It’s a refrain heard every year around this time: *This* Oscars telecast will be different. And yet. Somehow the changes never seem exactly... earthshaking. Here’s a look back at the last few attempts to tweak the formula.
2004:
-Veteran host Billy Crystal comes back for 8th time
-5-second delay implemented to block unlikely profanity or nudity after Janet Jackson bared her breast a month earlier at Super Bowl
-First Oscar-tie in at Blockbuster video stores and a promotional campaign including $2 million in advertising on cable TV
-Oprah Winfrey hosted two Academy-Award-themed TV shows and presented an Oscar film clip
-The show’s dance numbers were cut and replaced by bits by comedians like Will Ferrell and Ben Stiller
2005:
-To lure a younger, more diverse audience, non-PC comedian Chris Rock was brought in as the show’s host
-In an effort to speed the show along, all nominees were introduced on stage together for some categories while in others, the winner was announced from the theater aisles
2006:
-Jon Stewart becomes host in yet another effort to attract the young, hip demographic
-Producer Gil Cates says he wants “educational, enlightening” show with a political edge, due to the number of nominated films touching on political matters
2007:
-Ellen DeGeneres hosts as the show tries to ditch the edge and embrace the warm, mainstream audience
-“Thank-you cam” is posted backstage for winners to give their additional thanks live on the web via a streaming camera
2008:
-Jon Stewart hosts again
-Not many changes promised because of Writer’s Strike, which only allowed preparations for the show to go into full swing a few weeks before the Oscars aired
