The whys and wherefores
Though Jon Stewart and producer Gilbert Cates were clearly pleased with Sunday’s Oscar telecast -- bear-hugging each other and high-fiving the writing team -- the ratings drop was disastrous (see Scott Collins’ E1 story for the specifics). So now that the confetti has settled, the winners feted and the critics typically underwhelmed, it’s time for the traditional Monday morning quarterbacking about Sunday’s 80th Annual Academy Awards telecast. After all, the folks who did tune in -- and the 4,000-strong crowd at the Kodak Theatre on Sunday night -- were left with a few unanswered questions.
Why was “Falling Slowly” co-writer Marketa Irglova ushered offstage while accepting her award with singer-songwriter Glen Hansard for best original song from the film “Once”?
As always, that call is made by Cates. After the show, he admitted that director Louis J. Horvitz signaled orchestra conductor Bill Conti by mistake. “The low music was cued accidentally,” Cates said. “When I saw it, I asked Jon to please bring her back. It just worked beautifully. It was a very emotional moment.”
Why weren’t actors Roy Scheider and Brad Renfro, both of whom died earlier this year, featured in the annual “In Memoriam” segment?
Scheider, who died Feb. 10 from complications associated with blood cancer and was believed to be 75, was excluded because he died after producer Cates had already “locked” the memorial montage -- which recognized deaths between Jan. 31, 2007, and Feb. 1, 2008. He’ll be included in next year’s telecast. Renfro died Jan. 15 at 25 of a heroin overdose. His absence, said academy spokeswoman Toni Thompson, was “just simply an editing decision because unfortunately we can’t include everyone every year.”
Why was Whoopi Goldberg, a four-time Oscar emcee, excluded from a montage of past hosts featuring Johnny Carson, Jon Stewart, Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres and Chris Rock?
Cates could not be reached to solve this mystery, but a spokesman for the academy said she was featured prominently in another package accepting an Oscar. On Monday morning’s “The View,” Goldberg’s co-hosts spent several minutes griping about her absence in the host montage. The “View” team had speculated that Goldberg’s appearance in that other montage, getting an Oscar in 1990 for supporting actress in “Ghost,” may have been considered enough. (Steve Martin, who hosted the show of 2003, wasn’t mentioned in the host montage either.)
“Did you make somebody at the Oscars mad?” asked fellow “View” host Sherri Shepherd.
Goldberg, looking dejected, answered, “Undoubtedly.”