Oscars Followup

A few follow-up notes on last night's Oscars.

- The Sci-Tech presenter who I couldn't identify was Elizabeth Banks of "W" and "Zack and Miri."

- Final running time this year was three hours and thirty-two minutes, about normal. There were several issues with the format toward the end of the show, however, that seriously slowed things down. I'm not surprised by all the kvetching from the press this morning.

And apparently there were a few controversies I didn't catch during the broadcast.

- The honorary Oscars were banished to a separate ceremony, so Lauren Bacall and Roger Corman were denied screentime. I think it's a shame, but if time cuts have to be made, I'd rather it were the non-competitive awards. Leave the tribute shows to AFI and the Kennedy Center Honors, who do them far better and more comprehensively.

- I saw the Documentary Short acceptance speech snafu between the dueling producers, but figured it was a case of overexcited winners accidentally tripping over each other's lines at the time. I'm surprised that there was serious animosity fueling it, though I suppose I shouldn't be with all the politicking around the awards these days.

- Farrah Fawcett was omitted from the In Memoriam segment. They always leave someone out. There are rules, but there are exceptions. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Does anyone remember Fawcett for her films? At least with Michael Jackson there was "The Wiz" and "Moonwalker."

I found the ceremony enjoyable, though this wasn't one of the better ones. The longer clips meant little breathing room, the hosts were mediocre, and removing the song numbers was canceled out by the dance sequence for Best Score.

And finally, please let Neil Patrick Harris host next year. If he's not too busy hosting everything else.