It was a great night for Mickey. Gloating and excitement can be read in full here. Yes, he still cares. I actually enoyed the show Shales loathed. Yes, Jon Stewart couldn’t bring it off, but he seemed to be unaware that these people take themselves very seriously. Of the good things I loved: Tomlin and Streep, natch, reminding us that many of those other stiff, ungainly people on stage are actually actors in their spare time; Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton; the gay cowboy clip sequence (give me a break, okay?); PSH thanking his mom for his first Oscar; and Lauren Bacall, showing what real reality television is. Dialogue in Sullivan household:

"She’s drunk."
"No, she’s just old."
"Will she finish?"
"Where’s she going?"
Two minutes of slapping-the-carpet laughter. 
"Where’d she go?"

Now that’s an Oscar night. My favorite awful moments: Clooney telling America to go screw itself; the slow-mo dance set for Crash, which seemed to involve a Robert Wilson version of a cop feeling a woman up; everything about that Pimp number; the silly Brits in their bowties; the silly frogs with their cuddly toys. What more can you ask for?

(Photo: Vince Bucci/Getty)