Academy pulls a double play

In a year when the academy is expanding its best-picture nominees from five to 10 films, many expected that Oscar producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman would be contemplating ways to shake up the telecast, starting with the host. But the choice of the comedy stalwarts Martin and Baldwin hardly suggests a radical shift in the tenor from previous shows.

And though it’s rare to have performers share hosting duties, it’s not unprecedented. In 1987, for example, Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Paul Hogan collectively ran the show.

Academy President Tom Sherak said that from the beginning they were looking for a two-person team: “The idea was to get two people who will work well together, and who will bring different things to the night.”

Martin, who has recently devoted himself to playing the banjo and touring with his bluegrass band, was an obvious candidate for the gig, given his experience hosting the 73rd and 75th Academy Awards. He has also served as a presenter on the show several times, most recently with Tina Fey in February. He also has a history with Shankman, who has directed the comedian in both “Cheaper by the Dozen 2” and “Bringing Down the House.”

Although this will be his first time hosting the Oscars, Baldwin is no stranger to the event either, having been nominated for a supporting actor Oscar in 2003 for his role in “The Cooler.” He was also a presenter that year. Shankman said he had seen Baldwin host the Elle Women in Hollywood dinner last month, where the two-time Emmy winner made cracks such as, “Movie actresses are so skinny that if I had a love scene I would crush them.” “I called Bill afterward and said, ‘You should see what I’ve been seeing’,” recalled Shankman.

Martin and Baldwin actually do know each other, having worked together on a 2008 episode of “30 Rock.” The two will also play rivals fighting for the affections of the same women (Meryl Streep) in the upcoming Christmas release “It’s Complicated.”

Tuesday’s announcement capped recent online reports that stars such as last year’s host Jackman, as well as funnymen Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr., had turned down the job. (According to Shankman, Jackman had already declined before this year’s producers even began their search, and the Stiller and Downey discussion never went further than preliminary discussions with agents.)

Finding the perfect Oscar host isn’t easy, said Oscar producer Mechanic. “People want to do things for their industry,” he said, “but it’s a live telecast in front of a billion people, and it’s a really tough audience in it that it’s all your peers in the auditorium. It’s understandable that it’s hard.”

What remains to be seen is whether Martin and Baldwin can help the show’s ratings, which many expect could improve with the expanded best-picture nominees. The move from five to 10 films in that category potentially opens the Oscar race to such well-reviewed popcorn fare as the likes of “The Dark Knight” and “Star Trek,” which have traditionally been shut out of Hollywood’s most cherished artistic award.