The Oscars

[joanna bujes]

Lapsing into the trivial, for a change.... I watched the Oscars Sunday 
night with my mother (74-year-old emigree from the old country (Romania)). 
She doesn't get out much, so these spectacles form the bulk of her cultural 
nutrition.  At the end, she remarked that the best part of the show had 
been the commercials.

She was right. The "substance" of the show was so self-congratulatory, 
contrived, and superficial...that it made the commercials look positively 
Chekhovian and deep by contrast. Now, the only TV I watch is "Sopranos" and 
"6 Feet Under"...so let me ask those of you who indulge: Is this generally 
true? Are the commercials better than standard programming? If so, do you 
think it's by design?

Joanna