Oscar Producers to Mute Applause for In Memoriam Segment
How can we improve the Oscars this year? This is the question on the minds of the ceremony’s first-time producers Bill Condon and Laurence Mark, who have the unenviable task of making the show appeal to the general public in a year when many of the nominees aren’t major crowd pleasers. The box office totals for the five Best Picture nominees are lower than last year’s, which was the lowest rated telecast ever. Still, many people seem to forget that The Dark Knight is up for 8 awards, and there are plenty of big stars involved as well.
So what other big changes are they making this year? Well, not many to be honest. They are keeping the list of presenters a secret, which is a decision that some people are questioning. More importantly, they hope to have more live segments to encourage spontaneity, and they want to keep the show moving along at a brisk pace to stay within the allotted three hours (year, like we haven’t heard that before). Perhaps the oddest decision of all is to show the “In Memoriam” segment without the live audio feed, in order to avoid embarassing lesser known names who don’t get as much applause as the bigger stars. Because you know, even though these folks are dead, we don’t want their feelings to be hurt. Do you plan to watch the Oscars this year? Do you think they are in danger of losing the audience altogether?
Comments (6)
I’ve never really had any interest in the oscars, or any other award shows for that matter. They’re all rather boring to watch.
Posted by Kasper F. Nielsen on February 2nd, 2009Probably because Ledger got more applause than Bergman last year. I’m sure that ruffled some feathers.
Regardless, I could never watch an awards show alone. I’ll only be watching with friends to make it… tolerable. I’d love to see it under 3 hours (what a laugh riot!) …
Posted by Falsk on February 2nd, 2009I always watch the Oscars but this year I don’t have any contenders to root for (or against!), which is disappointing.
Do people actually watch the Oscars based on the list of presenters? Because I can’t think of anything that interests me less than knowing who the presenters are in advance.
Posted by Liz on February 3rd, 2009I mean, it’s not Colbert or Stewart, so I don’t really care, haha.
Posted by Falsk on February 3rd, 2009i heard that instead of paul newman’s face, they’re going to just show a stack of old newspapers so the lesser known actors’ ghosts won’t feel so bad.
Posted by Joel on February 3rd, 2009Everyone always bitches about the running time. It’s always going to be what it is. What they should do is tell all the creatives who get awards to come up with better speeches instead of just thanking people.
Posted by Alex on February 3rd, 2009Leave a Reply