…and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

I was curious who producers Adam Shankman (yay!) and Bill Mechanic would get to replace Hugh Jackman, who annouced that he wouldn’t be repeating his elegantly self-deprecating song-and-dance hosting shtick from last year. I know a lot of fans had been suggesting Neil Patrick Harris, who was the best thing about the Emmys – and is usually the best thing about whatever he’s doing – but I was holding out hope for Steve Martin.

He’s been my favorite post-Billy Crystal Oscar host, because he does such a great job tip-toeing between urbane and goofy – my favorite line was when he mentioned the plot to kidnap Russell Crowe and, deadpanned, said “Tom Hanks, you should be ashamed of yourself.”

Cut to Hanks, America’s Patron Saint of Jovial Earnestness, looking sorrowful. Martin gets to poke jokes that people like David Letterman or Chris Rock couldn’t get away with, because he’s a real movie star, like the people sitting in front of them, and therefore gets to be chummy chummy (I will never forget how Sean Penn flipped out on Rock’s pretty funny chiding of Jude Law, who, at the time, seemed to be in every single movie in the theaters. It wasn’t just about defending Law – it seemed to be a priggish smackdown of some dumb outsider who dared question a great thespian. )

Anyway, both Martin and Alec Baldwin, his co-host and co-star in the upcoming “It’s Complicated”, have that in-crowd advantage, plus noted experience being able to wing it if they have to (all that “Saturday Night Live” training!) This is going to be awesome! I just hope the nominees are as stellar!