All the Ways the Oscars Screwed Themselves This Year
Kevin: As always, I am confused and offended that the Oscars are happening and no one asked me what they should be like. Just imagine the heartache and headache that could be avoided if they had only asked me, a person who has never produced a second of television in his life, how to pull off the biggest night in entertainment. At the very least, we wouldn’t be in this mess! There is a sense that even an idiot (hi!) could do a better job producing the Academy Awards this year than the team in charge, given how much backlash there’s been to what have been perceived as ridiculous planned changes in order to appease a mythical, uninterested viewer.
Marlow: I trust in your abilities, KFal. And woof, what a hot mess it has been. I think nearly all the excitement for Sunday’s ceremony has been neutered by all the mind-meltingly dumb decision-making that’s been going on, from booting eight categories from the live telecast (I know I keep saying this, but I can’t stress enough how nuts it is that Best Film Editing is one of the cuts, though I think its omission represents how little voters understand about the filmmaking process) to Rachel Zegler ticketgate to trying to court… Zelensky? I can’t.
Kevin: Listen, no annual TV event is more of an, often, unfair target for harsh criticism, outsized expectations, and undue lashings of snark than the Oscars, but in the lead-up to Sunday’s show there seems to be more of it than in a normal year. There obviously needed to be a change. The last few ceremonies went hostless, and got mixed reviews and the lowest ratings ever. But producers seem to be overcompensating.