Another Opening, Another Show

I didn't have a burning interest in watching the broadcast this year, and as always I recorded it and fast-forwarded through.  I watched the 3-1/2 hour broadcast a little quicker than usual -- generally it takes me about two hours, though on occasion 2-1/2 -- this time finishing in about 90 minutes.  Without going into any details, just because, well, as I said I didn't have a burning interest, I was intrigued by the results.  They weren’t all my choices, but for the most part they were perfectly defensible.  And it sure made a fascinating bit of history. 

As for the show itself, what little I saw of the banter before presenting awards I thought was fairly amusing and better then usual.  The standouts for me were James Corden and Rebel Wilson willing to be totally self-effacing on knowing the importance of special effects, Tina Fey and Will Ferrell explaining their deep understanding of movie making, and Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig going...well, looney, though for my taste, fun as they were, I thought it went on a bit too long since there are nominees for that category on the edge of their seats.

What I will include is the opening bit from Steven Martin and Chris Rock.  Every joke didn't work, but I found it very funny overall.  What I particularly liked about their performance is that they made no pretense about how they were “really chatting.”  It was very mannered, but intentionally so and with an effortlessness that only comedy pros can pull off.