What Time Are The Oscars On TV?

HOLLYWOOD, CA — The 89th Academy Awards are Sunday, and it promises to be a historic show. A slew of records are in position to be broken, politics are bound to be upfront and personal, and though 2017 has been the year of award season darlings such as the juggernaut “La La Land,” some true upsets might make for a memorable year.

It’s expected to drizzle on the stars and fans outside Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre as the awards show gets underway. The red carpet coverage starts at 4 pm. PST Sunday on ABC, followed by the awards ceremony at 5:30 p.m. You can find your local ABC channel here.

Patch will have updates of all the Academy Award winners Sunday night as the drama unfolds.

Who’s Hosting: Late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, fresh off last year's Golden Globes gig, will host the Academy Awards Sunday night. The first-time Oscar host takes over from last year’s host Chris Rock. Kimmel shared with fans a taste of his preparation technique on Instagram this week. It primarily involves defacing Matt Damon’s seating card and plotting ways to keep Damon from winning as a producer for the drama “Manchester by the Sea.” It’s fair to expect Kimmel’s long-running faux-feud with Damon to spill onto the stage as it did during the Golden Globes. For his part, Damon told The Hollywood Reporter, “Somebody asked me, ‘Do I want him to do bad?’ and the reality is I don’t even have to hope for that. I just want him to live up to my extremely low expectations.”

The Controversy: While the feud between Kimmel and Damon make be fake, Hollywood’s beef with the president is pretty real. All throughout the awards season, the jokes and acceptance speeches were politically tinged, culminating in Meryl Streep’s Golden Globes speech, calling President Donald Trump out for mocking a disabled reporter. It’s unlikely that Hollywood’s biggest names won’t have a few things to say about the president, triggering the perennial debate about whether celebrities should politicize the award ceremony.
Beyond the politics of the night, two nominees are controversial in and of themselves. Casey Affleck’s lauded performance earned him a best actor nomination for “Manchester by the Sea” but the acclaim brought renewed attention to a pair of sexual harassment suits he settled from a previous film. However, his controversy pales in comparison to Mel Gibson whose best director nomination for "Hacksaw Ridge" helps revive a career that seemed doomed after he was accused of domestic violence and after his infamous anti semitic drunken driving arrest.

The Oscar Records: What’s not controversial, for the first time in two years, is the Academy’s record with black actors. After two years with no black nominees, black actors are represented in every major acting category, raising the possibility that a record number of black artists could win Oscars Sunday. Among them, Denzel Washington is poised to become the first black actor to win three acting awards if he wins best actor for his role in “Fences.”

“La La Land” is also standing on the edge of history. Tied for the most nominations, the film could become the winningest picture in Academy history.

Check out Patch’s predictions, and be sure to stay with Patch for real time updates from the Academy Awards.

Photo: LOS ANGELES, CA — A billboard showing Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel and an Oscar statue seen in preparation for the 89th Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland Center on February 23, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images