For the first time in three years, the Academy Awards will be returning with a host. The recent announcement came following years of declining ratings with the 2021 ceremony drawing the least number of Oscar viewers since 1974. This news presents an opportunity for the longest-running awards show to shake things up and make a pick that would be so audacious, so unexpected that it would blow us all away – and subsequently, get their ratings up. It would be a pick that would offer something new while still bringing back the creativity of the old ceremonies that made them ones we all remember. That’s why the Oscars should ask Tim Robinson to host.
For those unfamiliar, Robinson is the creator of one of the funniest sketch comedy shows of recent memory, . The show is one of the strangest and simultaneously most creative comedic works you’ll find anywhere. One episode will feature a glimpse of over 400 naked bodies falling out of coffins, all part of the Corncob TV show known as “Coffin Flop”, and the next will make an extended joke about pouring water on one’s meat to create what is referred to as “sloppy steaks”. The chaotic and unpredictable nature of the show is exactly what we need to bring energy back to an otherwise lifeless ceremony while still fitting in with much of the style that has come to define it.
If we are being honest, the Oscars have long been needing something that could actually make them worth watching – enter Tim Robinson. As mentioned, ratings have been declining for years and there has just been a feeling that they need to do something to gain our attention again. Robinson would be the perfect pick to do that by drawing in newer, younger viewers who would normally skip the lengthy awards ceremony. For those of us that remain return viewers, it would turn it into a genuine event that would go down in the books of awards show history as one of the best.
Sometimes you have to aim big and this would be a way for the program to return with a splash. It is Robinson, as a dynamic comedic performer that doesn’t fit into easy categorization, who would challenge the rules of what could be expected about the form. It would make for an exciting, edge-of-your-seat experience as we would be constantly wondering what weird directions he would take the show in. However, he would still deliver on all the humor and style that we have come to expect from when the Oscars were in their prime. Essentially, we would be handing over the keys to a comedic madman who’d still leave us in stitches with his unique voice and stylings.
It isn’t just I Think You Should Leave, Robinson has a long resume that more than proves his comedy bona fides. He was a writer on and he made a legendary appearance on Documentary Now! in one of the show’s best episodes, “Any Given Saturday Afternoon”. In it, Robinson played a charismatic bowler named Rick Kenmore in such a fashion that he ensured it remains one of the show’s most glorious spoofs. His portrayal is built on a strong foundation of observational humor, constructed from an uncanny impersonation of champion bowlers like Pete Weber. Robinson is able to capture the intensity of competitors like Weber that is humorous when seen taken to the extreme in a sport like bowling. Just when you think it can’t get any more silly and spot-on in its portrayal of the niche sport, Robinson takes the episode to new comedic heights that continually catch you off guard. He becomes so convincing and thoroughly committed that it remains one of the high points of a show with many of them. This talent for impersonation could easily transfer over to what makes a great Oscars, putting him in a prime position to poke fun at the nominees and stars in attendance.
Robinson’s comedic depth goes back even further still. On the short-lived 2016 show Netflix Presents: The Characters, Robinson brought his particular brand of absurdity to make for one of the more memorable episodes. The premise of the show’s first and only season was that eight comedians would get their own episode to make all their own. It was all about showing untapped comedic talent and giving them the creativity to do basically whatever they wanted. Over a half-hour, Robinson took that premise to the absolute limits and made it a brilliant work that deserves a revisiting if you were of the many who missed it. One song, “The Coolest Guy Ever”, is so wondrous and expansive that it remains one of Robinson’s best works to date. It starts out as a song Robinson is singing to his fictional daughter, though it gets sidetracked into being all about her boyfriend, Jeff. It is absurd and silly, though also manages to be a catchy tune all the same.
Speaking of singing, Robinson would also bring his unparalleled musical talents and ability to find humor through song. Remember , arguably the show’s best host, and the songs he would perform? Wasn’t that a lovely part of the show that we all wish there could be more of? Robinson is more than capable of carrying on that tradition of playful pillorying via song that would fit right in at the Oscars. He has more in common with Crystal than any other host to date with his similar passion and skill at creating comedy through music. In every one of his shows, Robinson always uses music as one of his key tools to make us laugh. Him taking the stage to deliver a song would be the closest we would get to a spiritual successor to Crystal and the iconic musical performances he gave us over the many years.
These songs are before we even get to Robinson’s underrated Comedy Central show Detroiters where he put on a masterclass in comedic acting over an all too short 20 episodes from 2017 to 2018. In the show, Robinson starred alongside the equally brilliant Sam Richardson who would go on to take part in many of the greatest episodes of I Think You Should Leave. The two played local ad men who work on low-budget commercials in Detroit though want to do something more. It is a must-see whether you are a fan of Robinson or just comedy in general. It, too, was regrettably canceled, though it gained many admirers for just how weird it all got. That included , who wrote a rare op-ed in Vulture expressing appreciation for the show and hope that it would be brought back for more on another network. We are still waiting for such a day, though it remains a pinnacle of comedy regardless of whether it returns. It showed that Robinson is a comic’s comic, able to bring humor that will win over even the most notable comedy writers who will likely be in attendance at the ceremony. It is all part of how he is more than qualified to host the Oscars.
At the time of writing this piece, it, unfortunately, seems unlikely that Robinson will get the chance to host. Already, has been thrown out as the likely choice. While a safe choice like Holland is to be expected, it will not be one that the Oscars could fully benefit from. Choices like this are not interesting ones that live up to the potential of what the show could be. This is with all respect to Holland, he is a solid enough actor for what he does. However, he doesn’t have the razor-sharp comedic sensibilities that Robinson has. You don’t want a host that simply skates by on their likable charisma and tells the jokes that have been written for them. You want a host like Robinson who will go absolutely all out in pushing the limits of what we all would expect from a sometimes stale awards show while still paying tribute to all that has come before it.
Chase Hutchinson is a Feature Writer for Collider. His work has also appeared in a variety of publications including The Stranger, The Portland Mercury, The Inlander, and The Sunbreak. He lives in Tacoma, WA (it is near Seattle, though still very much its own thing) where he works as a writer and journalist.
This content was originally published here.