Steve Martin is your co host for Sunday’s Oscars. Will Steve Martin’s Oscar hosting gig be a winner or a loser?

Steve Martin comes to the Oscars telecast after the Academy Awards hasn’t found comfort, or ratings success, with a repeat host in many years. Long gone are the years of regular late night talk show host booked year to year, or a stand-up comic turned cowboy comedy movie star taking the task year to year.

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So will Martin shine? By all accounts he should. Steve Martin when he is on his game has one of the fastest and smartest dry wit comic deliveries in the business.

But adding in Alec Baldwin? That’s the error right there waiting to happen. Baldwin’s delivery is too close to Martin. Martin works best when you pair him off someone who jabs differently.

Oscar producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman say of Martin:

“We think the team of Steve and Alec are the perfect pair of hosts for the Oscars. Steve will bring the experience of having hosted the show in the past and Alec will be a completely fresh personality for this event.”

Fresh is not needed. Funny is what the Oscars needs.

Says Martin: “I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy Alec Baldwin. I don’t play the banjo but I’m thrilled to be hosting the Oscars – it’s the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Adds the Oscars:

“Martin hosted the 73rd and 75th Academy Awards shows, earning an Emmy nomination for the first stint. He has also served as a presenter on the show several times, most recently at the ceremony in February when he appeared with Tina Fey. He is currently touring with the bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers in support of his latest album “The Crow: New Songs for the Five String Banjo.” In 1977 and 1978 Martin won Grammys for Best Comedy Recording. He earned a third Grammy in 2001 in the Best Country Instrumental Performance category. In 2007 Martin earned a Kennedy Center Honor.”

For live coverage of the 2010 Oscar Awards from Los Angeles, stay with LALATE here: http://news.lalate.com/category/oscars.