Ask and you shall receive. Manuel here to take up Joel V's suggestion in the comments (for this post on the gorgeous graphics we saw on Sunday) and give us a look at past Oscar stages. I will hand it to Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, while NPH was only so-so (though thankfully willing to embrace the male gayze) and that ceremony ran way too long, they sure know how to make the telecast a stylish affair.
NPH amidst a stage that's giving us steampunk Oscar glam realness
This is Derek McLane's third time desigining the Oscar stage (he won an Emmy for last year's) and it's clear why Meron & Zadan love him, though please let us not speak of his designs for Peter Pan Live!
But, how well does this year's stage design hold up? Take a look at the last ten years of Oscar stages, which have in the last decade alone garnered 5 Emmys for Outstanding Art Direction for Variety, Nonfiction, Reality or Reality-Competition Program, nabbing a nomination every single year. Talk about a hot streak!
86th through 77th Academy Awards after the jump...
86th Academy Awards (Host: Ellen DeGeneres). Designer: Derek McLane
85th Academy Awards (Host: Seth McFarlane). Designer: Derek McLane
84th Academy Awards (Host: Billy Crystal). Designer: Oscar winner John Myhre (Chicago & Memoirs of a Geisha)
83rd Academy Awards (Hosts: Anne Hathaway & James Franco). Designer: Steve Bass
82nd Academy Awards (Hosts: Steve Martin & Alec Baldwin). Designer: David Rockwell
81st Academy Awards (Host: Hugh Jackman). Designer: David Rockwell & Michael Whetstone
80th Academy Awards (Host: Jon Stewart). Designer: 10 time Emmy winner Roy Christopher
79th Academy Awards (Host: Ellen DeGeneres). Designer: Oscar nominee J. Michael Riva (The Color Purple)
78th Academy Awards (Host: Jon Stewart). Designer: Roy Christopher
77th Academy Awards (Host: Chris Rock). Designer: Roy Christopher
Which one is your favorite?
I have a weakness for AMPAS's blue period (but that might be because I still think the Hugh Jackman year remains the high watermark of these most recent ceremonies), but there's something to be said about those beautiful deco flourishes and those seemingly perennial Swarovski curtains.