Academy Awards viewers are livid that the splashy tribute segment failed to include late actors Bob Saget, Norm Macdonald, and Ed Asner
Play the tribute back and you’ll notice that the Academy opted to leave quite a few folks out of the montage. There was plenty of time to show, but the Oscars turned their nose at the opportunity to remember Bob Saget, Ed Asner, or Norm Macdonald. Priorities.
While entertainment monoliths Saget and Macdonald dedicated most of their career to the TV side of the industry , leaving out folks like Asner, Gaspard Ulliel, and Robert Downey Sr. was unjustifiable. In 2010, the Asner-led Pixar flickA number of big TV stars were omitted in the In Memoriam section in order to make room for Zack Snyder fanfare, Amy Schumer in a Spider-Man suit, and a random’s Willie Garson, and the aforementioned Saget and Macdonald were honored on the Academy’s website instead.
The people who did make the cut included Sidney Poitier, William Hurt, Olympia Dukakis, Dean Stockwell, and Betty White. Filmmakers included Peter Bogdanovich, Ivan Reitman, Richard Donner, Melvin van Peebles, Lina Wetmuller, Jean-Marc Vallée, as well as cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
“Are they really playing spirit in the sky right now?” one Twitter user wrote. “This is the worst in Memoriam segment ever. You’re supposed to play clips of those that have passed not loud singing and dancing.” Nevertheless, the Academy also offers a more cut-and-dry approach on their website, so as to not miss any of those lost. Maybe stick to something more like this next year, ABC?