Morning Call Sheet: Eddie Murphy, 'Empire,' 'Close Encounters,' and a 'Thing' Clip

Eddie Murphy To Host Oscars

Late today. Catching up after being away for a few days, and part of that is always the good, long cry that occurs after a glimpse of my email inbox.

Choosing Eddie Murphy is why I was excited about bringing Brett Ratner on board to produce the Oscars. Murphy is a brilliant choice; funny, unpredictable and filled with a healthy dislike of the industry that made him so wealthy. Best of all, he’s not going to sit there and allow bad jokes and writing to stand. Because he doesn’t care about anything but how well he’ll do, he’ll fight for what he wants against the lazies entrenched in the Oscar writing room and likely with Ratner having his back.

This is one of those inspired choices that’s so simple you can’t believe YOU didn’t think of it.

On a scale of 1 to 10, my interest in watching the telecast just went from DREAD to a good, solid 4.5.

More on how the deal came together here.

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