Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Sunday, February 26. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
The 89th Annual Academy Awards (ABC, 8:30 p.m.): Earlier this month, a group of The A.V. Club’s best and brightest sat down to discuss whether or not it was a good idea to cancel the Oscars this year, given that a probably insane vat-grown hybrid of horse hair, bronzer, and human fat is trying to disassemble America, and Hollywood is openly opposed to that. (Well, most of it.) The fact that one of its own nominees, Asghar Farhadi, was among those caught in said hybrid’s Muslim ban only makes it more likely that the actors and directors honored this year will use their podium as a pulpit to speak out against our Russian puppet kleptocracy. And given so much of the show is likely to turn into a protest, it raised the question if shutting it down entirely would provide the bigger statement.
However, the Academy remains too in love with itself to even consider that possibility, so the 89th Oscar ceremony will proceed with Jimmy Kimmel at the helm. An examination of Oscar voting and its impressive haul of awards to date means that La La Land remains the favorite to sweep the night, pleasing all of you who aren’t dead inside. However, last year’s surprising (yet understandable) Spotlight win means there’s always a hint of uncertainty. Could any of the other nominees make a difference against the forces of razzle-dazzle, on their own or as an assembled ballot-dividing force?
Film editor A.A. Dowd weighed in with some thoughts on the major nominees last week, and tonight our full team will be on the red carpet. Follow our live-blog here on the site or through the hashtag #AVCOscars on Twitter for reactions to all the awards, speeches, and truly bizarre moments. Also, have your tissue boxes handy, because given the thresher-paced swing of reaper scythes last year the “In Memoriam” segment is probably going to run 15 minutes.