Oscars 2013: Seth MacFarlane mocks Mel Gibson, Jennifer Lawrence in opening

For diehard movie fans, the Academy Awards are all about trying to figure out whether or not their favorite movie ended up winning any trophies; however, for everyone else it’s really about entertainment. This is where the responsibility lied solely on host Seth MacFarlane to deliver some great entertainment, and hopefully surpass Billy Crystal from last year in bringing something new to the table.

In opening the show this year, MacFarlane chose to incorporate something that we have seen him have a fondness for on “Family Guy” and some of his other work over the years: musicals … or at least in part. He started things off by trying to be his best impression of Ricky Gervais, including some jokes at the expense of Chris Brown, which received some pretty noticeable groans from the office, along with Mel Gibson and Jennifer Lawrence. Seth seemed uncomfortable in front of the audience, who was not ready to be made fun of in the same way that the crowd was when Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globes.

There were of course a number of big-name stars who made an appearance as the opening went on, including William Shatner (as Captain Kirk), Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum for a classy musical number, and Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt for a tap-dance number.

Unfortunately, the biggest issue with MacFarlane’s opening was really just that it was too disjointed. Seth tried too hard to show off a little too many of his talents, whether it was comedy, musical numbers, or even dancing. If he was going to do song-and-dance bits, it would have been better had he not led off with some crass humor. This just was not something that we have any desire to watch again, and this is the third year in a row that we’ve said that.

Overall, what did you think about MacFarlane’s opening? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below, and also click here to check out some more coverage of all things Oscar.

Photo: ABC