Posted on 03/21/2003 9:09:42 AM PST by RonDog
Academy says Oscar show still a goInsiders laugh
at rumors of cancellation, postponement
A worker dismantles red drapes that adorned the Academy Awards red carpet arrival area along Hollywood Boulevard on Tuesday.By Nicole Laporte
and Timothy M. GrayHOLLYWOOD, March 21 The gang will all be there on Sunday, according to Oscar insiders. Rampant speculation on Thursday painted a portrait of a hemorrhaging Oscar show, but honchos at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences laughed off most of the rumors. Despite talk of a wave of defections, most of the participants presenters as well as nominees have called to confirm their attendance, academy executives said...
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.com ...
If you have not done so yet, please send me a PRIVATE message to get on our "last minute" Oscar rally UPDATE list.
A huge rally surrounding this imminent gathering of America-hating Hollywood @ssholes.
Oscar Security Working Overtime [FReeper HELP needed: "Rally for America" at the Academy Awards]
E! Online (Entertainment Television) ^ | March 14, 2003 | Josh Grossberg [and RonDog]
Posted on 03/14/2003 10:19 PM PST by RonDog
Oscar Security Working Overtime
by Josh Grossberg
Mar 14, 2003, 2:00 PM PT
Fear not, Oscar fans, your favorite little golden guy has got plenty of protection this year.
Due to concerns over an impending U.S. war with Iraq and a heightened terrorist threat, security has been stepped up tremendously this year for the 75th Anniversary Academy Awards, set for March 23 at Hollywood's Kodak Theater.
And like last year's post 9-11 shindig, those lucky enough to attend should expect even more street closures, metal detectors, bodyguards and a beefed up security force that will even include an FBI contingent to get everybody in a partyin' mood...CLICK HERE for the rest of the thread
Need any more be said?
May an affirmative action seated B-52 crew set their Directional Gyro 180 degrees out and drop their Baghdad load right in Bab's lap.
Breaking News: The Marines have landed and the situation is well in hand!
Los Angeles- US Marines have taken the Kodak Theater, assuring there will not be any anti-war speeches at the Oscar Awards...
Film at 11
ABC, TV Industry Ask Must the Oscar Show Go On?If the DO cancel (or postpone) - this would be a GREAT "dress rehearsal" for the NEXT time.
Thu March 20, 2003 05:43 PM ET
By Ben BerkowitzLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - For the ABC network, it is a nearly-unprecedented dilemma: go to 24-hour-a-day, commercial-free news coverage of the war with Iraq or stick with plans to air the highly lucrative Academy Awards on Sunday night as scheduled?That was the question on Thursday, as the war moved slowly through its first day, with the anticipation among many that the big push that the U.S. military has been promising would come within the next two days.
And the answer, at least according to a number of people who are closely involved with TV and the television industry, is that a brief delay in the show couldn't hurt anybody and might actually seem like the right thing to do.
"The Academy (of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) and ABC have to tread really cautiously," said J. Max Robbins, a senior editor at TV Guide magazine. "People in the industry are really struggling with this."
ABC is scheduled to broadcast the Oscars live on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. EST and the show's producers have already said they expect it to run its full, usual 3 1/2 hours.
But earlier this week, they canceled the traditional "red carpet" celebrity entrances before the show, opting instead for more muted arrivals without the glitz and glamour or the chance for a reporter to ask a frivolous or tough question.
ABC has already indefinitely postponed Barbara Walters' post-Oscar interview show, which has been going on for 22 years.
"We are proceeding and obviously are monitoring the situation on a moment-by-moment basis," ABC spokesman Kevin Brockman told Reuters. But he said as of Thursday morning the status quo, that the show would go on, remained.
MONEY NOT THE KEY
"The Oscars have had weeks to consider what's happening ... and now they have even more information," Bryce Zabel, the chief executive of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, told Reuters. "They can make a much more informed decision about what they think Sunday will be like."
Zabel knows something about postponed awards -- his organization puts on TV's annual Emmy Awards, which had to be postponed twice in late 2001, once after the Sept. 11 attacks and again when the U.S. began its bombing campaign in Afghanistan the same day as the rescheduled show.
But Zabel said he thought that, as in his situation, money would not be a significant factor in deciding whether or not to go ahead with the show.
"The networks probably aren't planning to make the same money they would have made anyway," he said.
