Seth on Hosting Oscars: Everybody's Fair Game
ET caught up with Seth MacFarlane before he takes the Oscar stage on Sunday, getting him to spill a few details as to what fans can expect from the broadcast and how far he will go in teasing the stars in attendance.
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"I think everybody's fair game," MacFarlane said when asked about what the tone of the show will be.
"It does have to have a little bit of bite to it," MacFarlane added. "The whole point of their bringing me on was to give it a little bit more of an edge ... But it is a balance, because you have a room full of people who are at the top of their game -- they're successful, they're being honored, they're attractive -- and yet it's also the group with the thinnest skin on the planet."
TV and Broadway producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are producing the show this year, and they revealed that their ambitious vision for the telecast has not come without a cost.
"We've scheduled so many performers that our rehearsal time has quadrupled from a normal Oscar show," Craig said.
Some of those performers include Jennifer Hudson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks, Helena Bonham Carter, Adele, Dame Shirley Bassey, Norah Jones, Barbra Streisand and Kristin Chenoweth, who will do a closing number with MacFarlane that Craig and Neil predict will be a "can't miss moment."
While the producers and performers working around the clock to make sure everything comes off without a hitch, MacFarlane has achieved a sort of calm about the big day.
"I'm not feeling a lot of pressure for myself," said MacFarlane. "There is sort of a comfort in knowing that no matter what you do, you're going to get the same reactions in the reviews. I could put on the worst or the best show in the world, and I will still be flayed by the press."
MacFarlane went on to clarify that he has rarely received a positive review from the media regarding his work, including for his popular TV show Family Guy.
"We have a host that nobody knows what he's going to do," Craig said with a smile. "And that's exciting. There's that element of surprise."
Watch MacFarlane host the 85th Annual Academy Awards Sunday, February 24 at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT on ABC.