OSCTRIOTS?
Every year, certain reviewers of television programs bash the Oscar telecast. It does not matter who the host is, what the jokes are, how long (or short) the show is, etc. It's an apparent rite of passage for people who are self-professedly secure enough to have gotten past such things.
This year was no different, as one website noted:
Early reaction is trickling in (as of 12 AM this morning), and it's not looking good for Jon Stewart. To wit:
TOM SHALES, Washington Post:
It's hard to believe that professional entertainers could have put together a show less entertaining than this year's Oscars, hosted with a smug humorlessness by comic Jon Stewart, a sad and pale shadow of great hosts gone by ... The audience at home does not want to look at clips. It wants to look at big-time movie stars ... The epitome of honesty perhaps came when Stewart muttered "I am a loser" into the microphone. He was speaking not only for himself but for the whole show.
(I can try finding Mr. Shales' comments for the past five telecasts, all of which sound remarkably similar. One wonders whom he considers a great host, with the possible exception of Bob Hope...... Shales doesn't even look old enough to have been around when Bob Hope was host. Oh, yeah - I forgot - looking at big-time movie stars really IS what makes a show great! I LOVED looking at Tom Hanks and the look of transmorgified horror on his face as Roberto Benigni almost stampeded onto him! Loved the look of ghastly pale horror on any number of "big-time movie star"'s faces as Snow White in 1989 tried forcibly dragging them on to the red carpet to sing "Proud Mary" with her. Snow must have loved it too, since Disney sued the Academy! An Oscar show doesn't work because it has any one kind of content - it works based on how good that content is. Pity one should have to make this sub-infantile observation, but some people still don't get it).
MAUREEN RYAN, Chicago Tribune/The Watcher:
I'm just stunned at how badly Jon Stewart's opening monologue went. I didn't realize it was possible to insult the audience more than Chris Rock did. Stewart seemed to be aiming his material at the folks at home (why on Earth would he have wanted to do that? It's not like they're the ones who are WATCHING it, thereby raising the Academy's stock, now is it?) which is probably why the audience in the room with him seemed to be shooting him death rays with their eyes (Ms. Ryan doesn't remember what the "great hosts" Bob Hope and Johnny Carson used to say about the audience that was sitting right in front of them. Carson in 1984: "Now Barbra Streisand really knows the meaning of the Big Chill." And were Stewart's "I'm a loser" comments any more or less contextually funny than Hope's comments (made seemingly every year) along the lines of "Welcome to the Oscars. Or as they're known in my house, Passover). It's mighty presumptuous to assume that stars are offended by a host gently chiding (and if you don't think I'm serious about gently chiding, ask Jude Law, Michael Moore, Russell Crowe (make sure your body armor is on) and numerous others, who have been the subject of downright mean-spirited remarks by other hosts) other stars.
They just hated his jokes. And you have to admit, insulting your hosts, repeatedly, and saying what they do is "out of touch" (hello, he meant it in a GOOD way) is not the best possible move. "I'm going to be pummeled later this evening," he joked at one point. Yeah, I'd pretty much count on that. Oh well. I hope Jon enjoyed this gig. It'll be his last.
TED JOHNSON, Variety:
... (O)nscreen Stewart felt out of his element. (The show) had its moments, but his delivery was slow, as if every joke was a bit overthought. His exclamations -- "There you go, now you're talking!" -- were awkward, as if he was trying too hard to force some excitement on the ceremony (why would anyone want to do that?)... Oddly, so much time was devoted to the clip packages, not enough to the actual opportunities for spontaneity, like acceptance speeches (which everyone hates).
ALESSANDRA STANLEY, New York Times:
Jon Stewart, looking a little nervous, tried to tweak Hollywood self-righteousness ... Mr. Stewart wasn't as funny as he is usually is on "The Daily Show," but his riff on gay cowboys was clever.
People who don't like watching the show should just admit it and spare the rest of us the spontaneous brilliance and piquance of their critiques.
This year was no different, as one website noted:
Early reaction is trickling in (as of 12 AM this morning), and it's not looking good for Jon Stewart. To wit:
TOM SHALES, Washington Post:
It's hard to believe that professional entertainers could have put together a show less entertaining than this year's Oscars, hosted with a smug humorlessness by comic Jon Stewart, a sad and pale shadow of great hosts gone by ... The audience at home does not want to look at clips. It wants to look at big-time movie stars ... The epitome of honesty perhaps came when Stewart muttered "I am a loser" into the microphone. He was speaking not only for himself but for the whole show.
(I can try finding Mr. Shales' comments for the past five telecasts, all of which sound remarkably similar. One wonders whom he considers a great host, with the possible exception of Bob Hope...... Shales doesn't even look old enough to have been around when Bob Hope was host. Oh, yeah - I forgot - looking at big-time movie stars really IS what makes a show great! I LOVED looking at Tom Hanks and the look of transmorgified horror on his face as Roberto Benigni almost stampeded onto him! Loved the look of ghastly pale horror on any number of "big-time movie star"'s faces as Snow White in 1989 tried forcibly dragging them on to the red carpet to sing "Proud Mary" with her. Snow must have loved it too, since Disney sued the Academy! An Oscar show doesn't work because it has any one kind of content - it works based on how good that content is. Pity one should have to make this sub-infantile observation, but some people still don't get it).
MAUREEN RYAN, Chicago Tribune/The Watcher:
I'm just stunned at how badly Jon Stewart's opening monologue went. I didn't realize it was possible to insult the audience more than Chris Rock did. Stewart seemed to be aiming his material at the folks at home (why on Earth would he have wanted to do that? It's not like they're the ones who are WATCHING it, thereby raising the Academy's stock, now is it?) which is probably why the audience in the room with him seemed to be shooting him death rays with their eyes (Ms. Ryan doesn't remember what the "great hosts" Bob Hope and Johnny Carson used to say about the audience that was sitting right in front of them. Carson in 1984: "Now Barbra Streisand really knows the meaning of the Big Chill." And were Stewart's "I'm a loser" comments any more or less contextually funny than Hope's comments (made seemingly every year) along the lines of "Welcome to the Oscars. Or as they're known in my house, Passover). It's mighty presumptuous to assume that stars are offended by a host gently chiding (and if you don't think I'm serious about gently chiding, ask Jude Law, Michael Moore, Russell Crowe (make sure your body armor is on) and numerous others, who have been the subject of downright mean-spirited remarks by other hosts) other stars.
They just hated his jokes. And you have to admit, insulting your hosts, repeatedly, and saying what they do is "out of touch" (hello, he meant it in a GOOD way) is not the best possible move. "I'm going to be pummeled later this evening," he joked at one point. Yeah, I'd pretty much count on that. Oh well. I hope Jon enjoyed this gig. It'll be his last.
TED JOHNSON, Variety:
... (O)nscreen Stewart felt out of his element. (The show) had its moments, but his delivery was slow, as if every joke was a bit overthought. His exclamations -- "There you go, now you're talking!" -- were awkward, as if he was trying too hard to force some excitement on the ceremony (why would anyone want to do that?)... Oddly, so much time was devoted to the clip packages, not enough to the actual opportunities for spontaneity, like acceptance speeches (which everyone hates).
ALESSANDRA STANLEY, New York Times:
Jon Stewart, looking a little nervous, tried to tweak Hollywood self-righteousness ... Mr. Stewart wasn't as funny as he is usually is on "The Daily Show," but his riff on gay cowboys was clever.
People who don't like watching the show should just admit it and spare the rest of us the spontaneous brilliance and piquance of their critiques.
posted by EnterCenter at 1:09 PM
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