Steve Martin, Host of the 73rd Academy Awards

On March 25, 2001, the Academy Awards returned to the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium for the tenth time for a highly entertaining, critically-acclaimed telecast that came in at three hours and twenty minutes, the fastest in three years.

Producer Gil Cates was at the helm for his tenth telecast, bringing with him the welcome familiar faces of director Louis J. Horvitz; writers Bruce Vilanch, Rita Cash, Hal Kanter and Buz Kohan; associate producer Michael Seligman; talent executive Danette Herman; production designer Roy Christopher; music director Bill Conti; choreographer Debbie Allen; costume designer Ray Aghayan and lighting designer Robert Dickinson, among many, many more. Gil's team collected eight Emmy nominations for its efforts.

Unfamiliar in Oscar surroundings was the show's new and first-time host, Steve Martin, who joked, "If you can't win 'em, join 'em."

Join 'em he did, charming the world's toughest live audience and the press's harshest critics and claiming one of those Television Academy nominations.