Time to move Oscar noms announcement to primetime
My latest piece for print Variety: a call for sanity.
Yet once again, 5:38 a.m. Pacific time on Jan. 10 is exactly when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will begin revealing the nominees for the 85th edition, once more taking news of global interest and relegating it to where the sun don't shine.
The early wakeup call announcing the nominations for the Oscars or other awards shows -- once justified so the news could be trumpeted on the U.S. morning talkshows -- has long since become unnecessary.
So let me offer a different call -- a call to arms against pre-dawn insanity.
It's time to move the nominations announcement to primetime.
The logic is so obvious that I feel I shouldn't have to explain. Reason 1: 5:38 a.m. Reasons 2 through 100: 5:38 a.m. (Yes, it's 8:38 a.m. on the East Coast, but if AMPAS toppers want the Oscars to be the center of the universe, they should set their clock to their Hollywood home base, not Greenwich Village Mean Time.)
But to address the skeptics --
including some inside the Academy -- let's be clear that this isn't
just about a reporter wanting extra moments of shut-eye. It's about the
Academy doing itself a favor. ...
A native of Los Angeles raised by two parents and "Hill Street Blues," Jon Weisman ankled his scriptwriting career and began working for Variety in 2004, subsequently serving as associate editor of features and television reporter before becoming awards editor. He promises not to use this platform to retroactively campaign for Oscars for “The Misfits,” though he’d feel justified in doing so.
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