I think everyone agrees the Oscar telecast is too long. Here’s my plan to shorten it: Along with the memorial montage, limit the broadcast to these categories:
Best (live action) Picture
Best (animated) Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best (original) Screenplay
Best (adapted) Screenplay
Best Song
How quicky could we get through these categories? What other categories should we add?
Eliminate performances for Best Song. Why is that the only category that we have to see (hear) in its entirety, when we only get clips of every other nomination? That’s a good 20-30 minutes right there.
I believe they did eliminate the performances of Best Song nominees this year. (Also, I think only two were nominated, so probably not a big deal to delete this from show.)
No no no, absolutely not. The Academy Awards reward the artists/craftspeople in an industry. They’re industry awards, and they don’t exist to convenience watch-checkers. This is the one night of the year where people in the categories you left out get to shine, have their moment in the sun. Without those categories/people, movies would not exist.
I LIKE those categories you left out. Often, they’re my favorite categories. I light up when they start presenting the Artistic awards (often mistakenly called the “Technical” awards, but those are something entirely different and are not broadcast). I love the Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume, Editing and other what you would consider “lesser” awards. Those people are important, they’re the nuts and bolts and beauty and wonder of movies and deserve their due. They already don’t give the Scientific and (true) Technical side enough time in the broadcast (usually a minute clip of the starlet who hosted and a bunch of old guys smiling, with no explanation of the amazing work they did to get those awards, such as the Steadi-Cam or Balloon Lighting), and now you want to jettison the Artistic awards? No.
I like the Documentary and Shorts and Foreign Language awards, how in the world could they be left out? The Sound and the Visual Effects people deserve their time too. All the current categories do. Shortening the Oscars by leaving out the very people who make the movies what they are would be an insult to those people. I hope the Academy is never stupid enough to do that.
It’s very simple. If you think the Oscars are too long, don’t watch them. They only happen once a year. They’re always long. They always run overtime. The jokes about that grew thin a couple of decades ago. Slot a block of time to watch them if you’re interested in movies, or don’t if you’re not. Just watch the highlights on YouTube the next day or read the papers to see who won if you have a bet in the office Oscar pool.
All that said, my general suggestions would be to
Ditch the opening monologue. It’s going to be awful, it always is. I cringe that Billy Crystal is returning this year.
Never ever ever have another “interpretive dance” performance, although Cirque Du Soleil is scheduled to do something and that should be cool.
Stop the banter between presenters. It’s always embarrassing.
Do NOT have the clapping heard during the Farewell montage. I hate hate hate hearing really famous people get a big hand and someone more unknown just get a smattering, if any. That’s so rude and embarrassing.
I like clips from the movies that showcase the work of the people nominated, especially in the Artistic categories. I like film montages. I like to see a slice of each actors’ performance. Keep all those. I like song performances if the songs are good. That’s always iffy though.
I’m an Oscar geek/freak so I’m very biased, but the Oscars, at its heart/core, are not about the glamor and designer dresses and movie stars. It’s about the movies, and the people who work on them. That’s what’s important. To me anyway.
Why not at least eliminate the gender difference among Best Actor/Actress? Or Best Supporting Actor/Actress? I don’t understand why males and females have to be separated for doing the same job. Do they have best female sound effects? Best male composer? Best female screenwriter? It’s anachronistic and sexist.
I have to agree with Equipose. Although the Oscars is entertainment, it’s primarily an awards presentation. I’d actually like to see more of the stuff they leave out. If you’re impatient, watch it on a DVR and fast forward through the boring stuff. Or watch it with friends and dish during the boring parts.
I think a lot of time could be saved just by streamlining everything a bit, rather than eliminating whole categories.
Rather than have long intros for the presenters, who then take a minute to walk on stage, then spend another minute on poorly rehearsed banter, have them already on stage and ready to introduce the award. No long essay that tries to be poetic about the importance of the award in question.
Make each non award presenting segment a little shorter.
They could also split it up, the way they do now with the red carpet stuff. Do a pre show of entertaining stuff, then one of artistic awards, then one of the popular awards. Tune in when it gets to the part you like.
Of course it’s been a year. Let’s take note of the week spots this Sunday and come back with a fresh take.
Equipoise: I agree that Documentary and Foreign Language should be on the broadcast. My reasoning for eliminating what I do: the average fan doesn’t care about/recognize these winners. (I suspect my opinion expressed in my OP is the majority opinion BTW)
I’m not an Oscar geek but you are obviously correct.
Brad Pitt doesn’t really need the Oscars; I can hear about him all year. But the set designer who wins the Oscar will, for an evening, be on the same level, before the same audience, as Brad Pitt. That’s pretty cool.
While I would agree that time could be saved elsewhere - less banter, less Billy Crystal, no dances - the Oscars serve the same purpose as any other awards process; to reward the people in the industry and to draw public attention to the industry. Taking categories out of the broadcast would not enhance either purpose. It’d rightfully piss off the people whose categories were taken out, and would probably do nothing for TV viewership; long or not, people watch it. It isn’t any longer than a college bowl game and nobody complains about how interminable those are.
Aside from interpretive dance and cutting down on the banter I don’t even know how much I’d cut. Performing the songs doesn’t really add that much time, since they limit each performance to about three minutes, and it provides a nice change of pace. You’ve gotta have the Cavalcade of Death, you have to hand out a Thalberg Award if there is one that year (there frequently isn’t) and I agree with whomever said that the acting awards should include a clip of the performance.
Things I’d cut if I were producer:
My biggest nitpick is the acceptance speeches.
