Conan O’Brien is hosting the Oscars: what to expect and how we think he’ll do
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This year’s Academy Awards are going to look a little different. For one thing, there won’t be any musical performances at the Oscars for any of the tunes up for Best Song… which we feel is a mistake. Nor will four-time host Jimmy Kimmel be presiding over the ceremony as he had for the past two years. Instead, another late night TV personality, Conan O’Brien, will be hosting his first Oscars on Sunday, March 2.
O’Brien is a former writer for The Simpsons who shot to fame in the ’90s as the host of Late Night with Conan O’Brien before briefly transitioning to The Tonight Show on NBC. When O’Brien fell out with NBC in 2010, he moved over to TBS to host a new late night show called Conan for 11 years before retiring from weekly hosting. Since 2021, O’Brien has focused on podcasting and other comedic endeavors. He’s also a two-time host of the Emmy Awards and the White House Correspondents’ dinner.
What to expect from Conan O’Brien at the Oscars
In the video above, O’Brien factiously promises that the nine-hour telecast will include “several moment in the Oscars where I’ll be shirtless and oiled,” before adding, “I think that’s going to hurt the program incredibly.” Although O’Brien has often let himself be the brunt of his own jokes, he’s probably kidding about going shirtless.
O’Brien is also less political with his comedy than Kimmel is, but there may still be some jokes among party lines. That said, we wouldn’t be surprised if O’Brien’s frequent collaborator, Robert Smigel, brings his famous puppet Triumph the Insult Comic Dog to the Oscars. If there are going to be political jokes at this year’s Academy Awards, theyr would almost certainly come from Triumph… if he’s going to be used there.
How we think Conan O’Brien will do at the Oscars
The short answer is he’s going to do fine. Even if O’Brien didn’t have decades of late night comedy shows in his resume, hosting the Emmys is a lot like hosting the Oscars. There shouldn’t be any problems with O’Brien’s performance, and if there are awkward moments during the show, he’s always managed to make the most out of those as well.
We’d like to see O’Brien honor the legacy of nine-time Academy Awards host Billy Crystal by opening the show with a song that incorporates himself into all 10 of this year’s Best Picture nominees. But that might be asking too much.
Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…
The 50 best movies on Netflix right now (March 2025)
For the first weekend of March, Netflix has dropped a pair of movies that had high-profile stints in theaters in the last two years. The first one, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, is the best high fantasy flick in a very long time. This week’s second pick, Venom: The Last Dance, isn’t quite as good as the first. But both films are at the top of the most popular movies on Netflix.
You can find both of these films and more among the best movies on Netflix below. Remember to check this list every Friday morning when we update the lineup to give you the most enticing movie options available.
Looking for something else? We’ve also rounded up the best movies to stream this week, the best shows on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime, and the best movies on Disney+.
Watching from abroad? Use a Netflix VPN to access your country’s catalog from anywhere in the world. Want to watch on the go? We can show you how to download movies on Netflix.
Editor’s Picks
5 great Oscar-winning movies to stream on Amazon Prime Video
The premier awards show for movies remains the Oscars. The year 2025 marks the 97th edition of the Academy Awards. That’s nearly 100 years of award-winning movies to watch, debate, and discuss. With the rise of streaming, many of these Oscar winners are now on streaming services.
For example, Oppenheimer is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus still holds up nearly two years after its theatrical release. Even without an IMAX theater, the Trinity Test scene will still be jaw-dropping on your television. Besides Oppenheimer, what other Oscar-winning movies are on Prime Video? Browse our selections below.
Best new movies to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Max (HBO), and more
February was a huge month for streaming, and the last week of the month sees a few more additions to this list of the best movies to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Max (HBO), and other services. This week isn’t quite as momentous as the past few weeks of nearly double-digit additions, and nothing’s quite as big as Longlegs and Nosferatu, but it’s still a decent week.
There are three new additions before the calendar turns to March. Venom: The Last Dance arrives on Netflix, Peacock adds The Killer, and Paramount+ adds the Peter Saarsgard thriller, September 5.
We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
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