2024 Governors Awards

[Big Magilla]

Genuine question: when you compare the length of time a host like Bob Hope takes vs Jimmy Kimmel, is it genuinely that much different?

Probably not, but the whole production number that goes along with the host's opening monologue before the first award is handed out takes more time than it did in Bob Hope's day, and that was before the introduction of the In Memoriam segment.

I've been busy and missed this, but, come on, Magilla, you know that's not true. A big, elongated opening number was frequently part of the Oscars -- I can recall stinker numbers featuring Ray Bolger, Angela Lansbury, Liza in the early to mid-70s. it's what Billy Crystal was parodying when he first hosted in 1989. And Hope's monologues weren't any shorter than Kimmel's or anyone else's.

Never spoken about is that the network WANTS the show to run longer than it did in the 60s/70s. Back then, because of the late (10PM ET) start, the show was scheduled to run 2 hours, though it frequently ran close to 2 1/2. Once they moved it up an hour, the show began running longer -- which the producers love, because they can sell more ad time. And a big thing that's made the show run longer is the length of commercials. In the 60s, ads took up barely 10 minutes of each hour; now they're close to 20.

All of that is true, but my Oscar watching goes back to the late 1950s when things were simpler. The big production numbers of the 1970s and 80s were at least live and so much more entertaining. You never knew if Liza would fall and break an ankle or something. The modern production numbers are mostly pre-filmed which may have been novel the first time they were done but have now become as mechanical and boring as modern action films with no real plots. If they're not going to eliminate the opening, at least go back to live performances and save the bang-bang for the new stunt performance Oscar presentation.

As for commercials, they've already been eliminated on the streaming awards, which run much more smoothly except for the one which recently ran concurrently on broadcast and streaming replacing the commercials on streaming with even more boring backstage interviews.

[Mister Tee]

Genuine question: when you compare the length of time a host like Bob Hope takes vs Jimmy Kimmel, is it genuinely that much different?

Probably not, but the whole production number that goes along with the host's opening monologue before the first award is handed out takes more time than it did in Bob Hope's day, and that was before the introduction of the In Memoriam segment.

I've been busy and missed this, but, come on, Magilla, you know that's not true. A big, elongated opening number was frequently part of the Oscars -- I can recall stinker numbers featuring Ray Bolger, Angela Lansbury, Liza in the early to mid-70s. it's what Billy Crystal was parodying when he first hosted in 1989. And Hope's monologues weren't any shorter than Kimmel's or anyone else's.

Never spoken about is that the network WANTS the show to run longer than it did in the 60s/70s. Back then, because of the late (10PM ET) start, the show was scheduled to run 2 hours, though it frequently ran close to 2 1/2. Once they moved it up an hour, the show began running longer -- which the producers love, because they can sell more ad time. And a big thing that's made the show run longer is the length of commercials. In the 60s, ads took up barely 10 minutes of each hour; now they're close to 20.

[criddic3]

It may be a bit too early for proper Oscar predictions but since they announce this around June/July, it isn't too early to speculate who will be this year's honorary awards recipients. In recent years, it seems they're no longer averse to giving the honorary awards to people who are young-ish and/or still active.

Any other ideas?

I un-ironically submit Arnold Schwarzenegger for an Honorary Oscar.
He's been in the business for over 50 years. His movies have made billions of dollars at the box-office. His acting skills have been rather underrated, actually.
Good at light comedy, and his dramatic performance in Maggie (2015) was well-received. A Golden Globe winner for Stay Hungry (1976) and a nominee for Junior (1994). I think his contributions to film entertainment are worthy of consideration.

Another actor I think would be worthy is Billy Crystal. He has also been in the business a long time. An Emmy and Tony Award winner, as well as a three time Golden Globe nominee, Crystal has made numerous popular and critically acclaimed films as an actor, writer and director. Comedy doesn't often get rewarded by the Academy compared to dramas, so like Steve Martin before him I think this is where they could honor the 9-time Oscar host for his body of work.

Richard Gere is another actor who has been around since the 1970s, worked his way from being seen as a "pretty face" to a serious actor. A Golden Globe winner for Chicago (2002), numerous chances for the Academy to recognize his performances have been passed over. He could also be a Jean Hersolt Humanitarian recipient for his work for peace on behalf of Tibet, his work on AIDS awareness and environmental causes.

