The morning after: Oscars chatter
ALSO: SNL UK names its first host. AND: Streamer Binge gets an overhaul
I’ve been pretty down on the Academy Awards in recent years. I’ve also been almost as unenthusiastic about the Emmys. There’s all sorts of reasons why, but one of the key reasons has been the disconnect between what the awards shows are, well, awarding, and the viewer experience.
As movie viewing becomes further entrenched as a home viewing experience and the production values of TV has improved, there is so much of a bleed between television and movies that it just seems weird celebrating them both as distinct offerings from one another.
And if you think that’s a silly notion, consider the (annual) conversation around who was missed out of the In Memoriam segment and how many people are frustrated that TV actors weren’t included.
Yeah, stars like James van der Beek and George Wendt may have appeared in movies, but they were creatures of television. Even so, it still felt weird that they weren’t there. Similarly, it was weird that the image of Isiah Whitlock, Jr wasn’t video footage of him saying “shiiiiiiiiit,” his iconic line reading from The Wire. But I digress.
This years Oscars was one of the best in recent years. The reason being that it actually felt like there was a celebration of movies that felt like biog screen properties. Yeah, most people who saw winner One Battle After Another probably watched it on HBO Max rather than the cinema, but it still felt like a big screen Hollywood release in a way that last year’s best film winner Anora just didn’t.
Conan O’Brien’s cold open with him dressed as the witch from Weapons (sorry, spoiler) and chased by all of those kids as he ran through films like One Battle, Sinners, and Sentimental Value felt not only as close to a Billy Crystal-style Oscars opening as we’ve seen in many years, but also was as close to a shared cultural moment as we’re likely to ever get on TV nowadays.
The set design was absolutely gorgeous this year. I really liked the green trees added to the set, which led to a subtle/not subtle joke with Conan cleaning the set with a leaf blower.
There’s quite a few good articles on the Oscars floating around today:
Daniel D’Addario asks at Variety why the movie stars were in hiding during the awards? He weirdly keeps bringing up Meryl Streep and I’d suggest the answer there is in relation to Conan O’Brien ending the show with a very quick statement wishing Martin Short well. Read: Variety
Manhola Dargis and Alissa Wilkinson have a back and forth over what worked for this years awards show. Read: NYT
Daniel Fienberg highlights the technical problems that ran throughout the night. Read: THR
Jenny Priestley also commented on the bad sound quality. Read: TVBEurope
Here’s your list of In Memoriam snubs. There were quite a few notable omissions. Bud Cort seems like an oversight while, as The Guardian rightly notes, Brigitte Bardot being skipped seem purposeful. Read: The Guardian
Jane Fonda asks why Barbara Streisand did the Oscars tribute to Robert Redford when Babs only did one film with him versus the four she did. Read: Variety
Despite America being at war right now, there were limited references to that or ICE raids throughout the night. I note that the room got very quiet during Conan O’Briens joke about the cost of healthcare. Read: THR
Delroy Lindo was robbed in the Best Supporting Actor category, though winner Sean Penn was also very good. Penn didn’t turn up to the awards, with presenter Kieran Culkin suggesting on stage that maybe he didn’t want to be there. But, as THR reports today, Penn was in Ukraine meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Guests at the Vanity Fair party were served Dominos and In-N-Out in fancy boxes. Read: THR
The history of ties (not neckwear) at the Academy Award. Read: Indiewire
For anyone interested, I was joined on Substack yesterday by my podcast co-host Simon Foster to discuss the awards. Substack’s live streaming is a bit clunky, so watch as I struggle at the start discovering that my microphone, headphones, and even the correct camera wasn’t working.
Binge gets a refresh
Aussie streaming service Binge has overhauled its app, with the new version going live sometime within the past 24 hours (I assume this morning). I haven’t had much time to play with it this morning, so I can’t offer a deep dive on all that is different. But with just a few minutes of playing around with the app on iOS, everything looks far cleaner, load times seem dramatically faster, there’s an increased focus on the Foxtel-like linear channels and discovery just seems a little easier.
I’m surprised that there’s no vertical video integration, but also the resources needed to maintain that functionality might have been too much in a cost benefit consideration.
Midway through last year I interviewed Foxtel's Executive Director of Product, Tom Blaxland for some publication I was working for… I forget the name of it now… who let it slip that work was being done to overhaul the Binge app after having just overhauled Kayo. This is the fruits of that labour realised.
Hubbl users will also find that the Binge app is refreshed for that hardware platform, which is noteworthy considering how integrated Binge is into its user experience. The experience has improved dramatically there too.
Tina Fey (not a Brit) to host first SNL UK
With SNL UK kicking off at the end of the week (March 21), the first batch of hosts and bands have been announced. Tina Fey will host the first episode of the new sketch show (which will replicate US segments like Weekend Update), with English band Wet Leg the first musical act.
Week two will have Jamie Dornan and band Wolf Alice (March 28), and week three will be Riz Ahmed and Kasabian (April 4).
The show will stream on Peacock in the US the day after it airs in the UK and in Australia it will stream on HBO Max, where it is also delayed and will debut Monday March 23.
I’ve talked about this before in the newsletter I’m sure, but SNL feels increasingly past its use-by date. I appreciate the value in it as a live show, watched on a Saturday night, but as a show that exists as a product outside of that viewing environment (which is the only way I’ve ever been able to watch it as a person who doesn’t live in the US), the viewing experience is weak. Right now I can open Instagram or TikTok and watch comedy sketches which will make me laugh harder than anything I will see on SNL.
That may be unfair to SNL, which doesn’t have a thousand monkeys at a thousand typewriters producing comedy sketches, powered by an algorithm, but as a viewer it makes it difficult to find the value in watching the show every week.
News Desk
Free Bert has been renewed by Netflix for season 2. Read: thefutoncritic
Michael Sheen has been announced as the replacement host for Richard Osman’s House of Games. Read: Radio Times
The BBC has asked the court to throw out Trump’s $10b lawsuit. Read: The Guardian
The Neighborhood is one of those TV shows that has just quietly hummed away in the background, rarely generating much chatter, but renewed year after year. Ending after eight seasons, it will receive a farewell special on CBS. Read: thefutoncritic
Comic writing legend Grant Morrison got some sand in their pants about Damon Lindeloff offhandedly joking about the decision to call the upcoming HBO drama ‘Lanterns’ instead of ‘Green Lanterns.’ It’s a bit rich Morrison criticising decisions made in television when you consider some (well, all) of their own television output. Read: THR
A big story in Australian media: Paramount Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) executive Rod Prosser is stepping down/jumping ship from his role as chief sales officer after 15 years at the company. Read: Mumbrella
FCC chair Brendan Carr posted threats to US news broadcasters over the weekend that running “fake news” could jeopardize their licenses. #USdemocracy Read: TV Tech
US Prime Video subscribers opting out of ads will see a price rise with the ad-free add-on (is this streamings first “add-off”?) going from $2.99 to $4.99. The plan will also be rebranded as Prime Video Ultra and will bundle in more downloads, concurrent streams, and exclusive 4K/UHD streams. So far there are no signs that this price rise will be in effect internationally, with Amazon Prime priced differently in each territory. Read: Amazon
Trailer Park
Star Wars: Shadow Lord debuts on Disney+ April 6.
After the Clone Wars, Maul plots to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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