HOLLYWOOD — Oscar's desperate search for relevancy continues. With the choice of Comedy Central's Jon Stewart as the next Oscar host, the film academy apparently has opted for the host most like the films that presumably will be nominated for the award itself — small, literate, political-ish, gems like "Brokeback Mountain," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Capote."

Did we say small?

Indeed, none of the critical darlings has yet to break the $100 million barrier, and for all people in Hollywood say they care about "quality," what really matters is "quantity" — of cash. But what about the host? Since the departure of Billy Crystal, who's been in the hot seat eight times, does having a great host, a bland host, a somewhere-in-the-middle host even matter anymore?

The liberal Stewart, a bestselling author and host of the satiric newscast "The Daily Show," is certainly the Oscar host most Oscar voters would most like to eat dinner with. They TiVo his show daily, and many directors jockey to get on it.

As news of Stewart's coronation two weeks ago spread through Hollywood, people were cheered by just the potential break in the increasingly staid, self-important, Oscar glopfest.

"I'm excited about it," says "Chronicles of Narnia" producer Mark Johnson, an academy member and formerly on its board of governors. "There's such a need for relevancy in the world at large, and not just the movie business. You want to make the Oscars as relevant and sexy as you can be, within the guidelines. I have (nothing against) bad taste and vulgarism in a lot of what I listen to and see, but in the Oscars there's no place for it."

Others hope that the irreverent Stewart will cut loose a little. "The Oscars have grown into this appalling circus," says film historian and critic David Thomson. "We're trapped with it, and very often the films are not worthy. I don't think the host is terribly important, but to the degree that we're fed up with the show, a new host is fresh meat.

"A new host can say, 'I'll only do it if I can do it my own way.' That's the real bargain — whether the real host is given liberty or the academy sits on him. If they give Jon Stewart his freedom, it would be a merciful touch. He's always against pomp. Maybe he can be fun."

Inside the insular showbiz world, what is termed an Oscar faux pas can be stunningly small. Part of Oprah Winfrey's alleged feud with David Letterman stemmed from his stint as Oscar host when he made a joke about her name and Uma Thurman's — "Oprah, Uma, Uma, Oprah ..." Last year, Sean Penn felt the need to defend Jude Law's honor after host Chris Rock riffed on his dubious career choices.

Still, the choice of Stewart, cerebral and dry, carries none of the frisson of potential verbal danger that Rock brought to the job.

"I can't believe how lucky they are to get him," says director-producer Lili Zanuck, who's produced the Oscar show in the past. "It's a very hard thing to talk anybody into. Every year, they sweat out can they get Billy Crystal." By the time they usually announce a host, it feels as if the academy has gone through a long list of possibilities, says Zanuck. Not with Stewart, she suggests. "This really feels like a first choice to me."

Sid Ganis, the academy's president, says Stewart's name came up as soon as Gil Cates was announced as the show's producer on Nov. 16. "In the very first discussion, we talked about Jon doing it," says Ganis, who produced 1999's "Big Daddy," in which Stewart co-starred.

Cates usually declines the job of producing the show unless he has a host in place. Not this year. He did know that past Oscar hosts Crystal and Steve Martin were busy, but he wouldn't say if he had asked anyone else. "I never talk about who I ask and who I don't ask because I think that would be the kiss of death for me."

The academy approached Stewart before Christmas and wrapped up the deal quickly.

While Stewart is certainly popular inside Hollywood, his cable show is an acquired taste for most of the country, pulling in only about 1.5 million viewers a night, a far cry from even a routine ESPN football game, which can draw 7 million beer swiggers. Or Oscar, which even in a bad year draws 33 million viewers.

Says Cates, "I have gone through that (in the past), the consideration if the comedians would have appeal, and have come out believing that he is great in terms of his appeal across the country. If we do a show that is fun and interesting and spiffy and moves along and honors movies, people will come to watch."

Generally, the show's viewership is directly proportional to the popularity of the films nominated — highest for instance when "Titanic," the top-grossing movie of all time, was nominated.

Stewart, who declined to be interviewed, first got into the awards hosting gig when he was tapped as a last-minute replacement at the 2001 Grammys, after Whoopi Goldberg dropped out. After U2 opened the show, Stewart arrived on stage, to be met by a security guard with a metal detector. Stewart wound up getting strip-searched down to his skivvies. "Stop dressing me with your eyes," he snapped at the crowd.

But for many in the academy, the question remains, does the host make any sort of difference?

Producer and academy member Christine Vachon says she barely remembers the host from year to year, let alone the movies.

"I think most of us in the industry are so self-centered, it's all about our movies, what the Oscar season is to us any given year."

Los Angeles Times staff writers John Horn and Scott Collins contributed to this report.