Swoon all you want, ladies, he just threw that baby 1000 feet in the air where it was liquefied by a helicopter blade.  Not so sexy now, is he.

Nikki Finke just reported that an offer has gone out to Hugh Jackman to host this year’s Oscars.

While [Jackman] is very interested, I’m told that he’s not yet fully committed. …the people around Jackman want to know exactly what would be expected of him, especially when it comes to opening the Oscar broadcast. One segment Jackman reps are objecting to is the joke-telling monologue. “I don’t want that for him,” an insider told me. “He is an actor with big movies behind him and one coming this summer. He didn’t work the last 20 years to suddenly be a stand-up comedian.”

Seriously.  I mean the guy already makes a good living running around with his shirt off, the last thing we want is for people to think he’s capable of writing his own material. This year’s show is being produced by the guys behind Dreamgirls, and the rumor is that they’re doing away with the funny stuff anyway.

Now that producers Larry Mark and Bill Condon plan to get rid of the joke-telling portion of the show this year (as I reported Thursday and thought a smart move: these one-liners are usually understood only by the movie industry and so inside that TV viewers are left bewildered), it opened up the possibility of an actor hosting. “If this is a different version of the Oscars than in previous years, then Hugh would be great. But I have no interest in him being Billy Crystal.” a Jackman insider told me.

Really?  The only part I’ve ever enjoyed was watching Jon Stewart or Dave Letterman squirm after telling a good joke that bombed because everyone in Hollywood is so used to smelling each other’s farts all the time that playful ballbusting is tantamount to blasphemy.  Or watching Sean Penn rush onstage to throw a hissy fit because Chris Rock dared imply that Jude Law is in a lot of movies. Gasp! The horror! Hugh Jackman’s a good actor and seems like a cool guy, but on the other hand, he also executive produced Viva Laughlin.