Did anyone else watch the Oscars' last night? I did, and live-blogged it over at TalkLeft, and was bored silly. Jon Stewart wasn't funny, there was no momentum, no juice, no sizzle. With few exceptions, particularly the ladies in red, most of the dresses looked like last year's to me. There really weren't a lot of major female stars there, outside of those whose films were nominated. The musical numbers were awful. The presenters had weak lines. The acceptance speeches didn't thrill. It seems I'm not the only one with a low opinion of last night's show. Ratings were the worst ever.

Nielsen Media Research says preliminary ratings for the 80th annual Academy Awards telecast are 14 percent lower than the least-watched ceremony ever.

Did the recently ended writers' strike leave a pall? Are we so preoccupied with the presidential race that we lost interest? Or were the movies last year not particularly memorable? I think it's a combination of all three. There appeared to be more historical clips and fewer production numbers than usual. Stewart seemed like he was walking on eggshells to avoid showing political favoritism. And, to be honest, the only film I really thought was outstanding last year was "No Country for Old Men." Why do you think the Oscars were a dud last night?