It was tough for the 97th annual Academy Awards telecast to put its best foot forward when so many viewers saw so few of the niche movies nominated for best picture, an award that ultimately went to “Anora,” which won five Oscars total.

The best Oscar telecast producers could do was open with a somewhat baffling mash-up of “We Love L.A.” post-wildfires cheerleading (shown through a compilation of movie scenes set at L.A. landmarks) and “Wicked,” one of only two big box-office successes (earning more than $100 million domestically) among the 10 best picture nominees.

Two stars from “Wicked” performed: Ariana Grande sang “Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz” and Cynthia Erivo sang “Home” from “The Wiz.” Then they teamed up for the song viewers most wanted to hear — their duet of “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked.”

After that barnburner of a performance, host Conan O’Brien emerged from an incision in Demi Moore’s back, a riff on Moore’s movie “The Substance.” O’Brien’s monologue followed and it was classic Conan, good news for fans of his off-kilter humor, but perhaps not for the broader Oscars audience, particularly when those inside the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles didn’t respond with guffaws.

A joke about being able to call Ralph Fiennes by the American pronunciation of his first name if he didn’t win on his third nomination seemed to flop.

“Can’t tell if he’s laughing or not,” O’Brien said in response to dead air. “Doesn’t matter, not getting paid a lot.”

O’Brien, who is not a political comic, nodded at today’s political divisions but did not imbue his monologue with political valence beyond Hollywood politics.

“ ‘Anora’ uses the F-word 479 times. That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist: ‘You tweeted WHAT!?!’” O’Brien joked, referencing the “Emilia Perez” star’s resurfaced, disparaging social media posts that surely doomed her Oscars chances. “If you are gonna tweet about the Oscars, remember: My name is Jimmy Kimmel.”

Between the opening musical performances and O’Brien’s lengthy monologue, the telecast seemed like it might run long soon after it began, with no awards given out for more than 25 minutes (ultimately the show ended 10 minutes early!). O’Brien’s musical number ode to the Oscars running long — featuring Deadpool and a sandworm from “Dune: Part Two” playing keyboard — surely didn’t help but it was gonzo enough (classic Conan) to merit the air time.

O’Brien’s audience work (a disappointed look from John Lithgow if winners talked too long; heckling Adam Sandler about his wardrobe) successfully drew laughs as did his interaction with announcer Nick Offerman — Offerman taunted O’Brien as a late-in-life first-time Oscars host — and suggested that more interaction between the two on future Oscar telecasts may be warranted.

O’Brien’s pre-taped comedic bits worked well, particularly a faux ad for new streaming service CinemaStreams, where viewers gather in a building to watch a movie and don’t even have to hold their phones or start the movie themselves (aka “going to the movies”). The anti-streaming gag proved fitting when Hulu, airing a livestream of the Oscars for the first time, glitched, leading viewers to miss portions of the ceremony.

The lack of audience familiarity with this year’s nominated films may also explain the lack of performances of best song nominees (viewers were encouraged to scan an on-screen QR code to hear them). Producers opted instead for a medley of songs from James Bond films seemingly for no obvious reason — the last Bond movie came out in 2021 — unless Hollywood is pre-mourning how the franchise will likely get run into the ground now that Amazon has full control over it (see also: “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”).

Among award winners, Zoe Saldana offered the most emotional response, sharing the story of her family’s immigration to the United States as “the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award.” Kieran Culkin delivered the most chaotic, comedic acceptance, getting bleeped for profanity and reminding his wife that she said she’d have another child if he won an Oscar. The Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers behind best documentary “No Other Land,” which has not found a U.S. distributor for its story of the destruction of the occupied West Bank, made a heartfelt plea for peace and unity. Second-time Oscar winner Adrien Brody went on and on in his acceptance speech and told the play-off music to stop, noting, “I’ve done this before.”

Here’s the full list of winners from what O’Brien jokingly referred to as “the long-form content awards:”

Best picture: “Anora” (Neon)

Best director: Sean Baker, “Anora”

Best actress: Mikey Madison, “Anora”

Best actor: Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”

Best supporting actress: Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez”

Best supporting actor: Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”

Best original screenplay: “Anora,” Sean Baker

Best adapted screenplay: “Conclave,” Peter Straughan

Best international feature: “I’m Still Here,” Walter Salles (Brazil)

Best documentary feature: “No Other Land”

Best animated feature: “Flow”

Best cinematography: “The Brutalist,” Lol Crawley

Best costume design: “Wicked,” Paul Tazewell

Best film editing: “Anora,” Sean Baker

Best production design: “Wicked,” Nathan Crowley

Best original score: “The Brutalist,” Daniel Blumberg

Best original song: “El Mal,” Emilia Pérez

Best sound: “Dune: Part Two”

Best visual effects: “Dune: Part Two”

Best makeup and hairstyling: “The Substance”

Best documentary short: “The Only Girl in the Orchestra”

Best animated short: “In the Shadow of the Cypress”

Best live-action short: “I’m Not a Robot”

Channel surfing

Pittsburgh-based public television music producer T.J. Lubinsky’s latest music special, “My Music: Best of the ‘60s,” debuts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday on WQED-TV. … frED Camp, a free professional development event for every kind of educator based on the work of the late Fred Rogers (“Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”), will be held at the Fred Rogers Institute at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. March 15. The event is free but does require advance registration at remakelearning.org/event/fred-camp-2025/. … “Law & Order: Organized Crime” debuts its fifth season with two episodes April 17 on streaming service Peacock (eight more episodes follow weekly on Thursdays). … A new season of “Doctor Who” debuts at 3 a.m. April 12 on Disney+. … Max will keep sports and news as part of its standard/premium packages and won’t charge extra for a sports tier, but CNN max and B/R Sports will no longer be available on the Basic with Ads tier starting March 30.

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