American Dud: Seth MacFarlane’s Awkward Oscars

James Poniewozik: 

The problem — and the problem with his whole table-setting performance — is: first, a meta-joke about telling an unfunny joke is still an unfunny joke.

But I can’t blame MacFarlane for all of that. It was a clunkily produced, drearily long show, with some truly horrid scripted patter that stranded some talented actors. (A quintet from The Avengers cast needed a superhero to rescue them from an endless introduction.) And there were some flat-out bizarre production choices, like the decision to play off long-winded winners with the music from Jaws–which might have worked as a gag, once, except it really wasn’t one. They were just actually playing people off to Jaws.

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American Dud: Seth MacFarlane’s Awkward Oscars | TIME.com: