The 2026 Oscars are in the books. Once again hosted by Conan O'Brien, the show clocked in at nearly 3 hours, 40 minutes. It could've easily trimmed thirty minutes by expunging lame bits like the cold open where Conan was made up like Amy Madigan's character in Weapons and chased through the scenes of the 10 films nominated for Best Picture. This is a callback to Billy Crystal's bit from when he hosted. However, back then only five movies were nominated, not ten, so the bit is twice as long while not generating any laughs.
The unfunny banter between presenters was also back in full force and it never felt more forced than when the Bridesmaids cast reunited to present the Original Score Oscar. One of the "notes" received by the cast complained about how the show was running too long and to get on with it. There isn't an audience member who didn't agree at that point, either at home or in the Dolby Theater. Of course, it would be better to simply make the show shorter than creating commentary spoofing how long it is.
The In Memoriam segment featured touching tributes to Rob Reiner, Diane Keaton, and Robert Redford and naturally there were noticeable omissions but that's par for the course. The most glaring to me was Brigitte Bardot. I pray it wasn't because of far-right comments she made over the course of her lifetime. The idea is to pay tribute to the artist, not his or her politics.
The acting categories returned to showing clips of the nominated performances, but could they be a little longer? By the time the crowd stops applauding and cheering over the clip, the clip is over. There are plenty of places to trim time from the show, let's not give the acting nominees (which are why most people tune in) short shrift.
The show remained mostly non-political, but Jimmy Kimmel (who presented the documentary awards) intimated that the United States no longer practices freedom of speech and then took a swipe at CBS for axing The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and giving the show one year's notice in doing so. Most cancelled shows are ended immediately. Kimmel himself was suspended (with pay I'm sure) for a few nights before returning to his show to bash the right and Trump on a nightly basis.
Since Kimmel and Colbert are not in prison for speaking their minds, how can they say that there is no longer freedom of speech in the United States? Just wondering.
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