Is anyone else NOT watching the Oscars tonight? (1 Viewer)

[Angelo Colombus]

I got out an old laserdisc called Oscar's Greatest Moments (hosted by Karl Malden) and contentedly lived in the past.

So did I and still have my laserdiscs and player.

 

[Carabimero]

It used to piss me off when people like Kobe Bryant would win an Oscar. I guess because so many unknown people spend their entire lives--and sacrifice a lot--striving to win one. And then somebody comes along like Kobe Bryant who already won a place at the top of his own profession, and he wins an Oscar, too--on his first try. Stuff like that made me stop watching for a few years back when I was young and resentful. But now I'm happy for Kobe--and for anyone else who wins one. So I'll always watch the Oscars. I've never thought they were fair. What is?

 

[Jim*Tod]

I have sworn off award shows. Until this year I would at least record the Oscars and watch it at my leisure so I could fast forward through the commercials. It has always been a tacky show but in the last decade the way older movies, older filmmakers, and the legacy of film history has been shunted to the side has made me unable to watch any more.

 

[Bob_S.]

I've seen the Oscars only one time in at least 20 years and that was when Return of the King won since I'm a Tolkien fan.

 

[Bryan^H]

 

[Nick*Z]

I wouldn't mind a longer speech so much if it wasn't just a simple 'laundry' list of names that mean absolutely nothing to anyone outside of that insular group who made the movie on which the award is being bestowed. Thank yous are the most poignant when they extend beyond the obvious to enter the realm of popular consciousness. Sometimes this is achieved through humor, and sometimes through tears; but best of all, in laughter through tears. Those are truly Oscar's greatest moments.

 

[JimmyO]

Thank yous are the most poignant when they extend beyond the obvious to enter the realm of popular consciousness. Sometimes this is achieved through humor, and sometimes through tears; but best of all, in laughter through tears. Those are truly Oscar's greatest moments.

Mira Sorvino's oscar acceptance speech was exceptionally touching when she mentioned her dad, Paul, and the camera cut to him to see his reaction. It was a beautiful moment - the kind of speech I tend to remember.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Thank yous are the most poignant when they extend beyond the obvious to enter the realm of popular consciousness. Sometimes this is achieved through humor, and sometimes through tears; but best of all, in laughter through tears. Those are truly Oscar's greatest moments.

I agree that those are generally the best thank yous, but I think you need to allow the recipients to speak in order to have the chance of those moments happening.

I also really object to the practice of cutting off multiple winners - although I disagree with the practice of cutting off any of the speakers, I can kinda sorta understand it when they cut off a single speaker. But I think it's absolutely horrible if two or three people win, one person speaks, and then as the second person approaches the microphone, the music starts coming up and the stage models start pushing the people off the stage. Now, if they want to announce to everyone that "In the event of multiple winners, only one person will be allowed to speak, so decide in advance who will be the spokesperson for your group" I guess that would be okay (but still in poor taste, in my view), but I don't think they do that.

 

[MartinP.]

If the Academy does what they should and nominates Black Panther for Bet Picture next year

Freudian slip? Now that is amusing.

 

[Jim517]

Black Panther for best picture ? You can't be serious !

 

[Jake Lipson]

I've seen the Oscars only one time in at least 20 years and that was when Return of the King won since I'm a Tolkien fan.

But you didn't watch when The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers were similarly nominated? Interesting choice.

Freudian slip? Now that is amusing.

Black Panther for best picture ? You can't be serious !

We can have a differing opinion, of course, but I meant what I said: The Academy should recognize Black Panther as a Best Picture nominee.

 

[TravisR]

I also really object to the practice of cutting off multiple winners...

It was tough to not feel bad for The Shape Of Water producer J. Miles Dale (who had an early gig as the line producer of Friday The 13th: The Series) basically not be allowed to speak when he won the Oscar for Best Picture. Hey, it was probably only the highpoint of his entire career but shut up, they have to play another Verizon commercial.


Apropos of nothing, I'm glad that Jimmy Kimmel was able to hit 'em with the Hein before the credits rolled.

 

[Tino]

Black Panther for best picture ? You can't be serious !

Why?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It was tough to not feel bad for The Shape Of Water producer J. Miles Dale (line producer of Friday The 13th: The Series) basically not be allowed to speak. Hey, it was probably only the highpoint of his entire career but shut up, they have to play another Verizon commercial.

