The glitz. The glamour. The extremely awkward moments. Pop culture junkies or not, we all have something to look forward to when it comes to award show season…whether it’s rooting for the underdog to take home a gilded statue, or making bets on whether or not Billy Crystal will crack a joke about Eddie Murphy exiting as host of the Oscars. In the midst of all the current controversy, we couldn’t help but become a little nostalgic thinking about telecasts from years past. It’s tough to be a great award show host, but the list of the following proved to us just how quickly it can all go wrong.

The worst award show hosts of all time: 

James Franco & Anne Hathaway. Oscars, 2011.

Initially, it seemed like a great idea. How do we add some sizzle and spice to Hollywood’s biggest yet, admittedly, most snooze-worthy award show of the year? Bring in two young, attractive actors to host! What could go wrong? Apparently, a lot. The only thing worse than watching James Franco’s dopey grin as he clumsily stumbled through teleprompter lines was the awkward juxtaposition between his blaze attitude and that of the perky Anne Hathaway. Better luck next year…

No Host/Rob Lowe & Snow White. Academy Awards, 1989.

In 1989, Academy Awards telecast producer Alan Carr decided he wanted to try something different, so be brought in…nobody. That’s right, the 61st annual Academy Awards had no official host, but it did have an opening number that went down in infamy involving Rob Lowe and a mystery actress dressed as Snow White perform a duet to “Proud Mary.” Silly producer, costumes are for Halloween and “Proud Mary” is for kareoke bars.

Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Jeff Probst, Ryan Seacrest and Howie Mandel. Emmys, 2008.

We all know reality shows have perfected the art of over-the-top drama, but in 2008 we learned we can’t count on their famous hosts to bring the excitement. In an effort to bring some buzz to the new award of Best Reality Host, the Emmys brought in the five nominees for the new category to emcee the entire show. The result? Awkward banter, excessive rambling, and a strip tease from Heidi Klum?

Bryant Gumbel. Emmys, 1997.

Charming? Check. Attractive? Sure. But funny? Nope. Consider that award show hosts are famously known for singing, dancing, performing comedy monologues and/or offending viewers, we’re not sure why Bryant Gumbel was selected as host of the 1997 Emmys. But we don’t think he’ll be asked back anytime soon.