At this point the folks in charge of the 2019 Academy Awards should declare it opposite day and just do the exact inverse of whatever they think is best. That might be the only way the Oscars makes it to air time without another disaster befalling the fledgling television award show.
On Friday, word broke that the Oscars would be presented in their “traditional format” after all. That means, no, awards will not be handed out between commercial breaks like the Academy had previously decided. This comes after a wave of criticism crashed through in response to another decision the Oscars made regarding one of the most controversial shows to not even happen yet.
Earlier in the month, four technical categories were banished to the commercial breaks, drawing a series of criticisms about the awards and the Academy’s apparent lack of respect for those working hard to potentially win said awards. Major actors, directors and other members of the Academy criticized the decision online and in interviews.
It seemed like the talk about how much the Oscars are messing this up was never going to stop, which is why on Friday the board of governors of the Academy posted an update about the format of the Feb. 24 show.
The Academy has heard the feedback from its membership regarding the Oscar presentation of four awards – Cinematography, Film Editing, Live Action Short, and Makeup and Hairstyling. All Academy Awards will be presented without edits, in our traditional format. We look forward to Oscar Sunday, February 24.
Earlier in the year, the Oscars revealed they were struggling to find a host for the show. Comedian and actor Kevin Hart eventually signed on, though he was criticized for his homophobic online presence and later stepped down as host. The Oscars will now be hostless, but the controversy for the show did not stop there.
There’s been a clear effort to shorten the run time of the show this year, starting with the initial decision not to air all Best Song nominations during the program. That decision was also met with criticism and a reversal of decisions, starting a long string of stories where stories about how this year’s Oscars would air that were quickly met with criticism from basically every side.
