Can the Oscar Show Be Saved? Sure, With a Little Help From Netflix (or Amazon, or HBO Max)

Benjamin Svetkey

Ratings are sinking. Academy members are revolting. ABC is (reportedly) meddling. But there’s a simple cure — cut the cord

Ben Svetkey
Can the Oscars Be Saved? Sure, with a Little Help from Netflix (Or Amazon, or HBOMax) (Credit: Brian Taylor)
Can the Oscars Be Saved? Sure, with a Little Help from Netflix (Or Amazon, or HBOMax) (illustration credit: Brian Taylor)
Ben Svetkey

Benjamin Svetkey

Veteran entertainment journalist Benjamin Svetkey shoots the breeze, raises a brow and sometimes wags a finger in his ruminations on the latest Hollywood news and controversies.

In case you missed the breaking news, the world is at war. Over the Oscars. 

Outraged Academy members were all but brandishing pitchforks and torches and marching on the Dolby Theatre after the announcement last week that eight below-the-line categories — production design, sound, and makeup and hairstyling, among them — would be taped ahead of the live broadcast, then edited and rolled into the show.

Several current nominees, including directors Steven Spielberg, Jane Campion and Denis Villeneuve, lobbed public attacks against the change.

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