FOR those keeping check, the uncharacteristically grumpy-faced George Clooney (and his pseudo mullet, might we add) provided a show-within-a-show during last night’s Oscars  - and he was in on the joke the whole time.

In case you had turned against him for his pained facial expressions or thought it was a sign of a Clooney-Baldwin-Martin feud, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin roasted Clooney all night, but had informed him earlier of their intention.

“Both Alec and Steve told him ahead of time,” Clooney’s rep told EW.

In their opening, Baldwin said: “Oh look, it’s George Clooney,” with the two exchanging evil looks; Baldwin took the long pause and simply moved on.

So is Clooney the new Jack Nicolson, who was notoriously absent from this year’s front row? Just as Nicolson would sit with a gorgeous young lady draped on his arm, sunglasses firmly in place, and taking jabs from the Oscar hosts, so sat Clooney (minus the shades).

Steve Martin & Alec Baldwin host the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.

“Clooney’s MO is different from Jack’s. I think Jack is definitely on a higher level,” said HollywoodLife.com editor-in-chief Bonnie Fuller.

“Jack is very much the king of Hollywood who thinks that everyone else in beneath him. That’s why he wears the sunglasses. George is everybody in Hollywood’s best buddy. Everybody likes him and everybody wants to be a part of his inner circle. Hollywood is like high school and he is the most popular guy right now.”

All those cutaways in years past  - that would see cameramen try to catch Jack sipping from a flask, flirting with a woman who wasn’t his date, or maybe even falling asleep behind those dark glasses – went directly to Clooney on Sunday night.

“George and Jack are both the perfect Oscar targets for the hosts to play around with. They know their role and they relish being the foil,” said Fox News Oscar expert Tariq Khan.

“I think that Clooney is taking over. Period. The fact that he is being called our new Jack Nicholson is just a bonus. His faces in the audience during the hosts’ monologue were basically the lesson plans from an ‘Acting With the Face Muscles 101′ class. He was also seen running around, high-fiving fans in the stands. If you replace the word high-fiving with drinking and fans with Scotch then him and Jack Nicholson are exactly the same,” chimed NY Post PopWrap’s Ryan Brockington.

Although it made sense that Nicholson stayed home for the Awards – he wasn’t nominated his year – we’re hoping he makes it back for a few more. There is something strangely comforting about seeing him in the front row, just like having drunk Uncle Tom at Christmas every year!

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