Neil Patrick Harris only bright spot of The Oscars

Wow, what a disappointing Academy Awards!  Gone were the performances of the Best Song, past winners presenting to new winners, and even the tribute song seemed a little short.  Where was Farrah Fawcett in there?  Overshadowed by Michael Jackson again!  The winners really had few surprises.  All of the acting categories went to who was expected, even it was the disappointing Sandra Bullock.  The Hurt Locker took far more awards than it deserves, especially Best Director.  James Cameron created a whole new camera system and spent ten years making Avatar, single-handedly launching 3-D movies into newfound popularity, and he gets snubbed?  Even if the plot of his blockbuster was only so-so, he deserved the Director award.  Avatar did take a few awards, and it was nice to see Star Trek get one, even if it was just makeup.
The hosts continued the snoozefest.  Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin have wicked chemistry!  Have you seen their Saturday Night Live rivalry?  Why, then, did they just stand around and make mostly dumb jokes?  I was excited when it was announced they were doing the show, but wholly disappointed in what they did.
The biggest, best thing at the Oscars was Neil Patrick Harris.  Star of How I Met Your Mother and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog, Harris recently hosted both the Emmys and the Tonys, among other things, and was tapped to open the show with a big number.  Is it clear to anyone else he should have taken the full duties?  His star has never been higher.  He will appear in the Joss Whedon-directed episode of Glee this spring, and then starring in the Smurfs movie, as well as doing a sequel to the internet smash hit Dr. Horrible.  Why not NPH?  despite being snubbed at the Emmys, he has massive popularity.
Oh, well.  There’s always next year.  If anyone is still tuning into the Oscars by next year.  Ratings have been on an overall downward trend for years, and last night’s lackluster performance will only drive them lower still.