Shortz: How Do We Fix The Oscars

It seems like every year, the Oscars get less watchable. This was a ceremony I used to get pretty excited about as someone who loves celebrating achievements in film, but lately it's held very little interest for me outside of a few choice awards for movies I already liked. Aside from some pretty intense controversy this year, the Oscars were yet again a boring, plodding, and painfully unfunny affair.

So how do we fix the Oscars? Well if anyone even cares enough to do that at this point, I have a few thoughts:

- Get rid of the comedians. It's almost never been funny, and this year was no different. At best, it's painfully awkward as the camera pans over to audience members humoring the bad jokes and cringe worthy skits with forced smiles and half-assed applause. At worst...well I think we've all seen plenty.

- The Oscars are a celebration of all things film, so let's celebrate the people who help make movies happen in a way that will also allow for "fan favorite" movies to get their moments to shine. We need more categories; Best stunt work or best ensemble cast are easy picks that come to mind, and they open up a wide range of possibilities for less "academy-minded" movies.

- Stop trying to get blockbuster audiences involved in stupid ways. A movie can and should stand on its own merits, and trying to add these "fan favorite" movies in their own offshoot categories is condescending and leads to some really hilarious outcomes ('Army of the Dead' was the fan favorite of 2021? In the year 'Spiderman: No Way Home' and 'Dune' came out? Really?).

In short, keep it simple, stupid.