Ellen Makes a Date with Oscar

The Academy is once again looking to the small screen to lead the silver screen into the spotlight.

Ellen DeGeneres has been tapped to host the 79th

Academy Awards next year, marking the third year in a row that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has gone with a celebrity whose contribution to the tube has so far outweighed his or her impact on celluloid. The ceremony will be held Feb. 27, at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.

"When [telecast producer] Laura Ziskin called, I was thrilled," DeGeneres said in a statement. "There's two things I've always wanted to do in my life. One is to host the

Oscars. The second is to get a call from Laura Ziskin. You can imagine that day's diary entry."

And apparently Ziskin was looking forward to making that call.

"Ellen DeGeneres was born to host the Academy Awards," she said. "There is no more challenging hosting job in show business. It requires someone who can keep the show alive and fresh and moving, as well as someone who is a flat-out great entertainer. Ellen completely fits the bill. I can already tell she is going to set the bar very high for herself and, therefore, for all of us involved in putting on the show. Now all we need is a lot of great movies."

There's always a catch.

The eponymous host of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which has won 15 Daytime Emmys during its four years on the air, has hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards twice, the first time coming in 2001, right after 9-11, and the other in 2004.

Critics applauded her 2001 effort, calling it pitch-perfect. Referring to the terrorists behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, she said: "They can't take away our creativity, our striving for excellence, our joy. Only network executives can do that."

DeGeneres' 2004 outing on CBS attracted 18.7 million viewers, a 36 percent leap in viewership from the previous year, which was one of the lowest rated telecasts since ratings information became available.

"She just sparkles," Academy President Sid Ganis said. "She is such a pleasure to watch. Her wit cuts to the truth of things, but in a wonderfully warm-spirited way. I think she'll be a fantastic host for this show, and we're extremely pleased that she's agreed to do it."

Jon Stewart hosted the Oscars this year, scoring unspectacular ratings (38.9 million viewers, down from 2005) but good reviews. The Academy had been hoping that the head of The Daily Show brain trust would attract a more youthful audience. Similar to what the Academy intended to do by calling upon

Chris Rock in 2004, only without Rock's "It's all about me" approach.

The Daily Show benefited by Stewart's understated, intelligent approach to Hollywood's biggest night, however. The Comedy Central show pulled in 100,000 more viewers than usual each night during the week after Stewart's hosting gig.