Memo to Bruce Vilanch: Don't blame James Franco for your Oscar flop

TO:     Bruce Vilanch

FROM: Tom O'Neil

RE:     The gall you have blaming James Franco for your Oscar bomb

I think it's shocking that you're blaming James Franco for your recent Oscar disaster. The problem with the ceremony wasn't that Franco wasn't available to attend more rehearsals or because the gig was outside his comfort zone, as you told Vulture. It was because you and your team wrote a lousy show.

Why is everybody beating up on James Franco and Anne Hathaway? They're just actors who had nothing to do with compiling the content of the Oscarcast. They just spoke the words written by you and your cohorts who penned  unfunny, unremarkable lines this year. How much better would the show have been if Franco had been available to attend more rehearsals or appeared more at ease on stage? Would it really have been wonderful if a different star uttered that ho-hum stuff you wrote? Do you really think Bette Midler could've gotten a laugh out of it? If so, that's REALLY funny.

Now why don't you wake up at last and go write a (funny) apology Tweet to @JamesFranco?

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— Tom O'Neil

Photo credit: Photo of Bruce Vilanch by Jason Kempin / Getty Images.

Comments

[Ryan in L.A.]

Franco was so bad, I seriously thought (hoped) they might replace him in the middle of the ceremony. The writing was awful too but Franco was so nervous, he wouldn't have been able to deliver the lines properly. You have to be loose to do that job. Everyone forgets that Billy Crystal can't sing or dance either. But he's cool and and gets everyone into the party.

Anne Hathaway did her best so let's leave her out of this.

[Arlene]

Humm...does the man pictured above wish that he looked like Mr. Franco. Or had the charm and warmth and youth of Mr. Franco? Was this nerd revenge on a creature foreign to those who write BEHIND the scenes for a reason? The tired slogan bumper sticker tees are all that needs be said for the great comedian. As for the other individuals responsible for the Oscars this year, you dropped the ball. Yet it is easier to blame the guy who was scared in the end because his strengths were ignored due to lazy losers. Franco may have his faults, don't we all (let's get our mirrors shall we) but I fear this hurt James Franco and it is easier to make him the scape goat. I'm not famous, nor that funny (on purpose) just saying. Let sleeping awards show lie.

[girlwithlongblackhair]

there were jokes?

[kat]

Basically its like this - Franco WAS there every weekend for rehearsals, but sadly for him from the start he saw this as an oppotunity to do a bit of singing and dancing - which he is simply crap at - but he pushed the producers to allow him a shot. The producers allowed this crazy notion to happen, wasted alot of his and their time - working on a song that was scraped - making a grease video - which was scraped and who knows what else. Sorry James, but I've heard his singing way before the oscars and he has absolutely no dance training - the real failure was with the producers for not recognising James lack of talent in this area and that they even entertained the idea of James being able to pull of anything like a song and dance show. It would have been a huge embarassment for him. The producers should have strickly stuck to what he is best at - goof ball comedy and looking very very handsome. They destroyed his enthusiasm for the show by allowing him to try things only then to scrap them, leaving him without any material and a brusied ego, a great reciepe for a successful host in anyones oscars show.

[ChaChaheels]

AMPAS just hire Joan Rivers, Sarah Silverman and Bette Midler to host the Oscars next year...3 Jewish women...who'll trash that party like a barmivah on steroids! Let it rip girls!

[Terrence]

Blame the writing, blame the delivery. The bottom line is that there wasn't a match between the two.

Hathaway and Franco are actors, not writers. And neither of them have their own writing teams with which to offer input, so both of them were at the mercy of crummy writing.

Vilanch and the writing team are more used to hosts who can deliver quips and one-liners. The writing should have been more tailored to the hosts instead of expecting novice hosts to tailor themselves to the crummy writing.

Kudos on this posting, Tom. Vilanch should have either backed Franco up, taken his own bullets or simply kept quiet.

[danw]

next time, they really want to make a change, get rid of bruce, too.

[Carlos Estevez]

There's only ONE way to save the Oscars - Charlie Sheen.

[Peter]

The writing was bad, but the delivery was infinitely worse. Are you really suggesting with a straight face that James Franco put a respectable amount of effort into hosting the show? He turned "unfortunate" into "utter disaster".

[Jack Scribe]

Couldn't agree more with your observations. But Vilanch and gang have been producing lame presenter material for years. To be fair, the writers do excel when cranking out quick retorts for hosts who have comedic timing and delivery. But this year, the hosts were ACTORS. As such, they needed a well-crafted script.

[Maria]

In my modest opinion James Franco was without energy & enthusiasm
during the show.

[vilanch sucks]

"There is a downside to celebrity: Now, I am the one who gets knocked if someone tries something that doesn't work. Before it was the fault of these anonymous people, 'the writers.'" - Vilanch on who takes credit/blame
from the horse's ass' mouth himself.

[SF Biker]

I think that Vilanch is way past his expiration date as a comedy writer. I would love it if the writers from The Daily Show took over next year....it might not be great but it's better than...."delivering geriatric humor while trying to maintain some amount of self respect."

Blaming the actors is just passing the buck.

[Rob N]

Here is the problem. Bruce Vilanch and his team have been writing the same jokes since the 70's, but the Oscar's are desperate to be "hip" so they hire Franco and Hathaway because they look great in the promo's...but nobody really thinks about James Franco delivering geriatric humor while trying to maintain some amount of self respect. About 20 minutes into the show it was easy to see that he just wanted to go home. If they are going to try the fresh and hip approach, wouldn't that same theory also apply to the writers? It's time to put Vilanch and the other old timers on the shelf and get some writers from this century.

[Gary]

Are YOU high? Hosts always have input over material, in fact they usually write most of it with their own team of funny persons. Not that Vilanch never mis-fires, but dealing with team Franco doesn't sound like it was much fun and if the talent isn't around to rehearse how can anyone else be blamed for flat material. When you don't have a sense of what's working, you aim for something just this side of bland.

Bruce's biggest mistake was citing Franco's appearance hosting SNL as an upside to hiring him. The rest of the world saw that, too.... tragically not funny.

[David]

I think people are looking back at Crystal-hosted Oscars with rose colored glasses. Go back to any of the Oscars he hosted, and beyond a few funny moments, they were just as painful and dreary as this year's installment. So yes, I agree with Tom O'Neil, it's the writing. Vilanch is past due. His writing has gotten more abysmal every year. All that fake, canned, and corny dialogue never works. It's time for some fresh talent and perspective behind the scenes.

[Complicated]

Really? It's all about the writers. I suppose when Billy Crystal struck gold or another host manages to pull it off you'll give the writers their kudos? I doubt it. Franco brought nothing to the show. Anybody could have been pulled off the street to bomb with that material. Maybe it wasn't A-grade writing, but it was all D-grade delivery.