I can already envision the reunion taking place around May or June of this year with a cast that will include top executives from the Motion Picture Academy and ABC. After a boring PowerPoint presentation on the perception of the Academy’s reputation, a network executive stands up and explains how the dismal ratings for the 2023 Oscars, the third-lowest since Nielsen began tracking, were in reality above two million viewers from the previous year (the year of “the slap”) to a total of 18.8 million viewers. They brag about the 13% increase before launching into explaining how (and I’m guessing here), somewhere in Idaho, six 17-year-olds watched the show for an average of two minutes, resulting in the audience being a 0.25% younger. Champagne is served.
It all reminds me of my late friend, the iconic producer David Brown (“The Sting,” “Jaws”), who told me, “My boy, Hollywood is the only place in the world where you can die of spirit.”
Although viewership appears to be returning to pre-pandemic numbers, it’s inconceivable that the Oscars will regain the 20 million viewers lost over the past decade unless the Academy figures out how to combine the Super Bowl with its annual awards show. extravagance. What I find amazing is how the Academy and its esteemed board of directors made up of industry legends continue to produce a show that outlasts the Best Picture contenders. This year’s broadcast lasted nearly two hours longer than “The Banshees of Inisherin,” an hour longer than “The Fabelmans.” and about 30 minutes longer than the epic “Avatar: The Way of Water.”
The good news is that this year’s broadcast packed about 48 minutes of enjoyable entertainment into its nearly four hour runtime.
All credit for the best production and presentation of the show since the Billy Crystal years goes to producers Glenn Weiss (who also directed) and Ricky Kirshner and host Jimmy Kimmel. But there is still a lot of work to be done to prevent the Oscars from becoming a party of insiders watched exclusively by the industry, moviegoers and the families of the nominees.
The following suggestions are my roadmap for building a better Oscars show. Fair warning: there are several sacred sacrificial cows. Before you dismiss the opinion of a Canadian outsider, let me just say that I have produced a plethora of high-profile awards shows in a country where, if it goes on long and you can’t catch the end credits before the evening news is scheduled to begin, you are sentenced to prison time.
- Sign host Jimmy Kimmel to a multi-year deal. He has the class of Johnny Carson and the measured irreverence of his idol David Letterman (minus the funny but awkward Uma/Oprah gag). On Kimmel’s own show this week, Letterman appeared as a guest and told Kimmel: “Congratulations, you brought this corpse back to life, and the network and the Academy should be very grateful. Well done.”
- Sign Weiss and Kirshner to a multi-year contract. They are the first producers in a decade who understand how to deliver a tightly paced, mostly watchable show.
- The execution time should be reduced to two hours maximum. No mere mortal can take this indulgent marathon any longer without reliving that nightmare scene from “A Clockwork Orange” with Malcolm MacDowell and the toothpicks.
- Cut the opening montage and continue with the show. Regardless, we’ll end up seeing the same clips from all the nominated movies throughout the night.
- Give us more Jimmy. It’s basically on the air for a quick 12 minutes. Yes, a great emcee has to keep the show moving and not distract from the main event. But it shouldn’t be invisible for most of the show.
- Stop going after a younger demographic. They are not going to show up. Ever. They don’t watch TV and what they see, on TikTok and YouTube, are minute-long bursts of content. There are plenty of advertisers that have products for an older demographic that still watches TV.
- Consider ensuring that one or two advertisers buy the program and remove the commercials. So what if Jimmy takes the stage in a Buick and Salma wears $2 million worth of Harry Winston jewelry? (Oh wait, she did it anyway.) Anything to not see 45 minutes or more of commercial interruptions. Yes, this is quite revolutionary and would change decades of advertising tradition on network television. But let’s try. There’s a way to make everything taste perfect, with billboards throughout the show. Advertisers will pay a premium to have category exclusivity and block their competitors. Produced slick and successful awards shows where financial institutions sponsored everything, creating a continuous stream with no commercial blocks, just ads at the beginning and end of the broadcast, and multiple mentions on the show that the event was being commercially featured. free.
- Reconsider reducing the number of categories by at least four or five. I know that it is pure sacrilege and that last year this strategy was met with outrage and a near riot. But there is a way to package a tighter show from even more select categories that runs as a side show hosted in the same venue but broadcast live on Netflix or Disney+ or Apple TV+ or whoever. (Amy Poehler and Tina Fey may present. Or Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig.) You can then highlight the clips during the main stream. Yes, this is controversial. But the nominees and winners would be seen twice, in a live broadcast and a global broadcast, with a much larger reach. Even the most staunch lover of Hollywood can’t argue with having two shows. If the Academy involves the primary audience in the planning, it won’t alienate them.
- Cut out the fawning studio and Academy Museum infomercials. Yeah, we get it, AMPAS, you’re almost 100 years old — mazel tov! And you also built an impressive museum. Mazel tov again! But people tuned in to Kimmel’s monologue (how would he approach “the slap”?), to hear some great speeches and to see who wore what. Why are you celebrating the now by repeatedly patting yourself on the back for the past?
- Eliminate the monotonous executive speeches of the Academy. This year there was not one but two. You are 95 years old, Academy. We know what your mission statement is.
- While emotionally striking, the in-memoriam segment has become controversial for its omissions, editing, and odd camera angles that work for audiences in the theater but are often difficult to appreciate at home. I would hire a talented editor like Doug Blush (“20 Feet from Stardom”) or Barry Alexander Brown (“BlackkKlansman”) to create a sensational package that lives online. There will always be bugs and omissions, so instead of offering a main stage lightning rod, switch the context so the package can be fixed quickly.
- Finally, the category of best song. I’m extraordinarily divided on whether this should be part of the main broadcast or part of our new pre-Oscars livestream. I’m torn for two reasons: Oscars aren’t Grammys, and even if a great song makes a movie even more special, it’s the score that’s most relevant to the making of the movie. The other reason I’m divided is the spectrum of impressive live performances we’ve seen this year, from Lady Gaga and Rihanna’s rousing dance number “Naatu Naatu” to the wildly eccentric David Byrne/Son Lux song that, although loved by many, she put me into a Sunny Von Bülow trance. The bottom line is: the songs account for nearly 30 minutes of valuable airtime.
If the entire Oscars experience is all about ego, politics, and ad dollars (never in Hollywood!), then these suggestions have already been dismissed. But I hope the Academy will take risks to continue to shape the show for our times. I love the Oscars. And Glenn, Ricky and Jimmy have proven to have the alchemy that gives gold.
Barry Avrich is an award-winning documentary filmmaker (“The Last Mogul,” “Made You Look,” “The Reckoning,” “Prosecuting Evil”) who has also produced many stage-to-screen productions and live award shows, including the Canadian Screen Awards, the Sports Hall of Fame Awards and The Giller Prize. he runs the Melbar entertainment groupone of the largest producers of unscripted content in North America. His memoir, “Moguls, Monsters and Madmen” was published in 2017.
