Is it just me, or is Neil Patrick Harris really blowing it as Oscar host?

[liberalhistorian]

I'm fifty years old and have never missed an Oscar program since I was a child, even if I've hardly seen any of the movies (which is the case this year, as I live on a remote rural Indian reservation hours from a decent movie theater). It was also something I always shared with my mother and stepfather; it's especially poignant this year since my stepdad died four weeks ago tonight after a long battle with Lewy Body Dementia. We were both wannabe writers and actors (never making it past the local stage, though) .

So I've seen some great hosts, some mediocre hosts, some cringing, what-the-hell-were-they-thinking hosts. To me, the best, so far, has been Billy Crystal. His unique creativity regarding the nominated movies and quick-thinking wit that was able to respond with ease to what was happening throughout the evening kept things moving and interesting.

So, I'm sorry, I love Neil Patrick Harris, but he's really sucking and falling flat so far, and it is boring, boring, boing. I realize what a tough, thankless job it is, so I'm cutting him some slack, but shit. I'm almost ready to turn it off, which I usually don't do. And why does everyone sound so stiff and wooden? Or am I just being an elitist Oscar snob?

[rurallib]

1. kind of agree - he has been great on the Tonys

at least a couple of times.
I was kind of wondering if he had writers that sucked.

BTW - I go back to the Bob Hope days. To me Hope has always been the standard by which others are judged.
And now he is in his underwear? Maybe he can salvage it yet.

[liberalhistorian]

3. I just saw that underwear bit.

I admit, that is pretty daring.

I think part of the problem is that the Tonys are different from the Oscars and he's trying to fit a square peg into around hole. Kinda like why David Letterman didn't work, he was used to a different format.

Yes, I've seen films of Bob Hope hosting, he really was something else.

[bigwillq]

2. I thought the opening was fantastic.

But think he's been pretty bad since.

[liberalhistorian]

4. The opening number was good, I agree.

But he's gone rapidly downhill since. And this has been really boring so far.

They'd better do a major tribute to Robin Williams, too.

[Lochloosa]

5. The "White" joke at the beginning set the tone.

He has been downhill since.

[tavernier]

6. The Polish foreign film director

Was the funniest one so far.

Yeah, NPH is a little off tonight.

[liberalhistorian]

7. Despite his underwear trick,

he just continues to slide rapidly downhill, as does the show generally. Why is this so boring? By now, they'd have had at least one special program/presentation, and there's been nothing. And why do they have to group all the boring awards together every year? Maybe it's me, but this year's program is really disappointing so far.

And even the closed captioning is way off this year (I'm hearing-impaired, so I use that feature). Usually the CC is behind on live programs, but this year it's really behind, by a couple minutes. Really annoying. Maybe that's why I'm so grumpy about the program right now, lol.

[UTUSN]

8. I love you. I don't see movies but love the Academies. I think it's because

I want to see the fake people having their reality moments.

[KMOD]

9. I love him, too.

But yeah, the monologue is strange.

It's not just him though, the presenters have been rather flat as well.

[liberalhistorian]

11. They have, indeed, and

I wonder what that's all about. I've not quite seen it like this for a long time.

[Baitball Blogger]

10. There is something strange. It's like no one got over the tribute section.

It's a bit subdued.

[liberalhistorian]

12. And his whole bit about

his Oscar predictions and guarding the briefcase is really awkward and cringeworthy. Just did not compute. I love NPH, but he really, really sucked.

This has been the most painfully boring Oscars in many, many, many years. No special programs or presentations, flat, wooden presenters, etc. Even the memorial tribute section was bitterly disappointing. We lost so many good, influential people and old actors this year that they should have had a more detailed tribute to them. Especially Robin Williams. And they even left out Joan Rivers? Seriously?

[LuckyLib]

14. Agree completely. I remember watching with my folks and were they

entertaining! This was a snooze fest.

[hunter]

13. Bad, bad writing.

Were the writers on strike???

