Oscars not moving up, at least not next year

There had been talk that the folks at the Motion Picture Academy were thinking seriously of advancing the date of the Oscar telecast closer to the beginning of the year. The thinking process was that because the Oscars came at the very end of the movie-award season, they lose some of their luster and hence ratings for the show.

Traditionally, the Oscar telecast comes at the end of February and that's where it will come in 2012 -- Feb. 26, to be exact. The Academy made that announcement today along with the word that Oscar nominations will be revealed Jan. 24.

And for those really interested in the nuts and bolts of moviemaking, the scientific and technical Oscars will be handed out by some comparatively young starlet on Feb. 11. This starlet will then appear on the Feb. 26th show to try to convince us that she really had a great time handing out these awards, that she understood what all the awards signified and that we should all join in the celebration for the winners. It's always one of those moments that brings the Oscar telecast to a screeching halt.