The Academy Awards begin at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is desperately hoping the ceremony will represent a return to normalcy – and perhaps lead to an increase in viewership.
The echo of Will Smith’s slap in the face of Chris Rock still resonates, but the Academy seems ready to move on. In addition to banishing Smith from the show for a decade, he replaced last year’s first producer, Will Packer, with the seasoned hands of veteran producer Glenn Weiss and fellow producer Ricky Kirshner. And for the first time in five years, the Oscars will have only one solo host: Jimmy Kimmel, returning for the third time.