Sunday’s Academy Awards have been described as lack-luster, joyless and downright anticlimactic. But we have to take others’ word for it because we didn’t tune in. In fact, it seems that almost no one watched the 93rd Academy Awards.
This year’s telecast hit a devastating ratings low with a meager 9.85 million viewers tuning in. This is a steep decline from 2020 when the Oscars garnered 23.6 million. However, until now, 2020’s viewership numbers were a historic low, almost half of the 2014 high with 43.7 million.
And it’s not only the Oscars floundering. The March 2021 Grammys and Golden Globes also saw their all-time lowest viewership with 8.8 million and 6.9 million tv audiences tuning in respectively. September 2020’s Emmys drew their all-time low at 6.1 million viewers.
Did ANYONE Watch the Oscars?
Is it just the pandemic, or are these award shows just past their prime?
This year’s Oscars certainly disappointed those who did tune in. The show unfortunately set itself up for one of the most anti-climactic finales ever after rearranging the order of the categories so that the final award was presented to Best Actor rather than Best Picture.
Presumably, this was under the misguided belief that the late Chadwick Boseman, who had swept the other major Best Actor awards this season for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom would posthumously win the statuette.
Instead, the accolade went to Sir Anthony Hopkins, who not only wasn’t in attendance at the ceremony, but in bed, asleep in Wales and not available via satellite. Joaquin Phoenix had to come back on stage, accept Sir Anthony’s award for him and then peace out of the entire telecast.
It is a shame that this year’s awards did not do well with audiences as it was the most inclusive ever with big wins for people of color, women and older actors. In fact Sir Anthony Hopkin’s win made him the oldest actor ever to take home the Best Actor award.
Chloe Zhao’s Best Director nod made her the first Asian woman and woman of color to win the award, and only the second woman overall.
Even the In Memoriam section was fraught with controversy with the names appearing and disappearing far too quickly, and several names left off the list that folks were upset about. Adam Schlesinger, who died in 2020 from Covid was absent despite receiving a Best Song nomination for That Thing You Do! in 1997.
Small screen actors Naya Rivera and Jessica Walters were left off as was actor Nick Cordero. While Walter and Rivera are known for their TV work and Cordero was primarily a stage actor, all have done some features and audiences felt they should have been recognized for their work.
Did you tune into the 93rd Academy Awards? If so, what did you think? Let us know in the comments below.
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