Seth MacFarlane on the Oscars.

Credit: AP Photo

Seth MacFarlane brought some new blood to the Academy Awards this year, to mixed reviews. Although ratings were strong, there doesn't seem to be much hope that the "Family Guy" and "Ted" creator will be seen emceeing the show again next year.

Ben Affleck accepts the Oscar for Best Picture at the 85th annual Academy Awards

Credit: AP Photo

What can one really say at the end of a season this contentious, this exciting, this tight every step of the way other than: "Gee, that was fun."

"Bottlecap." All she wants to do is roll her hand in the wind.

There is a tremendous amount of debate today about whether Seth McFarlane did a good or bad job in his inaugural turn as Oscar host Sunday night, but no one is arguing over Andy Samberg's hosting performance Saturday afternoon. Samberg was fantastic as this year's Independent Spirit Awards host, but you probably didn't catch his work since IFC broadcast it at 10 PM on Saturday night.  

Welcome to Oscar Talk.

In case you're new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, your one-stop awards chat shop between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood. The podcast is weekly, every Friday throughout the season, charting the ups and downs of contenders along the way. Plenty of things change en route to Oscar's stage and we're here to address it all as it unfolds.

Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum at the 85th annual Academy Awards.

Credit: AP Photo

Hours before last night's Academy Awards ceremony, I was called up by a UK news network that required a last-minute talking head to discuss the evening ahead. In the cab on the way to the studio, the channel's researcher briefed me on the ground we'd cover, before asking, "So what's the big story of the night going to be?"

I reeled off something about "Argo" being the probable Best Picture winner, with a side order of The Vindication of Ben Affleck, but inside I was slightly thrown by the question. What was the big story going to be at the end of a long, circuitous race in which no one film has had everything its own way -- but one which looked ready to test any number of rare precedents, and perhaps create one or two of its own?

Jennifer Lawrence admits she just had a shot before speaking to the press backstage at the 85th Academy Awards.

Not surprising to anyone who's spent more than five minutes with her, Jennifer Lawrence's honest and funny personality shined through as she spoke to the press backstage at the 85th Academy Awards Sunday night.  The "Silver Linings Playbook" actress handled her fall before accepting her first Oscar with self-deprecating humor and class on stage.  Lawrence continued to charm as she took some typically silly questions from the international journalists during the traditional post Q&A. In particular, her "process" of getting dressed for the show is awesome.  You can watch the best of her remarks in the embedded video below. If you're experiencing any Oscar show hangover today, it should absolutely do the trick and perk you right back up. Enjoy.

Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine backstage at the 85th annual Academy Awards

Credit: AP Photo

Here's a nice story that totally blind-sided me today. Did you know that Oscar-winning filmmaker Sean Fine ("Inocente") is a huge Redskins fan? It goes deeper than that, actually, and this blog post from Stephen Czarda lays out the story, which led to Fine sporting some nifty burgundy and gold socks on the red carpet last night.

Claudio Miranda holds his Oscar for Best Cinematography for "Life of Pi"

Credit: AP Photo

I’m writing this column, the last Tech Support entry for this 2012-2013 Oscar season, with a strange combination of ambivalence and a touch of the bittersweet. Despite the fun of awards season, and this one in particular, it is somewhat relieving to see it come to an end.

Christoph Waltz backstage at the 85th annual Academy Awards

Credit: AP Photo

Well, we knew going in that this would probably not be our proudest year for predictions. While a number of categories had cast-iron frontrunners, many were considerably trickier, with two or even three plausible outcomes making for little consensus among pundits.

Some years you simply have stronger instincts than others, and even with no jaw-dropping upsets last night, uncertainty got the better of us in a number of categories. Between our three HitFix pundits, it was Kris who came out on top, calling 18 out of 24 categories correctly. Greg Ellwood was just behind with 17 predictions right, while yours truly brought up the rear with a lowly 16.

Ah, Oscar. You never fail to disappoint and 2013 was clearly was the best and worst of times.  An incredibly uneven show with a host whose 15 minute monologue/intro/whatever you want to call it wasn't the best choice. Thankfully, however, there were some great individual musical numbers, some surprising upsets ("Django Unchained's" great night) and none other than the First Lady of the United States announcing best picture.  HitFix's editorial team has given the show a thorough review and recognized the best and worst of the 85th Academy Awards.