The Academy Has Common Sense After All, Will Present All 24 Categories Live

Something John Bailey forgot about The Oscars

With the seal cracked on the single digits countdown (nine days to go!), things should be in place for The Academy Awards, right? People have turned in their ballots and now everyone is tallying up scores. If you're like me, you'll enjoy reading anonymous voter articles. However, what makes the Class of 2019 all the more impressive is that even this close to the air date things are once again changing. At the beginning of this week, Academy president John Bailey shot himself in the foot once again by suggesting that four categories would not be presented at the ceremony. Before diving into the responses, one had to ask "What did you expect?" The decision was met with universal ridicule and in one moment of rare clairvoyance Bailey decided to reverse his order. Good news everyone, The Oscars are presenting every category on the air! Consider this a victory in a year without too many. 

The Academy Awards to Go Forward With No Host for the First Time Since 1989

In the almost year since last year's Academy Awards ceremony, the Oscars has gone from being an institution recognizing a promising and new direction with its first sci-fi Best Picture winner (The Shape of Water) to a familiar chaos not seen since the infamous Oscars So White controversy. In that time, they have attempted to evolve in a way that's more appealing to audiences, if just to draw in a bigger audience. After a lot of trying and countless setbacks, the Oscars are going to do something rare. They're going to go without a host for only the second time in their 91 years and the first in 30 years. Speaking as there's less than 50 days to go, it does seem likely that this is how things will play out, and it's only a reflection of how big of a mess things are right now.

Kevin Hart Backs Out of Oscar Hosting, Nobody's Replacing Him, So... What's Going On?

There's of course the old adage that news travels fast. Last week The Academy announced that comedian Kevin Hart was scheduled to host this year's upcoming ceremony. It seemed fair enough, given that Hart was a trendy comedian who could draw in that audience that The Academy was clearly going for. However, the news wasn't even hours old when the tides began to turn and suddenly Hart was out due to homophobic comments, leaving the question as to who is hosting up in the air. In what has become one of the messiest years since the inaugural Oscars So White debacle, there's now comment that The Academy will replace Hart with... no one. It's not something that's really happened all that much (and there's a good chance that this will be old news by publication), though it does exemplify the identity crisis that they currently face: who deserves to be at The Academy Awards? Who deserves to win? In 2018, it seems like that question is about more than just personal conduct.

Kevin Hart Announced as Academy Awards Host for 2019

Kevin Hart

With less than a month until 2018 closes its doors, it does seem strange that there hasn't been an Oscar host announced yet. Following a two year run by Jimmy Kimmel, there was a lot of concern over who would take the position. This year has had a lot of interesting themes, including the prediction that Black Panther will become the first superhero film nominated for Best Picture, and that The Academy is in desperate need for more viewers to the point of temporarily announcing a Best Popular Film category that was quickly reviled. So, who do you get that could appeal to those audiences who probably have yet to see this year's big contenders? Yesterday, The Academy announced that comedian Kevin Hart will be hosting. As with every new host, it only feels right of looking forward to what he has to offer by guessing just what he'll bring to the position.