The decision to hold off on most of the acting Oscars until the end of the night was a major snafu. The telecast was tedious at best and the only thing that saved it from itself was Ellen DeGeneres. She was quite good as the evening's host, waking us up when things started to slow down. She kept the show moving along at key points when it seemed it was ready to stall.
The screenplay gimmic - where the presenters actually read passages from the nominated screenplays - was brilliant.
Otherwise the telecast was, as always, too long. So, once again I'll throw my annual Oscar idea out there...
Get rid of the production numbers and unnecessary screen montages, (keep the Best Song numbers, though) and throw a few of the technical awards (Sound, Sound Editing) into the batch of trophies handed out on the Scientific Awards night. Those few steps alone would take a half an hour off the length of the show. And finally, go back to the days when the first award of the night was Supporting Actress or Supporting Actor. It gets things started with a bang and then people are more willing to stay tuned.
