Looking back at the Oscar show

One week later, reading everyone's thoughts and reviews, I wanted to weigh in with a few thoughts of this year's show.

I'm tired of reading that this year's show was not edgy enough. That's a complaint if the Spirit Awards are too safe. This is the Oscars. This is a show everyone and their grandmother watches. Safe is what you are going to get. Their are elements within the show that can be pushed, but ultimately there are too many people to be pleased for edgy to work.

One element the show got right this year was the speeches. This has been a pet peeve of mine for years, and this year, the show finally let them breathe a little. It has been proved year after year: give the winners 30 seconds, and you get a list of names. Give them 45 seconds, and you get something clever in the speech. This year, speech after speech contained something entertaining.

Ellen DeGeneres started, well, terrible. Her monologue was not very good. But the rest of the night, with a drop in here and there, she was excellent. That's what a host should do.

Which brings me to the first change I would make. Let's get rid of the opening monologue. It adds nothing but time. It generally means 20-25 minutes before the first award. Kill it.

Imagine this next year, if the host walked out and said, "Welcome to the Oscars. And now, here's Jared Leto to present the first award for supporting actress." It would bring down the house.

The other option depends on the best song nominees. If one of the songs fits -- and Happy did this year -- just open with a song nominee that gets the night going with some energy.

It is also time to lose the montages. Chuck Workman used to do a beautiful job with different themes, but I am assuming given the drop in quality that he isn't doing the work anymore. Workman made it look easy. The past two years have decisively proved it isn't.

But I would not lose the In Memorium segment. It has become part of every award show, and at this point would be seen as a slap in the face to those who left us in the past year. I thought they did fine with it this year, and Bette Midler's performance after the list of names worked for me.

If I am producing, my focus would be on the past year. (In Mermorium therefore fits.) Drop the production numbers for films from the past. The production numbers should simply be the best song nominees. It should be said, the production on all four this year was exemplary.

Want to add a little more? Focus on the nominees. Show about 20 seconds of each editing nominee showing what they had to work with. Show what were special effects and how they were applied. Break down the soundtracks of the sound nominees. Truly celebrate the nominated work, instead of a film, however great, that is 75 years old.

It isn't rocket science. But with a little tweaking, I think what was a good show this year could be a great show.