[Reza]

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

1937: Darryl F. Zanuck
1938: Hal B. Wallis
1939: David O. Selznick
1941: Walt Disney
1942: Sidney Franklin
1943: Hal B. Wallis
1944: Darryl F. Zanuck
1946: Samuel Goldwyn
1948: Jerry Wald
1950: Darryl F. Zanuck
1951: Arthur Freed
1952: Cecil B. DeMille
1953: George Stevens
1956: Buddy Adler
1958: Jack L. Warner
1961: Stanley Kramer
1963: Sam Spiegel
1965: William Wyler
1966: Robert Wise
1967: Alfred Hitchcock
1970: Ingmar Bergman
1973: Lawrence Weingarten
1975: Mervyn LeRoy
1976: Pandro S. Berman
1977: Walter Mirisch
1979: Ray Stark
1981: Albert R. Broccoli
1986: Steven Spielberg
1987: Billy Wilder
1990: David Brown & Richard D. Zanuck
1991: George Lucas
1994: Clint Eastwood
1996: Saul Zaentz
1998: Norman Jewison
1999: Warren Beatty
2000: Dino De Laurentiis

[Reza]

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

1956: Y. Frank Freeman
1957: Samuel Goldwyn
1959: Bob Hope
1960: Sol Lesser
1961: George Seaton
1962: Steve Broidy
1965: Edmond L. DePatie
1966: George Bagnall
1967: Gregory Peck
1968: Martha Raye
1969: George Jessel
1970: Frank Sinatra
1972: Rosalind Russell
1973: Lew Wasserman
1974: Arthur B. Krim
1975: Jules C. Stein
1977: Charlton Heston
1978: Leo Jaffe
1979: Robert Benjamin
1981: Danny Kaye
1982: Walter Mirisch
1983: M. J. Frankovich
1984: David L. Wolper
1985: Charles "Buddy" Rogers
1989: Howard W. Koch
1992: Audrey Hepburn & Elizabeth Taylor
1993: Paul Newman
1994: Quincy Jones
2001: Arthur Hiller
2004: Roger Mayer
2006: Sherry Lansing
2008: Jerry Lewis

[Reza]

List of Honorary Oscars before the Governors Awards:

1927/28
Charles Chaplin for The Circus
Warner Bros for The Jazz Singer - first talkie

1931/32
Walt Disney for Mickey Mouse

1934
Shirley Temple

1935
D.W. Griffith

1936
W. Howard Greene & Harold Rosson for the colour cinematography in The Garden of Allah

1937
Edgar Bergen
W. Howard Greene for the colour cinematography in A Star is Born
Mack Sennett

1938
Walt Disney for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Deanna Durbin
Mickey Rooney
The team who created the effects in Spawn of the North
Oliver T. Marsh and Allen Davey for the colour cinematography in Sweethearts

1939
Douglas Fairbanks
Judy Garland
William Cameron Menzies for use of colour in Gone With the Wind

1940
Bob Hope - silver plaque

1941
Walt Disney, William Garity, John N. A. Hawkins, and the RCA Manufacturing Company for creatind sound quality in Fantasia

Leopold Stokowski and his associates for visualized music in Fantasia

1942
Charles Boyer for establishing the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles

Noël Coward for In Which We Serve

1943
George Pal

1944
Margaret O'Brien
Bob Hope

1945
Walter Wanger
Peggy Ann Garner

1946
Harold Russell for bringing hope and courage to veterans through his appearance in Best Years of Our Lives
Claude Jarman Jr
Ernst Lubitsch
Laurence Olivier for bringing Henry V to the screen

1947
James Baskett for playing Uncle Remus in Song of the South
Shoe Shine (Italy)

1948
Monsieur Vincent (France)
Walter Wanger for producing Joan of Arc
Sid Grauman
Adolph Zukor
Ivan Jandl for The Search

1949
Bobby Driscoll
Walter Wanger
Jean Hersholt
Fred Astaire
Cecil B. DeMille
The Bicycle Thief (Italy)

1950
Louis B. Mayer
George Murphy
The Walls of Malapaga (France)

1951
Gene Kelly
Rashomon (Japan)

1952
Merian C. Cooper
Bob Hope
Harold Lloyd
Joseph M. Schenck
George Mitchell for development of a camera
Forbidden Games (France)

1954
Danny Kaye
Greta Garbo
Jon Whiteley for The Little Kidnappers
Vincent Winter for The Little Kidnappers
Gate of Hell (Japan)

1955
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (Japan)

