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When I was young, it was a big deal to be allowed to stay up late and watch the Academy Awards. They were fun, glamorous, dramatic, and highly entertaining. Back then Oscar Night always meant comedian Bob Hope as the host. He must have been okay; he emceed 19 times between 1940-1978. Since then, we’ve had Johnny Carson, Jack Lemmon, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Martin, and David Letterman, to name a few, helming the juggernaut.
This year’s host is Conan O’Brien, a repeat from last year. One thing that has changed over the many decades of the telecast is the surprising lack of film clips. It’s the one time all year they have a huge global audience for their product, and yet they subject the viewer to insipidly written introductions by presenters and unfunny comedy bits. Stop that, unless you have Tina Fey and Amy Poehler writing them or someone with equal wit. With attendance in actual movie theatres down, maybe they could show people the reasons why to see a film on the big screen.
I thought the Academy loved films and that their job was to promote the motion picture. The show used to show a clip of each nominated actor and actress in their role before presenting the award. That’s been mostly done away with. What we get throughout the telecast is a clip of a short scene from the Best Picture nominees. And maybe at the beginning of the show a montage on the history of film.
In the past the show relied on big song and dance numbers (remember that Rob Lowe/Snow White duet of “Proud Mary”? Consider yourself lucky if you don’t). The defense was that the show is long and it was to keep the in-house audience entertained, ignoring the fact that these bloated production numbers contributed to the drawn-out proceedings. As Shirley MacLaine said when winning Best Actress for Terms of Endearment, “I’m gonna cry because this show has been as long as my career.” There are rumors Barbra Streisand will perform in a tribute to her The Way We Were co-star Robert Redford and there will also be a memorial to Rob Reiner. However, only two of the five Best Song nominees will be performed live. They are the megahit “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters and “I Lied to You” from Sinners.
And though everyone loves the red carpet (and by everyone, I mean women and gay men), it does kill the element of surprise when someone you’ve just seen on the carpet comes out to present. The mystery of what they are wearing is already gone. We’ve already heard them recite who they are wearing, jewels and all. Leading up to the big show, the Academy always make a point of announcing who’ll be presenting at the show. This is another mistake. I’m sure this it’s to try to entice viewers, especially younger ones. Instead, why not keep some of the presenters quiet, and invite some rarely seen older stars who helped build your industry?
But uh-oh, younger viewers won’t know who they are. I was recently talking about movies that dealt with the afterlife and mentioned 1991’s Defending Your Life to a thirtysomething acquaintance. He asked who was in it. When I said Meryl Streep, his reply was “Who’s that?’’ Case closed (I’m still recovering).
Here’s a newsflash; most younger viewers (not all) don’t watch award shows. Have someone distill the show down to one-minute clips for TikTok, and you might have a chance. Try pleasing the audience you have. Pander to us. We do go to the movies in theatres. We love movies, and when we watch an awards show exalting them, we want to see them.
What bugs you about the Oscar show, or awards show in general? Let us know in the comments. The 98th Academy Awards will air on ABC and Hulu on March 15th, starting at 7:00 P.M. Eastern and ending…who can say when?