The overnight ratings are in for the 90th Academy Awards are in and, as expected, they weren’t good. ABC had lowered expectations for this year’s Oscar telecast because of the lack of “big hits” among the Best Picture nominees (ridiculous, but more on that later) and the show currently sits with a Nielsen low 26.5 million viewers. That’s a huge drop from even last year’s disconcerting 32.9 million, the smallest audience since 2008. For comparison’ sake, just four years ago the Ellen DeGeneres hosted 86th Oscars had 43.7 million viewers, the most watched Oscars since 2000 so this isn’t a decade long trend. But, seriously, let’s just blame it on cord cutting and the lack of box office power, right?
Best and Worst of the 90th Academy Awards
First and foremost, there were a lot of promotional problems with this year’s telecast. ABC, Jimmy Kimmel, the Academy and the producers decided that instead of highlighting the historic 90th anniversary or a very competitive three-way Best Picture race (that included the $176 million grossing “Get Out”) that they would riff on last year’s historic Best Picture flub. It was a part of almost every TV spot or trailer for the show and by the time Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty returned for a second time around it was a joke that had been beaten to death before the Olympics were halfway over. Kimmel was also the centerpiece of every ABC outdoor ad or print advertisement. Granted, this isn’t necessarily anything new for an Oscar host, but – shocker – Kimmel isn’t a star. He’s not Ellen DeGeneres, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Hugh Jackman or Chris Rock. At times the campaign felt like it was more about promoting Kimmel’s place among ABC’s talent than the Oscars itself. And that’s a huge problem because it doesn’t translate, to steal another network’s old slogan, into “must see TV.”
When renegotiating and extending its deal with ABC in 2016, the organization gave the network more of a say in the show. This was something the Academy had been very adamant against for years, but with a costly Museum on the way it needed stability and the deal provides substantial revenue until 2028. Since ABC has had a bigger say viewers have gotten Jimmy Kimmel and…Jimmy Kimmel. Will another ABC star be tapped to host in 2019? Is this going to be showcase for the network just like NBC has found a way to make the Golden Globes a platform for its own late night hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, the past two years? Or CBS giving us a never ending run of LL Cool J and James Corden hosting the Grammys? Usually, this has been a game networks usually play when they get their annual shot at airing the Emmy Awards. Now, we’re very afraid it’s ABC’s mission with Oscar. If that’s the case can the network at least look to the Disney family to find someone funny to host? Would pairing Marvel Studios stars Paul Rudd and Tessa Thompson work? What about Chris Pratt and Ryan Reynolds? (Hey, “Deadpool” is gonna be in the Disney family by next Oscars anyway.) Take your favorite Avenger and come up with your own pairing. Are there any funny Pixar, Lucasfilm or Disney Animation stars we can find? It’s got to be better than Kimmel.
Now wait, before you think this is all just an excuse to rag on Kimmel it’s not. The 50-year-old comedian and talk show host is a master of speaking to the American public about issues some feel are controversial in a humanistic and straightforward manner. His late night monologues on the health care crisis are incredible and hitting that tone was clearly his aim when addressing the #MeToo movement and the earthquake that hit Hollywood this past fall in his opening Oscar monologue. It wasn’t very funny, but unlike John Mulaney and Nick Kroll at the Indie Spirit Awards 24 hours earlier (who knocked it out of the park), he probably didn’t think he could really go for laughs with a room who didn’t want to be caught reacting at the “wrong” thing. So, we’re simply not judging Kimmel’s abilities on the monologue this year. He gets a pass even though we didn’t think last year’s was very funny either (luckily there was that Justin Timberlake opening number that already had everyone in a good mood). The rest of this year’s show is where he faltered. Beyond the predictable “let’s take some stars to a movie theater” bit that Gal Gadot owned more than anyone else (bless her), his jokes throughout out the telecast were bland and often cringeworthy. They seemed like scraps Billy Crystal would have rejected 20 years ago. They weren’t even the giggle-inducing jokes DeGeneres has mastered. So, was anyone surprised when viewers and social media went nuts for presenters Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph? No, because that “moment” happens almost every year.