The 96th Annual Academy Awards are officially in the books and awards season has come to a close. With a four year high in viewership and generally favorable reviews, there’s already speculation about what they’ll do with the broadcast next year.
Should they just run it back with the same format and host? Most seem to think so… but I don’t.
I say it’s time for a massive overhaul to the broadcast. It needs a major shakeup to gain back the casual audience that has dropped off over the years and to help tame the four hour, unfunny beast it has become.
Here’s how they should do it:
The Host: Don’t have one. The opening stand up routines are made up of mostly duds and just make everyone uncomfortable. And once that’s over, the host has no role and disappears for most of the show. Or they occasionally come back to do a comedy bit that no one asked for, it usually doesn’t land, and it just wastes precious time.
Instead, do a tasteful montage to open the broadcast, recapping the year in film. Then have the PA announcer welcome on the first presenters: “To present X, please welcome Y and Z.” When they’re done, the music swells, a new presenter walks on stage, PA announcer introduces them. Repeat. Simple as that.
The Ad Breaks: By the end of the broadcast, the commercial breaks become insufferably frequent and long. Meanwhile, the whole show itself already acts as one big commercial for the movies being presented.
Because of that, the entire ceremony should be presented ‘commercial free,’ sponsored fully by the studios.
But because it’s a live show that does need breaks, every break should be a world premiere trailer for a movie from the coming year. The actual first look at the studio’s finest.
The Oscars would (and should) become *the* place to tune in to see new trailers. It plays perfectly to the normal Oscar audience and they’d gain more viewers, such as non-cinephiles that know tuning in is their only way to get a first look at the next franchise blockbuster they’re waiting for.
The Length: Starting an hour earlier this year was a great move. But it was still 3.5 hours long. This show can be sub-3 hours easily. No host means no dumb bits or time wasted between awards, that’s a big one. Shorter ads helps too.
I’d go a step further and also say get rid of the live performances of Best Original Song. Just do longer than usual snippets of them when giving out that category. That gives more time for speeches so they don’t get cut off, and a longer in memoriam. And they’d still be done in 180 minutes, I promise.
The ‘In Memoriam’: This year they had a string quartet, then a full orchestra, then live singers coming up from beneath the stage, plus interpretive dancers the whole time. Please: do less.
Just have the orchestra play a sad song and do the usual reel they always do. Make it a couple minutes longer so no one gets snubbed. And go full screen for the audience at home so we can actually see the montage, instead of sweeping camera moves over a dark auditorium.
The Best Picture Presentation: If they are set on having a host, despite my suggestion above, have the host present the last award of the evening. It gives the show more control both of timing and proper presentation. Which is clearly needed, seeing as twice in the last decade the most important moment of the night (and of these nominees lives) was botched by… we’ll say ‘elder Hollywood statesmen’-type presenters.
And if they don’t want the host to do it, have the producing team from the previous year’s best picture select someone involved in their film to present it the following year. Just like the previous acting category winner presents the following year’s award. Speaking of…
The Acting Awards: Cut it out with the ‘ghosts of actors past’ bit. Just have the previous year’s winner come out, name the nominees, show their ‘Oscar clip,’ and then name the winner. Simple. Has worked for almost a century. Stop tinkering.
The Stunt Category (lack thereof): Add a category for ‘Best Achievement in Stunts.’ For far too long, the Academy has not formally recognized this incredibly important work that goes into almost every film. Not to mention it’s the type of work that actually gets asses in the seats and pays the bills. It’s a shameful outrage this is still not an award on Hollywood’s biggest night.
Mr. Bill George 