1956
Eddie Cantor

1957
Broncho Billy Anderson
Charles Brackett
B. B. Kahane

1958
Maurice Chevalier

1959
Lee de Forest for innovation in sound
Buster Keaton

1960
Hayley Mills for Pollyanna
Gary Cooper
Stan Laurel

1961
Jerome Robbins for choreography

1964
William J. Tuttle for make-up for 7 Faces of Dr. Lao

1965
Bob Hope - gold medal

1966
Yakima Canutt
Y. Frank Freeman

1967
Arthur Freed

1968
John Chambers for make-up in Planet of the Apes
Onna White for choreography in Oliver!

1969
Cary Grant

1970
Lillian Gish
Orson Welles

1971
Charles Chaplin

1972
Edward G. Robinson

1973
Henri Langlois
Groucho Marx

1974
Howard Hawks
Jean Renoir

1975
Mary Pickford

1977
Margaret Booth

1978
Walter Lantz
Laurence Olivier
King Vidor

1979
Alec Guinness

1980
Henry Fonda

1981
Barbara Stanwyck

1982
Mickey Rooney

1983
Hal Roach

1984
James Stewart

1985
Paul Newman
Alex North

1986
Ralph Bellamy

1989
Akira Kurosawa

1990
Myrna Loy
Sophia Loren

1991
Satyajit Ray

1992
Federico Fellini

1993
Deborah Kerr

1994
Michelangelo Antonioni

1995
Kirk Douglas
Chuck Jones

1996
Michael Kidd

1997
Stanley Donen

1998
Elia Kazan

1999
Andrzej Wajda

2000
Jack Cardiff
Ernest Lehman

2001
Sidney Poitier
Robert Redford

2002
Peter O'Toole

2003
Blake Edwards

2004
Sidney Lumet

2005
Robert Altman

2006
Ennio Morricone

2007
Robert F. Boyle

2008 & onwards - The Governors awards

[Big Magilla]

Genuine question: when you compare the length of time a host like Bob Hope takes vs Jimmy Kimmel, is it genuinely that much different?

Probably not, but the whole production number that goes along with the host's opening monologue before the first award is handed out takes more time than it did in Bob Hope's day, and that was before the introduction of the In Memoriam segment.

[Okri]

Genuine question: when you compare the length of time a host like Bob Hope takes vs Jimmy Kimmel, is it genuinely that much different?

[Reza]

I think the host's silly never ending opening banter is to please the youthful tv audience who would probably rather listen to a stand-up comic-like banter than look out for old stars - most of whom they probably don't even recognise or know of anyway. Its only actors in the Marvel series (or stars on new tv shows) that would interest most viewers. The only reason a doddery old actor like Harrison Ford would get recognised today is because of the never ending series of Star Wars films. Sadly most young viewers today have no clue about films before 2000 unless it was one of the Batman or Superman franchise.

[Big Magilla]

I don't remember that happening with the honorary awards although I do recall it happening once or twice with the scientific awards.

They waste a lot of time at the Oscars with nonsense like selfies with the host, wandering tourists, and this year, drinks for the attendees. Worst of all, the opening sequences are boring and interminable, followed by the host roasting not toasting, the nominees. All of that should be cut with the host, whoever they are, coming out, saying something like "Good evening, it's nice to see you all. We've got quite a show, so let's get started."

If that did that, they might have time for an extended, more dignified memoriam sequence and room for a recap of the honorary awards that lasts at least a minute for each of the honorees, followed by the bows.

[anonymous1980]

I agree that these honorees should be given more time at the main Oscar ceremony. They could create and show a short film demonstrating—with clips,etc.—why the awards are deserved.

They used to do that in the first couple of years, I think. Then it devolved into just mentioning it on the telecast and telling people to just check out their acceptance speeches on YouTube.

There are advantages to the separate telecast: they can honor more people who are unknown to the general public like craftspeople and people like Kevin Brownlow and Michelle Satter and there’s no time limit to their acceptance speeches.

But I do agree they really should devote more time to it on the telecast and entice more people to see their presentations on YouTube.

[danfrank]

Wim Wenders would also be a good choice

Agreed!

[mlrg]

Wim Wenders would also be a good choice

[danfrank]

Yes, thanks for posting those, Reza. Mostly solid choices, I would say, with a smattering of questionable ones. I think Donald Sutherland was an excellent choice, as he is the kind of highly skilled actor who hasn’t won that many awards (I still think he should have been nominated for Ordinary People), but has often given really beautiful performances.

I agree that these honorees should be given more time at the main Oscar ceremony. They could create and show a short film demonstrating—with clips,etc.—why the awards are deserved.

[Big Magilla]

How about Willem Dafoe? I know he’s very active and could get nominated again, but if it’s limited to retired actors it really limits the pool.

It's not limited to retired actors, but the reason most of the awards go to retired actors or those who hardly work anymore is because the thought is that they may not have much time left, whereas working actors are presumed to have many more chances of being honored in the future.

Thank you, Reza, for the list of recipients of the last fourteen years. I'd forgotten most of the non-actors who were honored. It's interesting that there have only been three Thalberg awards given in all that time, and both in years when the Hersholt wasn't given out. There were two years in succession when neither was given. Perhaps it will be Thalberg again this year instead of the Hersholt.

I agree with Tee that the shunting off of the recipients to, at best, a wave from a box seat at the Oscars is appalling. It's no wonder so few of them deign to show up. It might be more appropriate to show a brief clip of their acceptance speeches to give the Oscar audience a brief idea of why they were honored and then have the ones who are there take a bow. Without that, the award has no meaning other than to think that it's nice that a Maureen O'Hara or Angela Lansbury at long last had received one.