Oscars 2026: Best, Worst, and Most WTF Moments

To one degree or another, the Oscars are always somewhat of a slog. There’s simply no way to make a three-and-a-half-hour award show enjoyable from start to finish. But this year’s telecast was a bit more of a slog than usual thanks to scripted presenter bits that fell flat (reaching a nadir, arguably, with the evening’s final handout, which saw Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman singing famous songs about love?), tiresome speeches, and ongoing audio and production issues.

Still, the night wasn’t a total loss, because Conan O’Brien was once again brilliant in his second hosting tour of duty. He started the night on a high with an extended segment that poked fun at Weapons , and he kept the energy up until the very last moment, when they inserted his smiling corpse into an incinerator, spoofing One Battle After Another .

Along the way, the Academy finally honored a female cinematographer, Amy Madigan won an Oscar 40 years after her first nomination, and Timothée Chalamet had to paint a smile on his thinly mustachioed face when he lost in...