I might have said he's not famous enough... then the most recent selections reminded me that's hardly an issue. Why the hell not? I'm sure he'd be better than Letterman.
Really the only thing that could get me to watch an Oscar telecast these days would be Shatner and Takei hosting together. Unscripted.
Shatner may be funny, but can he pull off the jokes that typically populate an Oscar telecast? His delivery doesn't strike me as ideal for that venue.
Oscars use to be hosted by top of the B list celebs, no more. Personal I haven't watched the whole thing in years. It might reflect badly on Bill if he did do it. He has won more awards in his life than those two no-bodies they want to host combined.
what he's got 2 Emmys and a Golden Globe Now while Martin doesn't have anything, Alex Baldwin had 2 Emmys, 2 Golden Globes and a number of other awards that leave Shatner's over acting in the dust. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Baldwin#Awards
and for all we know at lot of them probably wish they weren't. After his dummy spit over Star Trek XI, Shatner was in great danger of disappearing up his own arsehole.