After a healthy one-week run, the majority of the readership seems to think “WALL-E” has the best show at upsetting the agreed-upon five for a Best Picture bid. “The Wrestler” and “Doubt” filled out the top three. But this week, running on the assumption that the caped Crusader will slide in after all, I thought I’d ask whether it will matter for the show’s ratings.
Of course, a number of things could make a perfect storm in this sceneario, a “Dark Knight” nod being just one of them. We have two exciting new producing talents at bat and a new host that could bring out the voyeurs. But specifically as it regards a Best Picture nod for the Bat, can that spike the ratings for a show that has continued to dwindle? Tell us in the sidebar poll!
Comments
19 responses to “POLL: Can a Best Picture nomination for ‘The Dark Knight’ help the Oscar telecast ratings?”
It would be a godsend for the show. The general population doesn’t give a crap who the host is or who’s producing it if they don’t have a film to root for.
Agreed with the comment above. The movie has made almost one billion worldwide, and if it is nominated for Best Picture, surely some of that will translate to more viewership come February 22. I know a lot of people who will watch if The Dark Knight is nominated for the top prize but otherwise couldn’t care less about the ceremony if it isn’t.
It will definitely NOT hurt it. But The Dark Knight is only one film.While not in Dark Knight blockbuster status, Benjamin Button and Wall-E have done quite well in the box office and then there’s Slumdog Millionaire (and Gran Torino) chug-chug-chugging along.
It also helps that the supposed frontrunners in the acting categories are more well known than the Cotillards, Swintons, and Bardems of the world. I mean there’s Winslet, Streep, Penn, Pitt, Angelina, Cruz, and most significantly Ledger.
So if the Dark Knight gets nominated for Best Picture it will be just one of the factors that will effect the ratings.
And sadly if all of this happens though and the telecast still sees a ratings decline, then I don’t know how they will ever go back up.
If everybody loved The Dark Knight as much as
they did then not only should it be nominated but it should WIN!! It is simply a great film that if up there will be watched with baited breath to see if it can beat some of these over-rated films.
The Oscars needs TDK or it can get forget the viewers ever watching it again. If it doesn’t get
the noms for Best picture, director, screenplay,
score and more then there are a lot of mean
people out there. I don’t judge a film on wether
it is based on a comic-book character i rate it simply on how good and enjoyable film it is
and how it effects me. TDK is not just a great crime classic but a deep, haunting epic that if passed over is a HUGE travesty. If it isn’t up for either best picture or director then The Oscars mean zilch. I hope and know Heath will win!
GET IN THERE DARK KNIGHT!!!!!!!!!
Of course it would. Last year, the closest thing to a blockbuster was maybe Juno, but nothing compared to the Dark Knight.
Of course, I wouldn’t mind it not making it. It isn’t one of the five best films of the year.
Well, from where I’m standing, TDK has easily more replay value than any of the films in legitimate contention…Slumdog is the only other one on the list of ten or so films that I’d probably watch once more (though I, technically, thought Milk was a bit better). Anyways, of course it would affect viewership, particularly given that headlines related to the Oscars would likely prominently allude to its inclusion. Either way, it’s bloody obvious at this point that Slumdog’s gonna win everything…I don’t love it, but hopefully it doesn’t experience a massive backlash once it goes wide.
Scratch that…WALL-E has replay value, but I don’t think it’ll get out of the animation ghetto. And The Wrestler, I’ll probably buy on DVD, though I doubt it’s one you’ll watch that often.
The oscars are in the run to became something irrelevant. The irony is that the internet and the blogs are the main cause for that slow decline.
I just don’t understand why they would even ignore The Dark Knight after all the acclaim and money it’s made. If you take away the superhero element in The Dark Knight, it would have been locked for a Best Picture nomination for months.
I went to see TDK again in theater last friday. 9th time it makes. Can’t imagine many other films with that potential.
Anyhow, nominating TDK would be their chance to really make some new changes. Together with a hopefully completely different format it would be a commercial match made in heaven. Frankly, it might even be their best hope to get decent ratings.
It will probably help a little bit but not as much as some might think. People will point to the Titanic and Return of the King years, but those were heavy favorites to win while Dark Knight will probably be a 5th slot choice, plus there have been plenty of years where a blockbuster was nominated but considered an also-ran and I don’t think the ratings were that big those years.
I honestly think it’ll make a difference of about eight million viewers, but then again, some folks might just wait to view the main clips on YouTube…
“If you take away the superhero element in The Dark Knight, it would have been locked for a Best Picture nomination for months.”
Indeed. *cough* The Departed *cough*
The Dark Knight must be nominated as Best Picture. If it isn’t, the Oscars may have it’s lowest ratings yet.
No. Let’s face it, the general population doesn’t give a crap about Oscar.
Having the film pretty much everyone has seen by now be nominated surely cannot hurt, right?
Yes. And the reason they dont care, Armando, is because nothing they’ve seen wins. So thats a huge yes.
So what about ratings. I realize that a lot of money is involved for a lot of people, but we the people here are supposed to want the best five films to get nominated and the best nominees to win. True, that doesn’t always happen, but I sure as hell don’t want any single voter to compromise their votes for any reason other than what they feel are the best achievements , and that includes ratings.
I realize that the push for The Dark Knight is not for this reason only. But much of the discussion, like here, has been whether it would or not help ratings. Well of course it would help ratings!!!
I realize that a steady decline in ratings could one day mean and end to the ceremony, but if that would preserve (or possibly even add to) the integrity of the Academy, then I am all for abolishing the ceremony. And gah, I am certainly happy with the majority of people not caring about the nominated films because they didn’t see them, because if this were to change, it more than likely means that the film medium as an art is in a rapid and never ending decline.
And just so everyone knows, I love TDK and am a huge supporter of it getting nominated, but only because I feel it was one of the five best this year.
Gah,
Don’t get upset, but watching the Oscar telecast is not number 1 on people’s to-do list. Most people I know start watching but by the end of the second hour they’re just bored or sleeping.
YES! Plus the film deserves to be nominated for best picture.
Chuck