Eddie Murphy to Host the 1989 2011 Oscars

Eddie Murphy is going to be hosting this year’s Oscars. Yup. That’s this year. You know, 2011.

Our sources were unable to confirm whether Eddie Murphy would be appearing alongside Eddie Murphy, Eddie Murphy, Eddie Murphy, and Eddie Murphy.

According to the press announcement:

Oscar® nominee Eddie Murphy, whose performing career spans movies, television and the stage, will host this year’s Academy Awards show on Sunday, February 26, 2012, telecast producers Brett Ratner and Don Mischer announced today. This will be Murphy’s first hosting stint on the Oscars®.

“Eddie is a comedic genius, one of the greatest and most influential live performers ever,” said Ratner. “With his love of movies, history of crafting unforgettable characters and his iconic performances – especially on stage – I know he will bring excitement, spontaneity and tremendous heart to the show Don and I want to produce in February.”

…“I am enormously honored to join the great list of past Academy Award hosts from Hope and Carson to Crystal, Martin and Goldberg, among others,” said Murphy. “I’m looking forward to working with Brett and Don on creating a show that is enjoyable for both the fans at home and for the audience at the Kodak Theatre as we all come together to celebrate and recognize the great film contributions and collaborations from the past year.”

Well, that’s, uh. Kind of hard to make jokes about. The last memorable host of the Oscars in our minds was Jon Stewart, and we admit that it’ll be interesting to see whether we’ll get the Eddie Murphy of Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, and Coming to America, or the one of Norbit and Pluto Nash.

(via Deadline.)