Sunday night’s 93rd Academy Awards on ABC drew the lowest TV ratings in the show’s history.
It also sparked debate among those who did tune in with its very different format that eliminated movie clips and nominated songs and ended with the best actor award instead of best picture.
And in an interview with Variety, ABC’s Rob Mills, executive VP of unscripted and alternative entertainment at Walt Disney Television, admitted ‘There was a lot of really great risks that some might view didn’t pay off.’
Joaquin Phoenix was left holding the envelope at the end of Sunday night’s Oscars as the final award of best actor went unexpectedly to the absent Anthony Hopkins
The biggest risk was the decision to change the order the Oscars were handed out.
Instead of ending the live telecast on a high note with the best picture announcement, it ended instead with a whimper when the absent Anthony Hopkins was named best actor for The Father.
In a seeming admission that the show’s producers had expected the late Chadwick Boseman to win, prompting an emotional speech from his widow Simone who was in attendance, Mills acknowledged: ‘It was not meant to end on somebody who was not present.’
The show’s producers had changed the running order to end the show with ‘best actor’ instead of ‘best picture’ as if they expected the late Chadwick Boseman to win, prompting an emotional speech from his widow Simone who was in attendance (pictured)
And ABC’s Rob Mills, executive VP of unscripted and alternative entertainment at Walt Disney Television, admitted to Variety: ‘It was not meant to end on somebody who was not present’
Boseman had been nominated for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, his final film before his death from cancer last August at age 43. The Oscar went instead to Anthony Hopkins for The Father
Hopkins, who is in his native Wales, issued a video on his Instagram Monday morning thanking the Academy for the Oscar, his second, and explaining that at 83, he hadn’t expected to win
Hopkins, who is in his native Wales, issued a video on his Instagram Monday morning thanking the Academy for the Oscar, his second, and explaining that at 83, he hadn’t expected to win.
Instead, he made history as the oldest recipient of the Best Actor Academy award.
Hopkins made sure to pay tribute to Boseman, who had been nominated for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, his final film before succumbing to cancer at 43 last August.
The biggest bright spark of the night, however, was also unscripted, but in a good way as it turns out.
The biggest bright spark of the 93rd Academy Awards was thanks to Glenn Close who, in another unexpected moment, got up and twerked to 80s funk hit Da Butt
The actress, 74, who was dressed in blue Armani, delighted viewers with her gyrating moves during a segment about Oscar-nominated songs
Close, who was nominated for her eighth Oscar but didn’t win, clearly had a blast and laughed heartily after entertaining the crowd
In a segment about nominated songs, Lil Res Howery asked Glenn Close if she could identify a track played by DJ Questlove and say if it had been nominated for an Oscar.
‘That’s Da Butt,’ the 74-year-old actress responded without missing a beat.
She then went on to deliver chapter and verse on the 80s funk hit and how it was from the 1988 Spike Lee movie School Daze.
The eight time Oscar nominee, who wore blue Armani, then surprised everyone by getting up and twerking to the beat on live television.
The clip instantly went viral with the Twitterverse agreeing that the veteran star had won the night with her gyrating moves.
Later Sunday, the LA Times had tweeted that the segment had been scripted.
But TV exec Mills insisted to Variety that Close had ad-libbed the moment with spectacular effect.
‘It was certainly something nobody expected,’ Mills said.
‘I mean, that was not in any rehearsal of it or anything. I think that, again, shows that she’s sort of game for anything.’
Even the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts & Sciences, were impressed, posting a GIF of the moment on their official Twitter
The Twitterverse agreed that the veteran star had won the night