Oscars: The best jokes from the past 15 years

SOME of the funniest people on the planet have hosted the Academy Awards and they’ve delivered some hilarious lines on stage. Here are our favourites.

IN THE past 15 years, some of the funniest people on the planet have hosted the Academy Awards.

Sure, some of their jokes have tanked but the majority of them have cracked up not only the celebrities inside the Dolby Theatre but also the hundreds of millions of people watching at home.

With less than a week until Chris Rock hosts the 88th Academy Awards, here are our favourite funny lines from the past 15 years:

2015 — Neil Patrick Harris:

“‘Benedict Cumberbatch’: it’s not only the most awesome name in show business, it’s also the sound you get when you ask John Travolta to pronounce ‘Ben Affleck’.”

2014 — Ellen DeGeneres:

“Anything could happen tonight! So many possibilities! Possibility number one, 12 Years a Slave wins Best Picture. Possibility number two, you’re all racists. And now, please welcome our first white presenter, Anne Hathaway.”

2013 — Seth MacFarlane:

“This (Django Unchained) is a story about a man fighting to get back his woman who has been subjected to unspeakable violence. Or as Chris Brown and Rihanna call it, a date movie.”

2012 — Billy Crystal:

“So tonight, enjoy yourselves because nothing can take the sting out of the world’s economic problems like watching millionaires present each other with golden statues.”

2011 — Anne Hathaway and James Franco:

*What a trainwreck. The best joke of the night was James Franco’s hosting effort.

2010 — Steve Martin:

“Everyone who’s ever worked with Meryl Streep says the same thing: Can that woman act! And, what’s up with all the Hitler memorabilia?”

2009 — Hugh Jackman:

“Everything is being downsized because of the recession. Next year, I’ll be starring in a movie called New Zealand.”

2008 — Jon Stewart:

“(Away From Her) was about a woman who forgets her husband. Hillary Clinton called it the feel-good movie of the year.”

2007 — Ellen DeGeneres:

“Jennifer Hudson is here tonight. Jennifer Hudson was on American Idol, America didn’t vote for her and yet she’s here with an Oscar nomination. That’s incredible. And then Al Gore is here. America did vote for him ... it’s very complicated.”

2006 — Jon Stewart:

“And right now around the world, we’re being watched by hundreds of millions of people, nearly half of whom are in the process of being adopted by Angelina Jolie. I’m waitlisted.”

2005 — Chris Rock:

“The only acting you ever see at the Oscars is when people act like they’re not mad they lost. I remember one year when Halle Berry won the Oscar, Nicole Kidman was smiling so wide she should have won an Emmy at the Oscars for her great performance.”

2004 — Billy Crystal:

“It was 13 years ago when I first hosted the Academy Awards, and things sure have changed since then. George Bush was president, the economy was tanking, and we had just finished a war with Iraq. Yeah, things really have changed.”

2003 — Steve Martin:

“You know, I’ve just realised that hosting the Oscars for the second time is like making love to a woman for the second time ... I guess.”

2002 — Whoopi Goldberg:

“Can you believe this year, can you believe this campaign? So much mud has been thrown this year, all the nominees look black.”

2001 — Steve Martin:

“Maybe critics are right, maybe Hollywood movies are too violent? I took a nine-year-old kid to see Gladiator and he cried through the entire film. Now, maybe it was because he didn’t know who I was?”

The 88th Academy Awards will be shown live on Channel Nine at 12:30pm AEDT on Monday, February 29