March 31, 1987|By BILL KELLEY, Television Writer
The 59th Annual Academy Awards may not have been the worst Oscar broadcast in television history, but it wasn`t for lack of trying. In fact, there were few things about ABC`s presentation of the awards that didn`t try viewers` patience.
This was an Oscar ceremony to turn the most passive armchair movie buff into an instant basketball fan. Viewers who switched over to the show`s head-to- head, Monday night competition -- CBS` broadcast of the NCAA basketball championship game -- at least were been rewarded with some excitement.
In contrast, the Academy Awards were dim, dull and unimaginative. But you`ve got to give the show one thing: it was consistent. It opened on a sour note -- literally -- with Telly Savalas, Pat Morita and Dom DeLuise warbling an ear-splitting, off-key medley about the best picture nominees, and rarely let up.
The show committed all the dreaded sins of Academy Awards broadcasts. It was vastly overlong (three awards given in the first 40 minutes -- only one, Dianne Wiest for supporting actress in Hannah and Her Sisters, of consequence). It was tediously predictable (the inevitable jab at evangelists Jim and Tammy Bakker was delivered by co-host Chevy Chase). And it was tasteless (actress Marleee Matlin, a deaf mute, handed out Platoon`s Oscar for best achievement in sound).
Every opportunity to build momentum, to pile one crowd-pleasing award upon another, was stunted. This year`s first time Oscar ceremony producer, Samuel Goldwyn Jr. -- who must take full blame for the debacle -- inexplicably followed the suspense of the supporting actor award (Michael Caine for Hannah and Her Sisters) with the program`s longest musical number.
In this sloppy revue, every nominee for best song was performed. And as if that didn`t drag things out enough, the routine was further lengthened by an interminable wraparound medley by Bernadette Peters.
Even when the technicians running the broadcast had a priceless moment placed in their laps, they blew it. A stellar example was their handling of the award for best actress.
The dark horse candidate for best actress was Matlin, for Children of a Lesser God. Adhering to Oscar tradition, last year`s winner for best actor, William Hurt, was presenter. Hurt was Matlin`s co-star in Children of a Lesser God. He is also her offscreen companion.
Matlin won -- to a chorus of delighted gasps from the audience -- ascended the stage, and delivered an emotion-filled acceptance speech through an interpreter. Then, as she left the podium for the waiting arms of Hurt, the camera abruptly cut away -- to a closeup of an unidentified member of the audience.
It would be virtually impossible for so many talented people to be involved, however briefly, in a 3 1/2-hour broadcast without a few bright moments shining through. There were a handful.
Steven Spielberg, this year`s recipient of the Irving G. Thalberg Award for an outstanding body of work, gave a surprisingly literate acceptance speech, imploring filmmakers and audiences ``to renew our romance with the word. Only a generation of readers will spawn a generation of writers.``
And Tom Hanks, star of Splash and other comedies, was merged onscreen with a specially animated Bugs Bunny, to bestow the Oscar for best animated short subject.
Overall, though, the program crept along at a snail`s pace. But it`s not as if we weren`t warned. Ten minutes into the program, Australian actor Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee), one of the broadcast`s co-hosts, smirked and told viewers, ``As a television show, it does tend to go slightly off the boil . . . especially when it gets into the third and fourth hour.``
The last time Oscar and the NCAA collided was in 1981. The next time it happens, viewers with vivid memories will know which choice to make.