But the Imitation Game's Graham Moore was awesome.

[liberalhistorian]

17. He was, indeed!

I loved that movie, which was the only one I was able to see and hubby and I had to make a six-hour round trip to be able to see it (we live on a remote Indian reservation so there are obviously no theaters around here, the nearest ones are hours away).

I'm one of those "different" people who suffered horribly from depression as a teenager due to bullying because of it and I've never quite "fit in" with any crowd; I'm constantly hearing about how "weird" I am even now, at fifty years old. So I loved what he said and he's absolutely right. And it's those "different" people who often move society forward culturally, socially, artistically, scientifically, etc. Like Alan Turing himself. Unfortunately, it's often recognized too late for the person who's made the accomplishments.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

15. I have always thought someone likfe Letterman, Leno, Conan or, Craig Ferguson

should emcee the Oscars. I always thought Bob Hope did the best job.

http://www.ranker.com/list/all-oscar-hosts/oscar-grouch?page=2

[liberalhistorian]

16. I don't know how Leno, Conan or Ferguson would do,

but I do remember that Letterman really bombed when he hosted; I think it was sometime in the 90's. What worked for his show and its format just did not work for the Oscars and it was almost painful to watch him, because I really liked him and his show (still do). His whole "Uma, Oprah" schtick was cringeworthingly bad and I'm still scratching my head over that one.

[jakeXT]

18. 1995... I don't know why they call it gold standard of bombing

But the gold standard of Oscar bombing remains David Letterman, whose notorious turn as host is now 20 years old. In 1995, the late-night host was at the peak of his career. His Late Show, which debuted on CBS two years before, was wildly popular, consistently beating NBC's Tonight Show, hosted by Letterman's bitter rival Jay Leno, in the ratings. But almost from the minute the Oscars began, it became clear that it wasn't going to be Dave's night

Noting an aural similarity between the names of two prominent female celebrities, Dave launched into a trance-like routine. "Oprah. Uma. Oprah. Uma. Oprah. Uma. Have you kids met Keanu?" Few laughed. And then things got worse. Jokes about Tim Robbins and Arnold Schwarzenegger landed with a thud, and attempts to graft popular bits from the Late Show—like the "Top 10" list—didn't work.

The critical reception was savage. The New York Times accused Letterman of leaving the show's "pacing in shambles," and added that "glamorous people waiting for awards announcements aren't terribly interested in New York City cabdrivers or stupid-pet tricks."

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/02/the-night-david-letterman-bombed-the-oscars/385738/

[Algernon Moncrieff]

22. He ticked off Oprah

The NY/LA thing wasn't an issue with Crystal. The Oprah/Uma joke ticked off Oprah, and the press swarmed. I actually thought he did OK.

I thought Hathaway did fine, but her partner, James Franco, was the gold standard of bombing, IMO.

[liberalhistorian]

35. Franco looked like he was perpetually

riding on the Pineapple Express, the whole night (when he co-hosted). Which he very well might have been.

[liberalhistorian]

36. Yeah, that whole "Oprah, Uma" thing

really made me cringe and I was embarrassed for him. I don't know what he was thinking with that. He did, however, have a great sense of self-deprecating humor about it, though, to his great credit. A few years later, when Billy Crystal again hosted, Crystal did a schtick in the beginning where he was "worried" that he wouldn't do as well as past hosts and wanted to get some tips from other hosts. So suddenly here came Dave in a biplane (can't remember now if it was a film or really live on stage), wishing him good luck and telling him "don't forget to introduce Uma to Oprah and Oprah to Uma". That got a lot more laughs than Letterman did the entire night he hosted. He could have been a lot more arrogant about it.

[jakeXT]

19. I watched Craig Ferguson host a Game of Thrones Comic Con panel recently, he was good.

But one actress mentioned she felt at one time during it, that he hadn't seen the show.

