Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press Chris Rock predictably edgy. Click photo for larger image. More Oscar Coverage: 'Million Dollar Baby' wins four top awards Stars wear gowns grand and gruesome Tuned In: Oscars didn't rock with Rock but rolled along smoothly enough 77th annual Academy Awards Winners

Host Chris Rock received a standing ovation for just showing up to host the 77th annual Academy Awards, and he promptly asked the audience in attendance to "sit your asses down."

That's probably not the sort of language past hosts -- including Billy Crystal and Steve Martin -- would have used, and that was by design.

The edgy comedian/actor was a conscious choice by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to create buzz and juice ratings for the awards telecast. In the past, Rock hosted awards shows on MTV, which ABC and the Academy no doubt hoped would mean last night's Oscars would draw in more of the younger viewers most prized by TV advertisers.

Without a popular movie frontrunner, like last year's "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King," Rock became the Academy's calling card to get viewers to tune in to eventually see "Million Dollar Baby" win the best picture trophy (and three other awards).

Rock took some swipes at Hollywood stars and himself, but elicited more chuckles than belly laughs.

"The only acting at the Oscars is when people act like they're not mad they lost," Rock said. "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. If you would have done that in the movie, you would have won an Oscar, girl."

Many of Rock's jokes poked fun at the gulf between the entertainment choices of black and white consumers.

"We have four black nominees," Rock joked. "So it's kind of like the Def Oscar Jam."

Of those nominees, Morgan Freeman won best supporting actor for his role in "Million Dollar Baby" and Jamie Foxx won for his leading role in "Ray."

In one sketch, Rock went to a nearby Magic Johnson-owned theater and interviewed African-American moviegoers who'd seen none of the Oscar-nominated movies, but were fans of action-adventure movies, horror films and "White Chicks," a 2004 comedy that starred Marlon and Shawn Wayans as black FBI agents who go undercover as two white hotel heiresses to foil a kidnapping plot.

In his opening monologue, Rock also took some swipes at President Bush, mock praising him for getting re-elected the same year the deficit ballooned.

"Just imagine you worked at The Gap and you're closing out your register and you're $70 trillion short," Rock said. "The average person gets in trouble for something like that. Not Bush."

Leading up to last night's ceremony, Rock created Oscar buzz in an Entertainment Weekly interview in which he said it was "idiotic" to give awards for art and said he has never cared for the Academy Awards, which he likened to a "fashion show." He said the only time he watched was when black actors were nominated.

"What straight black man sits there and watches the Oscars? Show me one," Rock was quoted as saying in the magazine's Feb. 4 issue.

Last week he sought to clarify those comments during an appearance on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

"I did not say that. I said only gay people watch the Tonys," he joked last Monday. But later he stuck to his guns. "I really don't know any straight men who aren't in show business that have ever watched the Oscars," he said.

Picking Rock also had the added advantage of courting coverage of an already controversial TV arena: the live telecast.

Ever since Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show, network award shows have come under increased scrutiny for fear any profane language or video make it into living rooms across the country. To prevent that, the Oscars aired with a 5-second delay, much to the dismay of producer Gil Cates who, before Oscar night, called it "a terrible idea, but it's ABC's network."

It did not appear the delay was put to use during last night's Oscar broadcast, which ran three hours and 11 minutes.