Oscar, marking his 70th year tonight, has barely changed a lick since his 1953 network television debut.
And that's a problem.Hidebound by history, custom and, to be fair, a worthy dedication to the movie industry it celebrates, the Academy Awards broadcast lacks the punch and gleeful spontaneity of other award shows.
Think Golden Globes and the image is Jack Nicholson giving a modified mooning during this year's broadcast. Think Oscars and it's dignified producer Saul Zaentz accepting the top award last year for "The English Patient."
The difference is largely the setting and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' adherence to its awards protocol, industry members and observers say. And, let's face it, a touch of self-importance.
As an honor, the Oscar statuette towers above all, and the ceremony remains the No. 1 awards show on television. The 7 p.m. MST ceremony on ABC is likely to draw 75 million or more U.S. viewers for at least part of its three-plus hours.
As a production, however, the Oscars suffer by comparison with those freer to respond to the changing role of such ceremonies.
"Awards shows, of which there are now some 35 in prime time, have become the variety show of the '90s," said Thomas O'Neil, author of award show books for the trade publication Variety. "Ed Sullivan's gone; `Sonny and Cher' are gone. Awards shows have to be entertaining. It's more than just giving away trophies."
For the Grammys, that means having an equal number of awards and musical performances. For the Golden Globes, given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at a Beverly Hills hotel, it means relaxed fun.
"People there have a good time. They're in table settings, not theater seating. They've had a glass of wine with their friends, and they're surrounded by people they've known or have worked with or admired," said Gene Weed, the show's director-producer.
"It's a party we'd all like to attend."
By contrast, the Oscars take place in an auditorium, with the cavernous Shrine Auditorium this year's site. That tends to make for a more formal atmosphere.
"As long as it's a theater setting, it will always be thus at the Academy Awards," said Robert Osborne, an Oscar historian and host of Turner Classics Movies. His book, "70 Years of the Oscar," is soon to be released.
But that's not to say it always was, Osborne says. The Academy Awards ceremony was first held at the Roosevelt Hotel in the Hollywood area and remained an intimate affair until the 1940s.
"The only reason they moved it into a theater was because of World War II," Osborne said. "They felt that having a party, where everybody dressed up and was drinking and having a good time, would send a message that Hollywood was being glib" about wartime suffering.
It's unlikely the Oscars will forsake an auditorium, given the musical numbers staged for nominated songs. It's also doubtful that the awards categories will be tailored to suit public tastes.
At the Golden Globes, most awards are star-oriented. The motion picture academy gives just four such awards out of two dozen: best actor and actress and best supporting actor and actress.
That means much time is devoted to technical and behind-the-camera categories. "They're all extremely important to the production of motion pictures, and they deserve the limelight," said academy spokesman John Pavlik.
O'Neil suggests watching all the awards this year, including lighting and sound effects, because of "Titanic's" record-tying 14 nominations. "If it hits 12 (wins), it beats `Ben Hur' as the biggest Oscar winner of all time." he said.
The academy is negotiating a move from its traditional Monday night berth to Sunday, increasing viewers and ad revenue, and to an earlier hour, so that the show could wrap up before midnight on the East Coast.
"We have every intention of making it (the switch) happen," Pavlik said, although agreement has to be reached with ABC and with the Shrine or the Music Center, another Oscar site.
Ask Oscar producer Gil Cates how else Oscar can compete in a crowded marketplace and he has a quick answer.
"I don't think Oscar does compete. I think Oscar's Oscar. You notice there are no (film) awards shows after Oscar. All the other shows are piggybacking off of interest in the Oscars," Cates said.
But the Academy Awards ceremony has fought to hold its ground with viewers. After a record high 38 average rating in 1983, the show has slumped to between 27.3 and 32.5 since then. Each ratings point is 1 percent of the nation's TV households as measured by Nielsen Media Research; one point currently represents 980,000 households.
Tonight, Cates plans to give viewers what only this show can, including the snappy Billy Crystal as host, a reunion of dozens of previous Oscar winners and a celebration of Oscar's history.
"Titanic," with its record box-office take, could prove a monster draw. But will audiences get a memorable ceremony? When popular films and stars are well-represented in the nominations, the audience swells; In 1995, the year of blockbuster "Forest Gump," the ceremony posted a 32.5 rating.
Producer Gene Weed replies: "Nothing is like having an Oscar. And when you're sitting out there as one of those five nominees and you know that your whole life will change forever if you win that thing, that's important."
Adds O'Neil: "Jack Nicholson is not going to moon anybody Monday night. There is a kind of respect and awe Oscar commands that the others do not."
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Additional Information
And the presenters are. . .
Presenters at Monday night's Academy Awards are scheduled to include Ben Affleck, Antonio Banderas, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Binoche, Neve Campbell, Sean Connery, Matt Damon, Whoopi Goldbert, Cuba Gooding Jr., Djimon Hounsou, Samuel L. Jackson, Ashley Judd and Jack Lemmon.
Also, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Walter Matthau, Frances McDormand, Mike myers, Geoffrey Rush, Meg Ryan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Martin Scorsese, Elisabeth Shue and Denzel Washington.
Scheduled performances of best original song nominees:
- "Go the Distance" ("Hercules"), sung by Michael Bolton.
- "How Do I Life" ("Con Air), Trisha Yearwood.
- "Journey to the Past" ("Anastasie"), Aaliyah.
- "Miss Misery" ("Good Will Hunting"), Elliott Smith.
- "My Heart Will Go On" ("Titanic"), Celine Dion.
- Associated Press