Intro for March 16, 2026

Dear Gossips,

The 98^th Academy Awards were last night, thus concluding the (rather interminable) 2025 awards season. As we suspected, even if we hoped differently, One Battle After Another walked away the big winner, though Sinners hardly went home empty-handed. More on that later, though. For now, let’s talk about the show, which was hosted by Conan O’Brien in his sophomore outing. Once again, he delivered, providing humor and a palpable love of movies at the show.

As a host, Conan was more confident this time around, obviously knowing better what to expect from the evening. His monologue was solid, ending on a sincere recognition of the global, collaborative, and optimistic nature of contemporary cinema. He took potshots at everyone from Timothée Chalamet to Netflix exec Ted Sarandos, but some of his best jokes came at the expense of AI. He had some great pre-taped bits mocking AI and YouTube ads interrupting the 2029 simulcast, when the Oscars move to a digital home, but of course, those videos aren’t online yet. What is available is Conan’s joke to reach younger viewers with a “Subway Surfers” video.

So, obviously, if we’re joking about it at the Oscars, social media videos of kids narrating to game footage is a dead format. But it is a good joke, mostly because Conan’s brand cheese is perfect for a middle-aged man trying to horn in on youth culture. Conan’s strongest material was that which required prep—as is the case for other live shows, like SNL—but he also did his best to smooth over some awkward moments, because while HE did a good job as an emcee, there were some rough patches. The sound, for instance, was horrible all night, which is weird because the Oscars have been held in the Dolby Theater for years, you’d think they’d have a production bloc like sound down pat. But it was a problem all night, with many presenters’ voices buried under a bad mix.

Then there were the numerous instances of winners getting cut off mid-speech—no one who actually likes the Oscars is going to miss that when the show moves to YouTube. And sure, the show ran long (three hours, forty-five minutes), but for those of us who LIKE the Oscars, that is not and never has been the problem. Not allowing winners to finish their speeches IS a problem, but at least they didn’t do an obnoxious gimmick to “encourage” people to keep their speeches short. Also, the other side of the sound coin is that when Javier Bardem said, “Free Palestine,” with his whole chest—while wearing a large patch on his suit that read “No a la Guerra” and a Palestine pin—the Oscars and ABC didn’t censor him. Unlike many other awards shows, they let the statement stand.

Remember Javier Bardem is the cinema's most terrifying villain. That was Anton Chigurh saying 'Free Palestine.'

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) March 16, 2026

But probably the hardest piece of the show to approach this year was the In Memoriam segment. I said to someone last week it was going to be rough because we lost so many legends and beloved figures in 2025, and that is true. But it was also an especially tough segment because of the violent deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner. Billy Crystal spoke in remembrance of the Reiners, joined on stage by actors from some of his most beloved films, and it was a genuinely moving moment.

But the In Memoriam did not let up. Rachel McAdams also came on stage to honor a pair of actresses: her fellow Canadian Catherine O’Hara, and her Family Stone co-star Diane Keaton. This was also a lovely tribute, and it is beside the point, but that is a spectacular dress on McAdams.

And STILL the In Memoriam did not stop, as Barbra Streisand showed up to honor the late Robert Redford. She spoke, and sang, and here the sound trouble raised its head, because we should not be struggling to hear Babs when she is paying tribute to a friend and collaborator, though it was still a moving tribute.

Putting together the In Memoriam was rough this year—I heard that directly from multiple people writing for Conan—but it came together beautifully, even with technical difficulties. And for anyone wondering where James Van Der Beek was, he is best known for his TV work. Besides opening the In Memoriam at the SAG Actor Awards, he will undoubtedly be included at the Emmys later this year.

It feels like, just as they’re preparing for the Oscars to leave linear TV, networks finally decided that the show can just be what it is—a pageant for the movies that will always run long. I wonder what the effect would have been if they spent less time chasing audiences who never cared and just let the Oscars be itself for so many years, but at least we’ve come full circle, to a long-ass show that celebrates movies and the people who make them. As long as they’re famous, anyway. All you nobodies better get off stage right now!

Live long and gossip,

Sarah