest edition of the official — and, really, whitewashed, but great-looking and thoroughly enjoyable — history of the Academy Awards.
And finally, Osborne also hosts Robert Osborne's Classic Film Festival in Athens, Georgia.
Photo: Long Photography / © A.M.P.A.S.
Note for 2011 — RO needs to be live on TV with his Red Carpet interviews. There is no one like him — classy, erudite, approachable, friendly — and he would lift the pre-ceremony chat to a much higher level. What's on TV and various online outlets toight is just repetitive drivel. If I hear "awesome dress" one more time, I will gag…
Classy Oscar host.
Robert Osborne should host the Oscar ceremony as well.
Osborne is one of those rare Hollywood profiles who actually knows his subject intimately and not just a reader for a teleprompter or a pretty face for the camera. His Turner intros are never frivolous or a rehash of what you already know…not saying he is perfect but he is a pleasure.