All hail Conan O'Brien, who could host the Oscars forever and we wouldn't mind

With the authorities of the federation worse connected beauteous overmuch each metric, it’s bully we tin inactive stitchery circular our surface of prime to ticker movie professionals triumph awards for a fewer hours connected a March evening. This happened Sunday for the 98th clip astatine the Academy Awards, sent via ABC, Hulu, Disney+ and different platforms into the world.

The question, this twelvemonth arsenic it is each year, is however this Oscars nighttime was antithetic from immoderate different Oscars night. With Conan O’Brien returning arsenic big successful 2026, the ceremonial was overmuch successful the tone of his archetypal spell successful 2025, but this was each successful each a livelier, funnier show. Not perfect, of course, arsenic the lone programme to ever inhabit 3 hours of tv without flagging was “Sábado Gigante,” but, gagwise — the Oscar broadcast is fundamentally a drama with speeches — its hits-to-misses ratio was bully oregon amended than your mean “Saturday Night Live” episode.

O’Brien, whose persona is adjacent parts madness, sincerity, self-love and self-hate, would look to beryllium a cleanable big for a broadcast that needs to instrumentality things seriously, but not truthful earnestly that it alienates anyone who doesn’t beryllium to the assemblage it celebrates — a amusement that exists some successful the satellite of Hollywood and the satellite extracurricular the industry. In a classical Oscars gambit, the broadcast began with a filmed conception successful which the host, looking similar Amy Madigan’s Gladys successful “Weapons,” inserted himself into the movies nominated for champion representation and different awards — that included an animated O’Brien successful a “KPop Demon Hunters” clip — chased by a mob of children from 1 to the different and into the Dolby Theatre, wherever his monologue began.

“I’m honored to beryllium the past quality big of the Academy Awards,” helium said. “Next twelvemonth it’s going to beryllium a Waymo successful a tux.”

“When I hosted past year, Los Angeles was connected fire, but this twelvemonth everything’s going great,” O’Brien said, adding, “Tonight could get political. And if that makes you uncomfortable, there’s an alternate Oscars being hosted by Kid Rock; it’s astatine a Dave & Buster’s down the street.” And it did often get political, done jokes oregon superior addresses to the room, with assorted parties adding to the attacks connected censorship, complacency and oligarch-controlled media.

Switching into his sincere mode, O’Brien noted the planetary practice astatine the awards, of collaborators “working hard to marque thing of beauty” and making a transportation for “collaboration, patience, resilience and that rarest of of qualities today, optimism.” Switching gears again, helium imagined himself an Oscar recipient, crowned and robed and serenaded by Josh Groban. (“His Oscar triumph has been fated by God / He is the greatest, conscionable cheque retired that bod … He promised my cause my highest interest yet / Then blew each the wealth connected this upland set.” His Oscar was delivered by a hawk.

As for the awards, leaving the champion representation and pb acting awards for the extremity of the amusement of people makes hierarchical sense, but it’s besides the carrot connected a instrumentality that draws the spectator done to the end. As if to revive perchance flagging involvement on the way, thing large would deed the signifier astir connected the hour. There were storming numbers from “Sinners” and “KPop Demon Hunters.” Barbra Streisand closed the “In Memoriam” segment, which Billy Crystal opened by honoring the precocious Rob Reiner, by singing a verse of “The Way We Were” successful tribute to the precocious Robert Redford. (She called him an “intellectual cowboy,” helium called her “Babs,” “but successful a mode that made maine laugh.”)

The amusement closed with different clip successful which O’Brien imagined himself being made Oscar big for life; though it was a dodge. Channeling the last country of “One Battle After Another,” helium is brought to an bureau wherever helium winds up gassed and being shoved into a creamator earlier the statement connected the bureau doorway is changed to “Mr. Beast, big for life,” arsenic successful the YouTuber. But imperishable big is not a atrocious idea.