Eddie Murphy is, in all honesty, a has-been. He has been in a handful of selectively humorous films and he may have once had a chance for an Oscar until “Norbit” eclipsed any shred of his credibility. He had an arguably bustling career until it dissolved and fizzled away quietly.

Murphy has been a number of things, but he has never hosted an Academy Awards ceremony, and for that reason, I am excited for Feb. 26, 2012.

Last year’s Oscar night was a quaint attempt at novelty… in other words, a fiasco. Universal stud James Franco and all-American ingénue Anne Hathaway had the best intentions, a real match made in blogger heaven, but proved to be uninspiring. Franco, comically D.O.A., left Hathaway to her own chops, flopping around stage, her bright eyes beaming like lighthouses in a sea of Franco futility.

Therefore, maybe Oscar organizers considered Murphy the perfect foil to the fledgling debacle. At least he’s actually a comedian.

Murphy, who is anything but bright-eyed, has a smashing repertoire in stand-up comedy and a brand-new avenue of humor to explore: self-deprecation. To be honest, last year was rough enough for viewers (waiting all night for “The King’s Speech” to win Best Picture is hardly riveting), with Hathaway and Franco being tossed on stage to host their circus of vomit-inducing skits and campy costume changes.

So why not have a fallen Hollywood star like Murphy grace the stage? No, really, why not?

Just in case you forgot, Eddie Murphy was actually funny once upon a time. Before he was storming out of Oscar ceremonies like a sore loser, Murphy was causing comedic riots, creating countless copycats and writhing in his box office glory.

One could argue that Murphy was at the pinnacle of his comedic excellence in the late 80s with movies like “Coming to America” or when he was a cast member on “Saturday Night