Award Shows February 26, 2016
L.A. TV News Pioneer Makes History Again with Pre-Oscars Special 'And the Winners Are…'
After 50 years of daily newscasts and quarterly TV specials, longtime KCBS and KNBC news personality David Sheehan is making history for the second time.
In 1970 Sheehan was the first entertainment reporter-critic on a newscast in the history of television. Now, Sheehan has fashioned what he calls his “swan-song show,” a Pre-Oscar video special entitled "And the Winners Are …”, which turns out to have more major stars (25) than any hour-long show in the history of television.
"And the Winners Are …” is a fast-paced 60-minute spectacular featuring 25 of Sheehan's movie-star interviews of the most famous Oscar winners (and losers) from the past five decades, including screen icons Marlon Brando, Woody Allen, Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sylvester Stallone, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Dustin Hoffman, John Travolta, Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, Robin Williams, Al Pacino, and 10 more.
The show's opening segment poignantly deals with the Oscar controversy over African-Americans being completely left out of the acting nominations this year and last.
Will Smith, who fostered the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite trending social media protest (with wife Jada Pinkett Smith), is the lead-off star, while Oscar winners Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, and Morgan Freeman are on hand as reminders that the Academy Awards weren't always so whitewashed.
"And the Winners Are …” also pays tribute to famous faces now gone, with a “best-of” series of interview insights from Marlon Brando, Robin Williams, and Paul Newman. Multiple-Oscar winners like Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Woody Allen, and Clint Eastwood are part of the festivities, and actors in the Oscar losers category include John Travolta, Robert Redford, and Leonardo DiCaprio (who looks likely to attain winner status Sunday night).
The outspoken thoughts and feelings of the stars, including the impact of fame on their humanity, offer a bristling kaleidoscope of attitudes about Oscar, ranging from outright hatred and disdain to loving the acclaim and even enjoying the race.
"And the Winners Are …” is now available on YouTube, Facebook, Starz, JLTV, and three different popular social media platforms in Italy, France, and Spain, with a worldwide audience estimated to potentially be more than 100 million. A half-hour version of the show will also be broadcast one-time-only on local television station FOX13 in Los Angeles at 11 p.m. the night before the Oscars, Saturday, February 27.
