I would appreciate it if someone could articulate a well-reasoned, "The Oscars are important because _____." sentence.

The SuperBowl is an apt comparison for me because Awards Season is very much a spectator sport. It's not important in the cosmic sense, but for those interested in movies/Hollywood pleasure can be derived from handicapping, discussing, having an office pool. It's like football in that way--a fun diversion enjoyed precisely b/c not every conversation can be about the fate of the republic. Personally, I have a job that can get kind of heavy at times, so I need doses of pure meaninglessness & humor at regular intervals.

**It's 2021 now and I hate everything I've said in this thread.**

Speaking of the Oscars and the Superbowl, am I the only one who is surprised that trailers don't premiere during the Oscars? I get why, like, Avengers airs during the Superbowl - large audience. But for the Superbowl-is-too-rich-for-my-blood films, why aren't the Oscars the Superbowl of movie ads?

That does sound familiar, now that you mention it.

I do know that until recently the Oscars were always held on Monday nights, as a "gentleman's agreement" by all the studios.  Because in any given year, any studio might find themselves unhappy that the Oscars overlapped the opening weekend of their release of _____.  But they've let that go and now the Oscars are on Sunday, maybe because of the decline of Oscar ratings in general.

So if there is or was a moratorium on buying trailer ad time during the Oscars, that'd make some sense. The Oscars is the one night a year when Hollywood dresses up and pretends everybody loves each other and is all classy and stuff, I can see them not wanting to let the telecast turn into a pissing match where everyone's trying to get their trailers on the air.

I remember a couple years where they aired on Tuesday, actually.  I think if it overlapped with President's Day then they pushed it to Tuesday.