The live Oscar telecast is one of TV's biggest nights, ranking only behind professional football's Super Bowl in terms of advertising potential. Last year's show drew 42 million U.S. viewers. Ad spots for this year's show sold for between $1.3 million and $1.45 million for 30-second slots.
Some industry experts said that if nothing else, it might seem distasteful to carry on with the awards.
"It's pretty close, and there simply may be a little taste issue (in) that you're having this almost hedonistic display of self-congratulation of the entertainment industry when the smoke hasn't cleared from the first missiles," Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, told Reuters.
But beyond the issue of taste, Thompson said there could be some more practical concerns in airing the show, which the network typically turns into a high-profile showcase.
"You want your Oscar story to be front page news; if you do it Sunday the only front page news will be 'Should they have played the Oscars last night?"' Thompson said.
But TV Guide's Robbins said the fact the network and the Academy needed to proceed cautiously did not mean that they had to scrap the show entirely.
"At this point I don't know if there's a reason to postpone it," he said.
Besides, OUR rally fits right in with current actions to liberate Iraq.
Last changed: March 21. 2003 3:54PMWORST case, if they cancel the Oscars, we may suggest that people start arriving at a later time.
Oscars will go on but organizers keeping 'options open'
By DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie WriterThe Academy Awards will go on despite the war in Iraq and only extraordinary circumstances might force organizers to postpone the show or yank it off television, Oscar planners said Friday.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences President Frank Pierson said he would not speculate under what conditions Sunday's show might be postponed.
"As you saw on the last two nights the situation is so unpredictable that we want, like the president himself, to keep our options open and to be flexible. So I'm not going to speculate under what conditions we might or might not postpone," Pierson said.
The 75th Oscars are scheduled to be broadcast live by ABC from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
Earlier this week, with war looming, organizers canceled the splashy red-carpet arrivals of celebrities. Since then Iraq has come under bombardment and U.S. and British troops have been killed.
"We are not concerned about our security," Pierson told a news conference outside the theater.
"But we are most certainly concerned about the feelings of our audiences at home and abroad and of the members of the academy. We will be watching what is happening hour by hour, and in the meantime, all of our crew, nominees, presenters and past Oscar winners, Steve Martin, our host, are all here and preparing like us for Sunday night," Pierson said.
Telecast producer Gil Cates said he wanted to quash rampant speculation.
"You know, there have been more rumors flying around about the Academy Awards the last couple of days than I think have been flying around about what's happening in Iraq. Maybe it just seems that way to me, but I'd like to settle some of them right away," he said.
Cates said stars are not dropping out any more dramatically than in any other year, and he knew of only one or two "who have opted not to come because of the Iraq war."
Cates denied what he called "the dopiest rumor of the week" - that the White House supposedly asked that the show be postponed. "They have more important things to do than that," he said.
The entertainment industry's glitzy awards shows have been impacted several times since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the start of the nation's war on terrorism.
The Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences canceled its Sept. 11, 2001, Latin Grammys show. The winners were later named in a simple press conference at a nightclub.
Television's Emmy Awards were delayed twice in 2001, initially because the program was scheduled just a few days after the terrorist attacks, and then because the rescheduled date coincided with the start of the U.S. and British attack on Afghanistan's Taliban government.
A toned-down Emmy show finally aired in November. Celebrities wore business attire rather than evening gowns and tuxedos.
The Oscars were delayed for one day in 1981 because the event was scheduled the day President Reagan was shot. The assassination of civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 pushed the ceremony back two days. Massive flooding in Los Angeles delayed the Oscars by a week in 1938.
The ceremony went on throughout World War II but on a less-ostentatious level.
YES Oscars - "Commandos" arrive at 10 am, everybody else arrives at 1 pm - if possible.EITHER WAY, I have reservations for a BIG crowd at the restaurant at the Holiday Inn on Highland, just north of Franklin - for our post-rally party Sunday evening!
NO Oscars - We ALL arrive at 1 pm.
Ron, please go to www.grassfire.net to see the huge billboard that they placed next to the Kodak theater.EXCELLENT, Hila!It reads "Dear Hollywood, GET THE PICTURE! America supports Bush."
From www.grassfire.net:Grassfire team sends strong message to
Hollywood to "Get The Picture!"
Located 1/2 block North of
Hollywood Blvd and N. Highland Ave
This giant billboard is located adjacent to the Kodak Theatre
where the Academy Awards are being held in Hollywood
a great reminder that the vast majority of Americans
support our President and our troops!
Where's the VX nerve gas when you need it.
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