Yeah.. the producers of the show always complain that it runs too long, but they keep doing things like live skits with Jimmy Kimmel in a movie theater showing a movie that hasn't even been released yet, and montages of previous award winners, which seem to go on far longer than the extra 30 seconds some of the winners could have used.

If they wanted to make the show run even faster, they could stage manage it better - have all of the nominees for a particular category come down to the stage area in the commercial break before that award is set to be given, so instead of a minute of watching them walk to the front after winning, they're already there waiting. Do away with the triple introductions - we don't need to see Kimmel introducing someone who will then introduce the presenter, who will then present the award.

For me, I don't really care about the length. The show always runs in that 3 1/2 - 4 hour timeslot, and I don't really care too much one way or the other whether it's ten minutes longer or shorter. It doesn't seem worth all of the hand wringing to shave off a few seconds here or there. But I can think of so many other places to cut other than the award recipients, especially since those people are kinda the point of the whole thing.

At the point that they're giving out the Best Picture award, does it really matter to anyone whether the telecast goes an extra thirty seconds so that the guy who won the biggest award of all can actually talk? I know at that point, the extra thirty seconds doesn't make a difference to me.

 

[DaveF]

There is an inverse relationship between the popularity of the films nominated and the popularity of the award show itself, ....

I think you mean, there’s a direct relationship, not inverse.

 

[BobO'Link]

At the point that they're giving out the Best Picture award, does it really matter to anyone whether the telecast goes an extra thirty seconds so that the guy who won the biggest award of all can actually talk? I know at that point, the extra thirty seconds doesn't make a difference to me.

It matters more to the local affiliates who are waiting to start their late news. You're just sitting there with no way of knowing how long the show's going to run, knowing that every minute can cost viewers as people may not stay up late enough to watch. That means pissed advertisers due to lower viewership or a later air time than was "promised." It can also cost overtime due to having to keep people later than anticipated. It ties down the entire crew. You can't leave. That means you could be on-set or at your position for an extended period (I've had to keep a crew on position/set for almost an hour due to a ballgame overrun). You have to be ready to go at the scheduled end time and then just sit there wishing they'd just get it finished so you can do your job and go home. It never fails that one, or more, anchors will want to leave the set once an overage hits ~10 minutes. They seem to think their time is more valuable and they have better things to do than sit waiting for some program to end. Fortunately, I rarely worked the late shift but when I did wind up working on one of those nights it was a royal pain.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I get all of that, but at the same time -- you mentioned the example of a ballgame running late. There are 162 baseball games in a regular season, all of which can potentially run late. There are 16 games in a football season, all of which can potentially run late. There are 82 games in a basketball season, all of which can potentially run late. There are 82 games in a hockey season, all of which can potentially run late.

Surely one Oscars ceremony per year, which we know in advance will run late, can't be that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. For better or worse, the Oscars will get a larger viewership than most other events (including the late local news), and even if that viewership is declining overall as ratings across the board go down, it's still one of the top television events of the year. Yes, by all means, try to keep it close to on time, but if it doesn't, to me that doesn't seem to merit more than a shrug. No one would think of cutting off a sporting event before it was over just to squeeze in the late local news - I don't see why it should be any different than the Oscars.

 

[Carabimero]

No one would think of cutting off a sporting event

Check out the "Heidi Game" sometime

 

[Jake Lipson]

At the point that they're giving out the Best Picture award, does it really matter to anyone whether the telecast goes an extra thirty seconds so that the guy who won the biggest award of all can actually talk? I know at that point, the extra thirty seconds doesn't make a difference to me.

I agree 100%. I felt really bad for the other guy who produced The Shape of Water who got up to speak after GDT had finished and they were out of time. Obviously, it was right for GDT to speak first since he was the dominant voice behind that film, but the other producers had significant roles as well, and should absolutely be given an opportunity to speak during what should be the high point of their career. To do all of that work, and to then get to the Oscars stage to accept Best Picture, which is very rare and may well not happen for them again, and then not to be able to say thank you, is really sad and unfortunate. In the grand scheme of things in the world, thee ar worse things, but it still sort of undermines the moment for them which nothing should mar. I would have been happy to sit and listen to speeches from the rest of the producers and I just think that if you are awarding them the pinnacle of all movie awards, really, they should be allowed to say what they want to say.

 

[Tino]

“The Academy Awards remain the most-watched award show on TV, easily beating the Grammys and Golden Globes. But awards shows overall experienced drops in viewers. The Oscars saw a steady decline since 2014 when 44 million people tuned in.”

Courtesy Nexus.