Patton Oswalt to host this year's Webby Awards

Published on April 3, 2012 06:40PM EDT

Stand-up comedian, Young Adult actor, and all-around geek god Patton Oswalt will host the 16th-annual Webby Awards in May. The ceremony, which honors excellence in categories like “Best Web Personality/Host” and “Best Use of Interactive Video,” is famous for its quirky acceptance speech policy — each winner is allowed to say just five words after receiving an award. Thankfully, Oswalt won’t be asked to limit his own riffs.

The Ratatouille star has some big virtual shoes to fill. In the past, the awards have been hosted by funny people like SNL‘s Seth Meyers, Friends and Web Therapy star Lisa Kudrow, and Daily Show alum Rob Corddry. More than any of those comedians, though, Oswalt’s sensibility seems well-suited to the Webbys — and personally, I’m hoping that this stint might lead to more high-profile hosting.

Today, a show that streams live online — tomorrow, the People’s Choice Awards, perhaps. By 2020, we could be watching the “failure pile in a sadness bowl” guy yukking it up at the Oscars. I know I’d welcome some new blood on the hosting circuit, especially after this year’s old-school Oscar ceremony.

Can you see Patton Oswalt becoming an awards show mainstay, PopWatchers? If not, I implore you to watch the video I linked to above. The guy is funny — and he deserves a bigger following.

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