First of all, the nominees ALL know they are nominated, right?
So, just in case you win, how difficult is it to memorize a short acceptance speech?!?!
Especially actors - I mean, really - they are paid millions of dollars to memorize pages and pages of dialogue for movies. Is it really that hard to memorize a list of 15 people to thank, plus a bit of witty comments and perhaps a quote or something? Every actor should be able to leap onto that stage and spew their little acceptance speech without having to read off a crappy wet napkin tucked into their pocket.
I can understand some of the other winners who have never appeared before an audience being a tad nervous - but even they could have spent a couple of hours practicing a short speech “just in case” they win.
I have taught speech classes for years and 90% of the winners of Oscars would fail my class for being so woefully unprepared for such an important, short speech.
The thing is, if the “average fan” and “majority opinion” of people who don’t care about such categories were running the Oscars, it’d be the People’s Choice Awards. Twilight would win everything. People like Kim Kardashian and Snooki and The Situation would be presenters. Justin Beiber would sing the medley of all the nominated songs. And so on. How would that be?
This is the one night of the entire year where people who don’t pay attention to things like Art Direction or Cinematography or Editing or Sound Effects or Shorts hear about those things. Learn a tiny little bit about those things. See behind the curtain to understand that those things are important. In between shots of Brad and Angie and Reese Witherspoon’s dress they get to briefly hear the names of movies and people they otherwise wouldn’t.
Maybe a few’ll hear the name Sandy Powell and look her up on IMDB and realize all the movies she’s made costumes for. Maybe they’ll start recognizing the name Dante Ferretti and paying attention to details in films. Or Thelma Schoonmaker. Or Joe Letteri.
Maybe someone hearing about The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom will seek out Lucy Walker’s other work, such as the amazing documentary Waste Land (which was nominated last year) which might lead them to discovering the artist Vik Muniz.
Maybe My Week With Marilyn, or A Better Life, or Bullhead, or A Separation, or Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, or Chico & Rita, or Warrior, to name a few, will stick somewhere in their heads and they might actually see those movies at some point in the future. Maybe they’ll see The Artist because they can not believe a silent, black & white film won so many Oscars, end up loving it, and go seek out other silent films in curiosity.
A list of /categories/names that don’t mean anything to the average moviegoer shouldn’t be jettisoned, because the average moviegoer might actually absorb something worthwhile during the broadcast. Or not. But the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) IS “a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures” and it’s not in their interest to turn the Oscars into a People’s Choice Awards.
I completely agree with this. Not only the unpreparedness but the long winded speeches. They know ahead of time how much time they have. They’ve got warning lights or a clock or something to let them know how much time they’ve got left. Just get it over with already. My wife says instead of the orchestra starting up to signal time’s up, they should just cut the mic.
Makes too much sense. Give 'em a flashing light at 15 seconds out and BOOM! No more mic. Cue music and a lovely escort to the wings. Next!
Also, as mentioned, keep the cinematography, art direction, all the technical awards and cut the performances.
Professional Steadicam® Operator chiming in. It’s a single word. 
Agreed, let the craftspeople have their moment. The endless vomiting of intensely personal details of the lives of all people in front of the camera can be witnessed daily for several hours on all channels. Do I need to see footage from a hidden H.D. camera showing Jennifer Aniston’s last gynecological visit? No. I do not. Most of America apparently thinks it is an entitlement.
For 90 seconds, can’t a superb Director of Photography or Art Director have their moment?
Please.
In this you are mistaken.
The majority of people don’t watch awards shows for the technical awards. They watch for the celebrities and the “drama”. The fact that the behind the scenes people are able to have a moment is because of this. If these same people decide that the show is too long, I don’t see what’s wrong with cutting the less popular awards. Sure it’s an industry awards ceremony, but it’s on TV for the entertainment value.
No, it’s on TV because people like watching it. We already have the People’s Choice and MTV Movie Awards and the Golden Globes. The Oscars are different because they honor the craftspeople and filmmakers no one else does. And besides, those categories ARE popular with people who care, really care, about movies, film, cinema. They’re unpopular with the types of people who should least have a say in how the Academy Awards are presented.
Would you object if the “technical”/obscure awards got their own show Saturday night? (IOW, tonight)
BTW, not that you mentioned this, but: I LIKE the living acting winners gathering on stage.
Which means it’s fucking entertainment. And you’re wrong, what separates the Oscars from the other awards show isn’t that it honors the behind the scenes people, it’s that it’s the most prestigious. It’s THE award given out by so called industry experts.
And don’t even try to pull a no true Scotsman. There are plenty of movie enthusiasts who appreciate good cinematography, but don’t particularly care to hear a speech by someone they’ve never heard of thank people they’ve never heard of.
Personally, I think the Oscars are over rated. It’s dominated by arrogant, elitest snobs who speak of the power of cinema, but regularly get taken in by Oscar bait.
I’d like to see the Scientific and Technical awards. Not tonight, because I was at the movies 
but maybe on YouTube or the Academy web site. Everything behind-the-scenes regarding movies interest me, and that includes technical and scientific advances.
Btw, thanks Cartooniverse, sorry about getting Steadicam wrong. Actually I remember the Oscars where they DID show a clip from the SciTech Awards and featured the Steadicam. I definitely remember what must have been Garrett Brown (hope I got his name right, I can’t look it up right now) walking up some stairs using the rig. They showed his POV via the Steadicam too. I remember being fascinated.
QFT!!! Being on TV, it needs RATINGS!