Hosting the Academy Awards is considered one of the most demanding thankless jobs in Hollywood. Add to that if the ceremony happens when any sort of turmoil is going on and it only heightens the pressure. OK, so it’s 2025 and there’s something tragic going on at every turn of the head, but with the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles directly affecting some of the people that will be in the Dolby Theatre on March 2nd, Oscars host Conan O’Brien is entering a room that’s going to put him in a touchy position. So how will he keep cool, my babies?

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Conan O’Brien said that the LA wildfires will undoubtedly be on everyone’s minds but that he and his team of writers also have to find the proper tone for the Oscars ceremony. “The strategy is my writers and I and the team that I’m working with at the Oscars, who are fantastic, the producers, everyone, we’ve got all of our sensors out. I couldn’t tell you right now what the show is going to be. We have a million ideas, but which ones will we use? What’s going to be appropriate? What’s the right tone? Like I said, the tone might shift somewhat. You never know one way or the other. It’s a moving target. I want to make sure that we do the show that meets the moment on March 2, and that we put a light on a lot of the people in L.A. that have been affected; that we are a mixture of sensitive, but also understanding, but also I hope uplifting that there’s some fun. It’s a crazy combination…As an entertainer, I need to try and figure out what’s the best way to respond to this? So we will figure that out over the next five weeks, and it’ll probably come together 45 minutes before the show.”

Some thought that the 97th Academy Awards might have been postponed like other events — including the nominations announcement itself — due to the fires, but the show is moving forward as scheduled. For historical sake, the Oscars have only ever been postponed three times before: the first in 1938 due to the devastating LA floods that left over 100 dead; the second in 1968 in the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., which actually put the event on a Wednesday; and the most recent in 1981 following the assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan.

The choice of Oscar host can be a tricky one, but I’d say Conan O’Brien is just the right guy for the room. As manic as he can be, he seems like the perfect choice to help put the room at ease and be a leader throughout the night — although we still don’t know if the Masturbing Bear is tagging along.

How do you think Conan O’Brien will do as Oscars host?

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