If I say the phrase “the 89th Academy Awards,” I’m going to assume the only thing you remember is the Infamous Snafu where the wrong name was read and the show ended in disarray as the Moonlight team took the stage to take the Oscars back from Team La La Land. I’m sure the average viewer would assume that everyone from that show would be fired, never to work the Oscars again. Those people don’t remember the rest of the show.
Producers Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd really did their best to keep the show running quickly and entertainingly. The snafu was out of their control, and even if things looked hectic at home, you really can only do so much in that situation, and the black mark that has been put on them after the event is really unfair. The same goes for Jimmy Kimmel, who was arguably the best host in years, landing brutal but funny jokes, pulling off actually-entertaining jokes (Mean Tweets and the Candy were absolute hits), and even the clunkers had some promise, like the busful of fans headed to the Oscars. And I don’t know anyone who could have handled that screw-up so eloquently and humorously. What I’m saying is these three did a really good job with the show, and a mistake at the end cannot be blamed on them.
It appears that ABC and the Academy agree, because all three have been hired back for the 90th Academy Awards. This makes sense, because Kimmel is at the top of his game (he’s currently in the news cycle after a beautifully spoken tribute to the birth of his son and the need to act like human beings-on both sides of the aisle-in the health care debate), and the producers know how to run a mean, clean show. It should make for excellent TV when the ceremony premieres on March 4, 2018.
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