I don’t recall ever watching an Academy Awards show back when I had a TV. I can’t imagine watching people patting themselves on the back about what a good job they did even before each speech became an attack on Republicans. I’d rather go to the dentist.
I remember my parents watching them back when the family's good (read: ONLY) television set was a black & white portable TV with rabbit ears, and I hated them on an annual basis. Mom and dad weren't much for movies anyway, so it struck me as an odd waste of time, made worse by these narcissistic "big events" being not only boring, but seemingly interminable.
"Oh, the pain... the pain..."
“patting themselves on the back about what a good job they did”
Oh, thats not all they get my friend. You familiar with the “swag bag”?
http://time.com/money/5179056/oscars-gift-bag-2018/
I was always a movie buff and used to watch the Oscars to get a glimpse of the stars and to see clips from the nominated films. That was before home video. You saw a movie at the theater, and would not see it again unless it was sold to network television or re-released in theaters. I also used to collect soundtrack albums of my favorite films. That was why I used to like to watch the Oscars, to see brief glimpses of the best movies.
I began to lose interest in those things when home video started with the first VCRs in the late 70's. I no longer collected soundtracks as a reminder of a film when I could record or buy a copy of said film. Seeing clips on an awards show or a talk show lost their appeal.
Now that Hollywood no longer produces a product that interests me, and now that awards shows have turned into incessant GOP-bashing, I cannot imagine ever watching one again.