Per usual, I watched most of the Oscars last night while alternately reading magazines, drinking wine, working on my taxes, using the bathroom during nearly all the sleep-inducing montages and power-napping through the categories I knew nothing about. 
I generally enjoy the Oscars despite the fact that they are always far too long, a marathon that might be a reasonable length if they cut merely half of the montages as well as the musical numbers. Regardless, the whole affair appears permanently coated with money, glitter, expensive fabrics, spray tans, and skin - a powerful combination that I can embrace from afar during viewing parties. 
The main problem I have with the entire event is the pre-show Red Carpet interviews. I loathe this portion, which typically airs as people are arriving at my loft and not yet drunk enough to laugh off the buffoonery. I don't mind watching people arrive, however, it's the interview charade that makes my skin crawl.
This is mainly a selfish view because I cannot stand watching some nitwit from E! asking celebrities questions which are often awkward, uninformed and vaguely insulting for 3 minutes at a stretch. The actor/actress in question attempts to look happy to be talking to anyone with a microphone without displaying utter contempt for being asked to perform like a circus animal.
At best, the exchange is innocuous, but usually, it is painful for everyone involved. I hate this nonsense with a passion, but my objections are nearly always overruled. The only decent thing that happened this year was when a crazed Gary Busey damn near assaulted Jennifer Garner while she talked to Ryan Seacrest.
You can always count on Busey for some serious amount of crazy as the man proves time and again just what an amateur lunatic Britney Spears can be. But watching Busey burst onto the scene couldn't justify watching the rest of interviews for me.
I think the only way to go next year is to watch the pre-show on Mute because I get enough meaningless banter at work to last me a lifetime.
-BDS
I loathe the entire affair. Skipped it completely.
I'm with heff. I do have one question though, did Katie Holmes were a dress or did she come in the cage Tom keeps her in?
Heff - It's a circus that I enjoy parts of depending on the movies of the year. I liked 'No Country,' and was glad it won.
WhatIgot - I didn't see either of them at the awards, so I assume she was caged up at home listening to Scientology tapes.
I enjoy the Oscars themselves very much (not as much as the Tonys but that's my background leaking)...I Cannot. Watch. The. Preshow. Actors should never be allowed to speak, only read or deliver lines. Speaking actors, especially nervous speaking actors, a painful.
That being said, I was touched by Katherine Heigl (sp, please!) who said, while presenting, "please forgive me, I'm really nervous and no good at this."
I completely missed it. I did see that No Country For Old Men got best picture, and Daniel Day Lewis got best actor though. I was happy about those.
Bostonpobble - Agreed. Across the board as Heighl (sp?) did seem genuinely nervous, very few actors can seem reasonable during interviews, even fewer interviewers ask relevant/intelligent questions, and it is just too painful for me to watch this stuff any longer.
Native Minnow - Me too. I felt that both deserved the awards they received, and that both categories were fairly strong with competition this year.
Having JUST seen "There Will Be Blood" on Friday, it was great to see D.D. Lewis get the Oscar - what a great movie and what a performance.
I got one word for the zzzzpre-show:
TIVO.
Maybe next year E! should get Gary Busey to do the red carpet interviews.
Ratings would definitely go up.
ok, i admit i love the pregame at the oscars. otherwise i would have missed ryan seacreast winning the award for most inappropriate question when he asked jessica alba if she planned on breatfeeding her baby!
I didn't catch the pre-show but I did watch the actual awared ceremony, which was pretty average. No major slip-ups or truly embarrassing moments... I enjoyed it though. I agree with you, the musical performances dragged on way too long and were boring as hell.
That's "award" ceremony. Jeez, you'd think I could type after all these years.
Anonymous Boxer - I agree about Day-Lewis and 'Blood.' I couldn't argue against him not winning despite some good competition this year. And TIVO can cure nearly all ills.
Mr. DNA - Now that's something I might actually watch with the volume up high. Busey has a potent brand of lunancy all his own.
Cats - I missed that one. Ha. I think I had the volume down at the point because I do remember seeing him interview Alba. I got sick of everyone asking people about George Clooney. I like Clooney just fine, but it seems vaguely rude to ask someone just because they happen to be a fellow actor.
Grace - Details. As long as you are aware of your 'awareds' slip, then everything is fine. Ha. And yes, I think the musical number nearly always drag as I think you could cut them and help the running time quite a bit.
I love Oscar, faults and all. I'll admit that being part of an Oscar pool helps my interest level (the prize is bragging rights). I only called half the winners, but it was fun to check the spreadsheet and keep track of my friends' points as the evening went on. I came in 3rd out of 10, which is respectable, but my kid beats me every year. That Gary Busey moment was a little scary. Jen Garner and Laura Linney did the polite "we're getting the hell away from the crazy man" shuffle with a lot of grace. Yikes!
I had to tape it but looks like it might not be worth finding the time to watch. I love the red carpet arrivals just to see all the beautiful and not so beautiful gowns. I agree with you about the awkwardness factor. It truly is cringeworthy at times.
I missed the pre show and taped the rest as I was at volleyball. I just finished watching them....they were alright however none of the speeches really stood out. Like I remember when Tom Hanks won, that was a memorable speech.
Linda - I agree about the Oscar pools as that makes the less exciting categories much more interesting for me. I did worse this year than most, but that was due to those said categories where I mostly guessed. I think your description of Garner/Linney taking Busey in stride was about perfect. Ha.
Gypsy - I should have clarified that I kind of like watching people show up, however, I just don't want any interviews to take place - or at least none that I can hear. And yes, cringeworthy is a good description of most of them.
Miss Ash - Taping it is the way to go as you can fast-forward through the dull parts, which can be numerous. As for the speeches, none of them were that memorable, but then again, I couldn't translate Javier Bardem's Spanish, so maybe he said something hilarious.