THE TV COLUMN

Oscar overdose potential a click away

What are they wearing? A-listers Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie pose before the 2012 Oscars. Jolie’s bared leg caused the biggest buzz on the red carpet last year.
What are they wearing? A-listers Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie pose before the 2012 Oscars. Jolie’s bared leg caused the biggest buzz on the red carpet last year.

— In case you’ve missed all the hype and hoopla, ABC airs the Oscars today starting at 6 p.m. with 90 minutes of red carpet reporting. The biggest names always arrive in the last half hour before the cameras head inside the Dolby Theatre (the erstwhile Kodak Theatre).

If that’s not enough glitz for you, catch the C-list arrivals on the TV Guide Channel. Red Carpet With Chris Harrison: 2013 Academy Awards starts at 5 p.m. and lingers until 6:30.

Wait. You say you’re a real die-hard cinephile and simply can’t get enough of Hollywood D-listers, wannabees and has beens arriving really, really early. E! will do its bit with Live From the Red Carpet: The 2013 Academy Awards beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Seriously. How far down on Oscar’s invitation list do you have to be to arrive three hours early?

After you’ve grown numb from all the inane sycophanting and fashion designer name dropping, the actual awards presentations will take place from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Dig out today’s TV Week cover story for a look at first-time host Seth MacFarlane and the roundup of who or what is nominated for the top five awards.

The Academy Awards are never as much fun as the more relaxed Golden Globes, but still carry the biggest cachet in town.

If MacFarlane does his job, we’ll be entertained enough to make it through all the secondary and tertiary presentations, where folks you never heard of milk their 90 seconds of fame.

But if all this makes you a bit snarky, join the fun at 8 p.m. Monday on E! when the crew from Fashion Police dish on tonight’s winners and losers. The Oscars ain’t over until Joan Rivers has the final word. The rest of the fashion crew includes Kelly Osbourne, Giuliana Rancic and George Kotsiopoulos.

I always look forward to the annual Fashion Police smack down. It’s like cleansing the palate after an overindulgence of too-rich food.

Angelina Jolie’s sinewy exposed thigh in her slit Atelier Versace gown accessorized by Neil Lane jewels and Jaime Mascaro clutch was the talk of the last year’s red carpet and later, on stage, where she had the exposed gam artfully and awkwardly skewed at a 45-degree angle while she presented an award.

For my money, Gwyneth Paltrow’s bold white Tom Ford cape dress was a marvel of creative understatement and panache and stole the night.

Other stuff tonight. And if you’re not into the narcissistic marathon that is the annual Academy Awards, what are you to do?

Network TV generally bows to the competition and turns out the lights on Oscar night, but there are a few counter-programming options, especially if you’ve missed an episode or two.

The Amazing Race is new at 7 p.m. today on CBS, That’s followed by reruns of The Good Wife (the Oct. 28 episode) and The Mentalist (Oct. 7).

NBC will present two encores of the wacky Betty White’s Off Their Rockers from 7 to 9 p.m., then a repeat of the retrospective Saturday Night Live in the 2000s: Time and Again that aired in 2010.

It’s a rerun night on Fox with past episodes of The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy and American Dad starting at 7 p.m.

And if you haven’t seen it yet, the tearful Season 3 finale of Downton Abbey encores at 7 p.m. on PBS and AETN.

Feeling quacky? Check out the Duck Dynasty marathon from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. on A&E, or The Lion King at 7 p.m. on ABC Family.

The season premiere of Gator Boys kicks in at 8 p.m. on Animal Planet.

I’ll be over on AMC at 8 p.m. for the fresh episode (“I Ain’t a Judas”) of The Walking Dead. Then I’m sticking around at 9 for all the inside poop and scoop on Talking Dead. Fanboy host Chris Hardwick has behind-the-scenes tidbits, sneak peeks at future episodes and always-fascinating guests that frequently include cast members.

Watching Obama. The numbers are in and according to Nielsen about 33.5 million viewers watched President Obama’s State of the Union address Feb. 12. That may seem impressive, but it was the smallest audience in the past three administrations, and down from 38 million last year.

Obama pulled in 43 million for his State of the Union in 2011, 48 million in 2010, and a hefty 52 million for his first speech in 2009, which was technically an Address to the Joint Sessions of Congress.

Are we losing interest in presidential speeches?

President George W. Bush’s State of the Union notched 62 million in 2003 (there was about to be a war), and 53 million watched President Bill Clinton in 1998. It was the day after he wagged his finger and pronounced “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.” In 1993, 67 million viewed Clinton’s Address to the Joint Sessions of Congress shortly after he was sworn into office. The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail:

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Style, Pages 50 on 02/24/2013

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