The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has just made a smart move. They’re bring back Jon Stewart to host the 2008 Oscars.

The New York Times says the Academy reportedly has Stewart signed for his second hosting stint, with an official announcement to be made some time today. Stewart’s first time handling Oscar’s host duties was in 2006, while in 2007 they went to the much less funny Ellen Degeneres. Though Stewart toned down some of the biting political satire he’s known for on the Daily Show for more palatable, middle-America mass-consumption; another shot at the job is well deserved.

Except I’m not sure the Oscar hosting gig really matters anymore. In recent years the host’s duties seem to be minimizing. The host still gets an opening monologue, but otherwise the increasingly time constrained ceremony seems to have little use for a host between presenters and long, monotonous, meaningless awards acceptance. They’re really just a couple of steps away from eliminating the hosting job entirely. If they’re smart, the Academy will cut some of the technical awards no one cares about to give us more Stewart instead.