After the surprisingly successful Facebook campaign to get 88-year old Betty White to host SNL, Facebook users are on a power trip: A new campaign was recently launched to land Betty White the coveted but demanding role of Oscar host. At the time of this writing, roughly 56,000 people have “liked” the campaign page, which asks White to endure the endless costume changes and marathon teleprompter reading that come with the Oscar gig. While that seems unlikely, Entertainment Weekly nabbed a comment from White's agent insisting it’s not out of the question: “I try not to discuss hypotheticals with Betty….If offered…we will sit down or maybe even stand up and discuss if it is in her best interest.”
However, it doesn't seem as though the Academy is interested: In a statement to the Associated Press, a spokesperson for the show said that protocol is for producers to select hosts they deem best for the telecast, not whoever gets the most votes on Facebook. And despite her firecracker wit and excellent comic timing, given White's advanced age and lowered stamina, it seems improbable that Betty White would be their first choice. That’s one big, lonely stage to cross to the microphone, one very distant teleprompter (one that fooled even the much younger Felicity Huffman at last year's ceremony), and one legendarily stony audience who's too impatient to get to after-parties to calmly indulge White and her fans. And even if the Academy buckled and offered her the job, hopefully White learned from The Golden Girls that it’s best to go out strong, rather than try your luck with a Golden Palace coda.
But even if Facebook fails to get White on the Kodak stage, it can still busy itself trying to get Carol Burnett on SNL next season. Like White, the comedienne never hosted the sketch show during her prime—possibly due to SNL being in competition with The Carol Burnett Show at one time, as EW theorizes. Burnett’s Facebook campaign is already 60,000 strong and growing; if it happens, fingers crossed for a Tim Conway guest shot.