After Jon Stewart’s unexpectedly dull performance as the host of the 2006 Academy Awards, it’s pretty astonishing the show’s producers actually invited him back as anything other than a seat-filler. Then again, Stewart has taken quite a few event-hosting gigs since then, perhaps even trying to beef up his stage game, so maybe they knew something we didn’t? Well, their gamble paid off as Stewart’s probably the sole reason why last night’s 2008 Academy Awards didn’t send millions around the world into a television-induced coma.

Sure, the evening had all the superficial glister of a successful Oscar ceremony, but perhaps due to the late conclusion of the writers' strike, there was a dreadful lack of polish to the proceedings. Most of the presenters, for example, seemed wholly out of place like the Rock, Patrick Dempsey, and Katherine Heigl. The musical numbers lacked production value, too, especially Amy Adam’s performance of “Happy Working Song,” which actually had no production value at all. Somebody just gave her a bad dress and told her to stand in a spotlight. Oh, and where was the grand production number that usually starts the ceremony? Maybe a creative skit or two? This year, we got none of that given the last-minute turnaround. Instead, we got a confident, comfortable Stewart, poking fun at himself and, interestingly enough, the self-importance of the Oscars.

Take how he reacted to Christopher Rouse’s win for Best Achievement in Film Editing for The Bourne Ultimatum: “Somebody just took the lead in their Oscar pool based on a guess.” Now, I personally love the Best Editing category, but I’m smart enough to know the rest of America really doesn’t give a damn. Stewart chose not to bullshit anyone; he knew you went to go get another beer while this award was being handed out.

Then there was Stewart’s comically forced reaction to a protracted video featuring the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences explaining how the selection process takes place: “Wow. That was amazing.” It wasn’t, but, again, Stewart wasn’t going to bullshit anyone this time around.

The highlight – that is, if you enjoy smart humor like what Stewart doles out on The Daily Show – was how our sophomore host addressed the Academy Award’s habitual use of movie montages and, particularly, how last night’s ceremony might have taken place if the writers' strike had kept all the celebrities from showing up. “Had the writers strike continued,” Stewart said, “they would have had to pad the show with even more montages.” What sort? To answer that, he gave us a “brief taste of what your four-hour, writerless Oscars would have looked like,” including a stunning Oscar salute to “binoculars and periscopes.” Here, we were given a fun montage of clips from Rear Window, Silence of the Lambs, Das Boot -- you get the picture. This was followed by a hilarious Oscar salute to bad dreams. Priceless, really.

Stewart’s jokes didn’t always work, especially a weird Wii tennis skit, but that’s okay. He kept the awards moving, he kept us with a smile on our face, and he helped us overlook how, yet again, publicity campaigns bought almost every award. Thanks, Jon!

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