Well, this is a switch. Rather than announce the new host of the Oscars a month before the broadcast, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to end the suspense and announce the host six months early.

And the Oscar hosting job goes to... Ellen DeGeneres!

Yep, she's the host. Oscarcast producer Laura Ziskin announced tonight that Ellen will host the 79th award presentation, which will take place on February 25, 2007. "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," said Ziskin in the press release. "Now all we need is a lot of great movies."

Ellen responded with her usual aplomb: "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." Remembering how well Ellen's done hosting the Emmys, this seems like a pretty good choice. At least it's not Whoopi Goldberg again.

When James Brown (no, not the "Sex Machine" James Brown... the other one) left Fox to become the new host of The NFL Today at CBS, Fox kept everyone in the dark about who was going to take his place as host of Fox NFL Sunday. They even made the mystery into an ad campaign. But the mystery is over: the network has named lead play-by-play man Joe Buck as the host of the pre-game show. Because Buck is still going to broadcast the games, though, the show will be on the road the entire year, originating from the stadium where Buck is supposed to be working that week. Curt Menefee will host the halftime and post-game shows.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News, who reported on the unconfirmed rumors yesterday, felt that Fox was making too safe of a move with Buck. According to Raissman, it was a perfect opportunity for Fox to develop someone new in the host role, someone who can evolve as he tries to corral Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and Jimmy Johnson. I'm not quite sure about that argument; after all, for every Bob Costas that gets a chance to shine in the studio, there's two Brent Musburgers that make us want to throw things at the screen. Those aren't good odds, as far as I'm concerned.