# The 2018 Road to the Oscars **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007 "2018-12-12T18:05:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007/81 "2019-02-25T15:02:05Z")
I saw an article that pointed out the first award was given eight minutes in while Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue last year lasted eighteen minutes. So the lack of a host is one reason the show was relatively quick. (Some years it lasts four hours.) I don’t think we missed much, not having a host, so I vote for doing that again. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007/82 "2019-02-25T15:38:50Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I saw an article that pointed out the first award was given eight minutes in while Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue last year lasted eighteen minutes. So the lack of a host is one reason the show was relatively quick. (Some years it lasts four hours.) I don’t think we missed much, not having a host, so I vote for doing that again. Agreed. They should abolish the host and just start the show with someone (or people) who are relatively funny, make a joke or two, and get right on to it. No dumb skits, no dragging the show out…just give the awards and let’s go. Also, can we get less commercials? I know we need commercials, but the flow of the show was cut off so badly by all the commercial breaks. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007/83 "2019-02-25T17:48:37Z")
No Irving Thalberg/Lifetime Achievement Awards, which also freed up a good 20 minutes. Were they not given out, or just not broadcast? ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007/84 "2019-02-25T17:58:11Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Also, can we get less commercials? I know we need commercials, but the flow of the show was cut off so badly by all the commercial breaks. But how else would we know that Cadillac is the official vehicle of the Academy Awards? Or that the marketing people at Google have actually seen movies? Or how about the Marriott commercial that was _actually part of the onstage program_ (Film Inspires Travel Inspires Film), with Laura Dern not-actually-presenting and all? How else would we find out what BonVoy means? SPOILER: It doesn’t mean anything! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007/85 "2019-02-25T18:01:47Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I was really happy to see Free Solo get the award for Documentary Feature. But jeezus christ, woman – thank you squeezing in a last-second acknowledgement to the film’s subject. You know, the guy who scaled El Capitan with his fingernails? Yeah. She made a much bigger deal over his girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007/86 "2019-02-25T18:15:11Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > No Irving Thalberg/Lifetime Achievement Awards, which also freed up a good 20 minutes. Were they not given out, or just not broadcast? Pretty sure the Thalberg Awards are only given out on occasion, and not yearly > **[Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_G._Thalberg_Memorial_Award)** > > The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award is awarded periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Governors Awards ceremonies to "creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production". The award is named for Irving Thalberg, head of the Production Division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who developed the company's reputation for sophisticated films. The trophy itself is a bust of Thalberg rather than the familiar "Oscar" statuett... ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007/87 "2019-02-25T19:52:53Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > But how else would we know that Cadillac is the official vehicle of the Academy Awards? Or that the marketing people at Google have actually seen movies? Or how about the Marriott commercial that was _actually part of the onstage program_ (Film Inspires Travel Inspires Film), with Laura Dern not-actually-presenting and all? How else would we find out what BonVoy means? SPOILER: It doesn’t mean anything! I’m not hating that there are commercials. I love commercials and marketing and all that, I just thought they needed to have fewer instances of them. I’d be happier if Cadillac spend 2 million and sponsored an entire half hour of the show so I didn’t have to have so many breaks. Send Denzel out in an Escalade and have him talk to Andy Samberg who came out in an XTS about how smooth the ride was…just like the smooth editing in this year’s nominess… ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007/88 "2019-02-25T20:45:35Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Pretty sure the Thalberg Awards are only given out on occasion, and not yearly > > [Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_G._Thalberg_Memorial_Award) I was really surprised to see that it’s only been given out 5 times in the past 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007/89 "2019-02-25T20:54:36Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > No Irving Thalberg/Lifetime Achievement Awards, which also freed up a good 20 minutes. Were they not given out, or just not broadcast? Not broadcast. Those awards were given out during the Governors Awards ceremony in November. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007/90 "2019-02-25T21:09:06Z")
saw that the star/creator of Hamilton had 1 line in a scene in the sopranos ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007/91 "2019-02-26T01:24:08Z")
They showed brief clips from the Thalberg Award and the Governors Awards during the Oscar telecast. The Thalberg award went to producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, and the announcer noted that Kennedy was the first woman ever to win the award. The Governors Awards went to actress Cicely Tyson, composer Lalo Schifrin and publicist Marvin Levy. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007/92 "2019-02-26T02:16:03Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > saw that the star/creator of Hamilton had 1 line in a scene in the sopranos [Lady Gaga](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrainCFg9BU) also appeared in the Sopranos at the age of 15, but didn’t have a line. (She’s the blonde.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2018-road-to-the-oscars/826007.md?page=4)