Oscars 2014 date, time, TV channel and preview

Oscars 2014 date, time, TV channel and preview: Ellen DeGeneres takes her second turn hosting Hollywood’s biggest night as the Academy Awards are presented at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. A particularly strong year in movies has American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave and The Wolf of Wall Street competing for Best Picture. The Oscars telecast’s theme will be a tribute to heroes, and the ceremony will also include a 75th-anniversary tribute to The Wizard of Oz. ABC airs the 86th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 2, with The Oscars Red Carpet Live beginning at 7pm ET and the awards ceremony beginning at 8:30pm ET. Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars airs following local news (ET/CT) and at 10pm PT.

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Oscars-2014-dateThe movies might finally get the attention they deserve at this year’s Oscars ceremony.

After experimenting with tandem hosts (Steve Martin/Alec Baldwin in 2010, James Franco/Anne Hathaway in ’11) and fishing for the youth demo with the too-edgy-for-Oscar Seth MacFarlane last year, the Oscars will abandon gimmicks and go for the tried and true in Ellen DeGeneres, who previously hosted the show in 2007.

“I am so excited to be hosting the Oscars for the second time. You know what they say — the third time’s the charm,” she says.

During DeGeneres’ mostly well-received first hosting stint, she vacuumed the carpet in the front row, got Steven Spielberg to snap a photo of her with Clint Eastwood and handed a screenplay to Martin Scorsese in the audience.

Voted as America’s favorite TV personality in the Harris Poll for the second straight year, DeGeneres is a safe choice who will keep the proceedings light and fun. The affable talk-show host and living dance number will be more like a warm, cozy blanket for those in attendance and less like a sharp stick poking them with a reprise of “We Saw Your Boobs.”

Most importantly, in an exceptionally strong year for movies, DeGeneres seems like a host capable of stepping out of the way and letting the films and the talents behind them shine.

The Oscars telecast’s theme will be a tribute to heroes, with “big-screen real-life heroes, super heroes, popular heroes and animated heroes, both past and present, as well as the bold filmmakers who bring them to life” celebrated throughout, according to producers. The ceremony will also include a 75th-anniversary tribute to The Wizard of Oz.

 

Photo: © 2013 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Credit: Andrew Eccles

 

About Ryan Berenz 2166 Articles
Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.