[Fla Dem]

20. I thought Ellen did a great job last year. One of the reason this year feels so flat.

She's a hard act to follow in terms of expectations.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

23. It was my understanding that they wanted Jimmy Fallon

You might remember that Johnny Carson hosted for many years, and I think the Academy sees Fallon as a similar kind of host. However, ABC (who seemingly didn't have a problem with Carson) objects to Fallon because they now have their own dog, Jimmy Kimmel, in the late night fight. I think Kimmel would be a good host, but his after-Oscar show has become sort of a tradition, and I think ABC doesn't want to give that up.

[liberalhistorian]

34. I can see where both Fallon and Kimmel

would be great choices. Hey, maybe they can co-host it! Now THAT would likely be popcorn-worthy.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

21. I suspect they'll try someone else next year....

Colbert, Jimmy Fallon...someone along that line. My daughter (who, in fairness, thought NPH would do great) thinks Mindy Kaling would be a good choice. Eddie Murphy, who is older, wiser, and mellower, might also be a good pick.

As a contrast, Fey and Poehler may host the Golden Globes for the rest of time.

NPH had very high expectations, given his work on the Tony's. I agree that he fell flat last night. Not horrid, but not a huge improvement over other recent hosts.

[monmouth4]

28. NPH was not in his milieu last night. His work is on Broadway, he knows everyone and knows what

they expect. Hollywood is a different animal altogether. The hosts I've watched over the years could not compare to Ellen. She was fabulous...

[Algernon Moncrieff]

30. Ellen was good

Chris Rock did a decent job. Whoopi was OK. I liked Anne Hathaway - James Franco not-so-much.

If NPH was given a second year, I'd bet that he'd improve -- but that's not what the Oscars do.

[liberalhistorian]

33. See, that's what I thought was happening with him last night.

He was really good with the Tonys, but that's a different show altogether from the Oscars, with a very different audience. And frankly, most Americans don't watch or pay attention to the Tonys (unfortunately), unlike the Oscars.

[monmouth4]

37. That's how I saw it too. He's an exceptional talent, this just wasn't his gig...n/t

[sendero]

24. I've always liked him best...

.... in small doses. Like the Harold and Kumar movie.

I think he was the main reason I stopped giving a hoot about How I Met Your Mother His schtick just gets old fast.

[grasswire]

25. the underwear was just ridiculous

Step back and think about it. A formal event, with ostensibly serious awards for the film industry, and he can only think of going out in his underwear? In what universe is that acceptable?

It was a weak ploy and I found it offensive.

[Arugula Latte]

26. It was a take-off on a scene from Birdman

where Michael Keaton gets locked out of the theater, his robe stuck in the door, and he walks through Time Square in his underwear to get back into the theater.

[grasswire]

27. ah okay

but to the casual viewer, it was pretty odd.

[Arugula Latte]

29. I can imagine!

[liberalhistorian]

31. Yes, for those of us

who hadn't seen the movie, we aren't going to know that it was a play on one of the scenes. That's one of the things that Crystal was so good at, playing on the nominated movie scenes but doing it in a way that you'd find it funny even if you hadn't seen the movie.

[liberalhistorian]

32. I wouldn't go so far as to say offensive,

but it was, indeed, a weak and desperate ploy.

[hopemountain]

38. loved billy crystal & ellen

neil p.h. is awkward and his attempts at rude humor all fell flat. wrong audience.

and i want to say something about the issue of whiteness - his jokes & pokes at oprah and octavia spencer were like poking at a very sore, infected scar. very uncomfortable and rude. they did not "lighten" the issue nor the mood. also, the attempt at flinging every dark skinned person onto the stage for anything but an oscar is unforgivable. however, kudos to mr. iñárritu who gracefully, courageously & respectfully made the most of his moment when addressing the immigration issue on behalf of his compadres & comadres.

the performance of 'glory' and address by common and john legend were powerful and unforgettable. especially, when they both addressed the issues of all biases towards all persons no matter their walk in life - an american future we can not only imagine - but make happen.