Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin Land Oscar Gig

Last year's host, Sexiest Man Alive Hugh Jackman, declined to handle the tough and time-consuming job of hosting the Academy Awards two years running, and Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr also passed on the gig, so naturally the Oscar producers asked Steve Martin and Oscar nominee Alec Baldwin (The Cooler) to team up to tackle MC'ing duties. Martin and Baldwin will serve as co-hosts of the 82nd Academy Awards to be held on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. And while Baldwin's an Oscar hosting rookie, Martin's already performed the job twice previously, hosting the 73rd and 75th Academy Awards shows.

In a press release from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Oscar producers Adam Shankman (Hairspray) and Bill Mechanic stated, "We think the team of Steve and Alec are the perfect pair of hosts for the Oscars. Steve will bring the experience of having hosted the show in the past and Alec will be a completely fresh personality for this event."

"I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy Alec Baldwin," said Martin.

And Baldwin was quoted as saying, "I don't play the banjo but I'm thrilled to be hosting the Oscars - it's the opportunity of a lifetime."

Months before they'll share Oscar hosting duties, Martin and Baldwin will be seen on the big screen co-starring opposite Meryl Streep in Universal Pictures' It's Complicated.

So, what do you think of the team of Baldwin and Martin? Will it make you more or less likely to watch the 2010 Oscars? I'll watch because it's my job, but I would have preferred Jackman or Neil Patrick Harris who killed as the host of this year's Emmys.

_{(Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)}

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