Some will think this year’s Oscar telecast was a complete failure, what with miscast hosts, another long-running telecast, and Kirk Douglas.
Me? Well, I look at it as a failure as well. But I also look at it as an opportunity. You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs.
The Oscars will be in a prime position to grab the host they need to get in order to make people start watching again: Ricky Gervais.
Yup, I said it.
Think of it this way. The unscrupulous French guys that run the Golden Globes won’t have him back next year, because he had the temerity to call them for what they are: suck-ups to the stars and the studios. Yes, Gervais can be mean-spirited, but he also had everyone talking about the Globes, which–considering how meaningless an award it actually is- is saying something.
The Globes will select someone next year who is a relatively safe pick and kick Gervais to the curb. The Oscars should grab him at once.
The whole point of having Hathaway and Franco host (allegedly host in Franco’s case, because I’m not sure he was awake or lucid during the broadcast) was to draw in a younger, hipper audience. And it was a disaster. Hathaway at least put in some effort, but she came across as trying way too hard, making it more like a community theatre sketch show than a worldwide telecast. As for Franco, the press office had to issue a statement that he wasn’t, in fact, stoned.
With Gervais as host, yes, you run the risk of offending some of the stars. Big whoop. They’re about to get a gold statue–they can endure it. But looking at the bigger picture, think of the hype and anticipation if Gervais were to host. The ratings–which dipped another 9% this year–would probably go through the roof.
Meanwhile, no matter who is next year’s host, let’s give them some better stuff to work with.
What was the point of dragging Kirk Douglas out there if you want to make the show more young and hip? It was the most uncomfortable 10 minutes imagineable.
What was the point of the Academy and ABC going out and announcing they re-upped their contract? Who cares?
The actors’ speeches were allowed to go on forever, but some of the other speeches barely got five seconds.
And really, if you are presenting an Oscar, go to rehearsal. Jeff Bridges was supposed to be addressing each of the Best Actress nominees; instead, he was reading off a prompter. It looked even worse when Sandra Bullock followed him, obviously having learned her part to the point where she made it seem like natural banter with the Best Actor nominees. In fact, maybe every actor can take a page out of the Bullock book, either as a presenter or as a winner, given how great her acceptance speech was last year.
The Oscars need to bite the bullet and move the technical categories and some of the smaller categories (such as Best Documentary Short, etc.) out of the main broadcast. Keep the telecast going smoothly, less you find yourself running long and have to do a sprint to the finish during the Best picture announcement.
The Oscars had the right idea in trying to jazz up the show; they just went about it in the worst way possible.
1 Purple Pencil
