Read TheWrap’s Complete Oscars 2011 Coverage
The nerds couldn't overthrow the royals at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.
In an awards show that was more a coronation than a competition, "The King's Speech" was named Best Picture over "The Social Network."
In the end, it seemed, the depiction of Facebook's formation was too cold a tale to pull off an Oscar coup against the inspirational story of a speech impaired king who finds his voice to lead a nation.
Read also: The Full List of Oscar Winners
"The King's Speech" went on to win four of the evening's top prizes including Best Director for Tom Hooper and Best Actor for Colin Firth.
"The Social Network" won three awards, but its highest honor was a Best Adapted Screenplay statue for Aaron Sorkin.
In all, despite having a pair of youthful and aesthetically gifted co-hosts in Anne Hathaway and James Franco, this year's telecast was chronically short on surprises.
The biggest shock was not the spectacle of Franco dressed up as Marilyn Monroe, but an inadvertent F-bomb dropped by Melissa Leo while she was accepting Best Supporting Actress for "The Fighter."
See also: Fashion, Film & Fun on Oscar's Red Carpet (slideshow)
Firth's win was wholly expected, as was Natalie Portman's victory in the Best Actress category for her role as a demented ballerina in "Black Swan."
"I have a feeling my career's just peaked," Firth joked.
The English star went on to praise his fellow nominees, screenwriter David Seidler and director Tom Hooper. He also expressed his gratitude to Tom Ford -- the fashion designer and film director who guided Firth to his first nomination last year for "A Single Man."
Like Firth, Portman had ample practice delivering acceptance speeches this awards season, having already picked up a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild prize.
In addition to her director Darren Aronofsky, Portman thanked: "Everyone who has ever hired me."
Closing with a shout out to "My family, my friends and my love."
The supporting acting Oscars were monopolized by "The Fighter."
Heavily favored Christian Bale picked up an award for his performance as a drug addicted former boxer in "The Fighter."
Accepting his statue, Bale poked fun at co-star Leo, who tested the censors when accepting her own Oscar earlier in the evening.
"Melissa, I'm not going to drop the F-bomb like she did, I've done that plenty before," Bale said.
The Welsh actor went on to thank director David O. Russell and the real life inspiration for his role Dicky Eklund, before forgetting his wife's name.
Leo had dominated earlier awards shows, making her obscenity more surprising than her victory for her role as a tough-talking, big haired mother.
"I'm just shaking in my boots here," Leo said, before putting the telecast's tape delay to good use by shouting the offending word to express her delight.
