Oscars 2015: Three Ways to Improve the Academy Awards Telecast

The 86^th Academy Awards were not particularly loved by critics.

The Hollywood Reporter called the awards show "a turgid affair, badly directed, poorly produced and featuring an endless string of either tired or wince-inducing moments by [Ellen] DeGeneres, who, by the last 30 or so minutes, seemed to have given up entirely."

Variety called the show a "ho-hum evening, but not an embarrassing one."

The awards show has been repeatedly lambasted throughout the years for being overlong and for featuring hosts that are either trying to hard to entertain (Seth MacFarlane) or simply not interested (James Franco).

What can the Oscars do to recapture the magic that has made the awards show a cultural mainstay? Here are a few suggestions.

1. Get Rid of the Superhero & Movie Tributes

Everyone loves "The Wizard of Oz." Or, at least, one would hope that everyone does. But the decision to honor the film in the middle of the ceremony was awkward and unnecessary. Why exactly was the Academy honoring the film? The reason was ambiguous at best and ultimately made the presentation unnecessary. That it added a good five to 10 minutes to the telecast did not help matters.

But "The Wizard of Oz" was not the only culprit that slowed down the evening. The superhero tributes were a big part of that, as well. They added nothing to the evening, and were essentially a transparent, lousy attempt to appeal to more mainstream audiences only casually interested in the awards. But the question beckons: Does the Academy really think that the mainstream fan is watching the awards show for that one shot of "Iron Man" or a few seconds of "Star Wars?" More to the point, why were there three such montages littered throughout the show? Why waste people's time like that? We know that the Oscars wants to celebrate movies, but it is unnecessary to feature every movie ever made in an attempt to appeal to the widest possible audience.

2. Start the Show Earlier

Part of the reason people get fed up with the show is because it ends so late. On the Atlantic Coast, Sunday's telecast ended around midnight; people had to go to work the next morning and were likely more turn off the TV at or past 11 p.m. Everyone knows that the awards show is going to be long. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the average show during past telecasts has lasted about three hours and 29 minutes. An 8:30 p.m. EST start time would probably end around midnight. So why not start the show an hour early? That would ensure a wider audience for a longer duration. People would get go to sleep at a timely fashion without worrying about missing out on major award announcements. It might also appease the reporters that are forced to write recaps and analysis peaces at excruciatingly late hours of the night.

3. Invite Presenters That Actually Want to Be There

It's a night to celebrate the entertainment business and yet it often feels like half of the presenters on the stage have no interest in being there. Case in point: Harrison Ford. He came on stage looking angry, stumbled over his words and looked completely uninterested for the majority of the ceremony. John Travolta embarrassed himself by mispronouncing (or misreading?) Idina Menzel's name—or was that production's mistake? Jim Carey, while trying really hard to be funny, was also not very into it. Maybe it is better to trim some of the fat and limit the number of presenters. It might get repetitive, but it might also open up the opportunity for some interesting moments and gags by a smaller team, especially if the people brought in to do the job are actually excited to be there.

What else can the Academy do to improve the Oscars in 2015?