The Best Picture, for better or for worse has not been dramatically changed with Black Panther picking up Best Cast at the Screen Actors Guild awards. The groundhog saw its shadow. There will be three more weeks of angry liberals fighting against P.C. culture and defending Green Book like the Black Knight. Three more weeks of award season influencers shrugging their shoulders because A Star Is Born seemed like catnip for voters.
Three more weeks for John Bailey, Dawn Hudson, Donna Gigliotti, ABC, and Glenn Weiss to completely alienate the loyal Oscar audience in an attempt to lure in a new and different audience. What’s the expression here? Don’t cut your nose off to spite your face. I will never understand how not airing Best Cinematography or Best Animated Short live on television is going to attract a new audience. I want to believe this particular group of people want the Oscars to succeed, but just aimlessly hacking parts to get the thing under three hours isn’t helping anyone.
I think it’s time for the Oscar broadcast to leave traditional broadcast television and head to cable. I’m sure it’s been suggested before, but the Oscars should be shown on Turner Classic Movies going forward. Award shows have been on the down swing for a while. So, why not air the Oscars on a network that already appeals to the movie lovers? It just makes too much sense to me. Let’s put a bloated awards show on the channel primarily watched by retirees and weirdos. Let’s put this thing in a position where it can possibly succeed. Where it’s not entirely dependent upon a host with universal appeal; where they don’t have to limit the Best Song performances down to the two most commercial artists; where speeches can run a little long. I don’t know, call me crazy but that seems like the best option to save the Oscars.
2 Scoops of Awards Buzz 