David Letterman Hosts the 67th Academy Awards

On March 27, 1995, David Letterman hosted the 67th Academy Awards ceremony. Critics blasted what they deemed his poor performance, noting that his irreverent style undermined the traditional importance and glamor of the event. In a joke about their unusual names, he started off by introducing Uma Thurman to Oprah Winfrey, and then both of them to Keanu Reeves: 'Oprah...Uma. Uma...Oprah,' 'Have you kids met Keanu?' This and many of his other jokes fell flat. Although Letterman attracted the highest ratings to the annual telecast since 1983, many felt that the bad publicity he generated caused a decline in the Late Show's ratings. Letterman recycled the apparent debacle into a long-running gag. On his first show after the Oscars, he joked, 'Looking back, I had no idea that thing was being televised.' He lampooned his stint two years later, during Billy Crystal's opening Oscar skit, which also parodied the plane-crashing scenes from that year's chief nominated film, The English Patient. For years afterward, Letterman recounted his hosting the Oscars, although the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continued to hold Letterman in high regard and invited him to host the Oscars again. On September 7, 2010, he made an appearance on the premiere of the 14th season of The View, and confirmed that he had been considered for hosting again.