9 Worst Awards Show Hosts in History

And the winner is … oh, who cares? Comedian Ricky Gervais, along with fellow Brits Peter O'Toole and Johnny Rotten, has always had the right idea when it comes to hosting an awards show: 1.) Get wasted, 2.) be incredibly obnoxious, and 3.) take the money and run. There are several other award show hosts who, unlike Gervais, sincerely tried to charm and entertain the television viewing audience. And they were all lambasted for their efforts. Here are 10 of them.

1. David Letterman

   David Letterman, the man who has turned his skill at being a sarcastic jerk into a lucrative career as a tour guide for fellow Midwesterners visiting New York City, somehow ended up as host of the 67th Academy Awards. The stage was too big, the audience too far away from Letterman to connect with, and the atmosphere far too reverent for the irreverent Letterman. This was the turf of pious, socially-conscious actors like Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, and Letterman was treated as if he'd crashed their party and spit in the punch bowl.

2. James Franco and Anne Hathaway

   James Franco and Anne Hathaway were criticized for co-hosting the 83rd Academy Awards, the main reason being that they each are incredibly attractive, possess a modicum of acting talent, and were earnest in their attempts to entertain America's ever-growing couch potato class and help them forget the misery of their boring, pathetic little lives. Unforgivable.

3. Five hosts of various reality TV shows

   Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst, and Ryan Seacrest hosted the 2008 Emmys and went down in history as the most hated of award show hosts. As a result, Howie Mandel's career went down the tubes. Women and men around the world decided they didn't want to jump Ryan Seacrest's bones. And Heidi Klum can't get a date even now that she and Seal have divorced. Oh, whoops. Sorry, that all happened instead in "non-reality" TV land. These five are doing quite well, thank you, and in fact, have only became more successful since 2008.

4. Donald Duck

   The story behind the reasons for Donald Duck hosting the 1958 Academy Awards is one shrouded in Hollywood secrecy. Some say Mickey (Mouse) asked for too much money. Some say there were compromising photographs circulating of David Niven and Bob Hope with Minnie Mouse. Some say Jack Lemmon had unsuccessfully lobbied for Bugs Bunny who was in rehab at an undisclosed location somewhere on the West coast. In his unpublished memoirs, Donald barely mentions that year, opting instead to spend several paragraphs describing his conversion to Scientology.

5. Bryant Gumbel

   CBS Entertainment president Leslie Moonves specifically hired former Today Show co-host Bryant Gumbel, a man who practically defines the word "milquetoast," to host the 1997 Emmy Awards. Why? "I didn't WANT Gumbel to host," Moonves has since said of his decision. "It's just that he was so intimidating, so gangster! After he quit NBC, Gumbel kicked in the door to my office suite, waved a gun in my face, and made my assistant spill her latte on my Persian rug. I had to do SOMETHING to calm this maniac down until I could figure out how to fire him!"

6. Chelsea Handler

   Teetotalers like Chelsea Handler, who hosted the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, are always going to be criticized for their abstinence from alcohol and drugs. Handler is also devout in her religious beliefs, and in the world of MTV, where artists consistently thank "God" for the jewelry, fancy cars, and piles of cash they receive, her humble and yes, spiritual ideals are going to be wrongful ly maligned. Hey, folks, maybe before criticizing an innocent, young woman like Handler, you should get down on your knees, put your hands together, and ask a power greater than yourself if YOU would have been a better choice to host the Video Music Awards. Humbling, huh? Ask youself, "What would Chelsea do?"

7. Angela Lansbury

   Unless they're drunk, swearing, or using urban colloquialisms from the world of Gangsta Rap, senior-aged women make television audiences uncomfortable. Grand dame Angela Lansbury had the gall to come out and host the 1993 Emmys sober, using words containing more than two syllables with the precise diction only a great actress possesses. Now Betty White, who just turned 91, could easily hang with our man Gervais. But Miss Murder She Wrote? Zzz.

8. No hosts

   Yes, occasionally, award show producers just give up and decide no host is better than Billy Crystal for the umpteenth time, like the 1989 Academy A. But about two minutes into an award show with no host it's clear the entire night is going to be a drag. There is something to be said for having somebody, anybody, up there gamely attempt to bring some kind of meaning to the fact that the television viewer is sacrificing three to four hours of life on the planet and they're not even watching football!

9. Jane Lynch

   There was just something off about Jane Lynch's attempt at hosting the 2011 Emmys. It is strange when someone with Lynch's charisma ends up in skits or musical numbers that are either unfunny or confusing, or both. But Lynch shouldn't be excommunicated. Just give her good material, and do it before next year because people are sick of Billy Crystal.

Taken From Online Certificate Programs