Fallon’s Oscar talks falter

McClatchy Newspapers

NEW YORK

Despite last-minute maneuvering by outgoing Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak, “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon is no longer in talks to host next year’s Oscars telecast, according to sources close to the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly. But his boss, “Saturday Night Live” executive producer Lorne Michaels, still may be in the running to produce the demographically challenged awards show.

Sherak initiated talks with the NBC late-night host just as his tenure as academy president was drawing to a close. Fallon, who garnered positive reviews as host of the 2010 Emmys, was considered a big draw for exactly the type of young viewers the Oscars broadcast has struggled to reach in recent years. Meanwhile, Michaels, who also is the executive producer of Fallon’s late-night show, is widely respected in Hollywood for his ability to orchestrate a successful live show.

But negotiations with Fallon have stalled mainly because of qualms from ABC executives and Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger. NBC’s Fallon is a direct competitor with the Disney-owned network’s own late-night star, Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel is busy hosting the Emmys next month. The idea of giving his rival such a prominent platform on ABC did not sit well with network executives and Iger.

Iger does not have veto power over the academy’s selection of an Oscar host, but he does have clout inside the organization. In December, the academy named him chairman of its $250 million capital campaign to raise money for a new museum on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art campus.