Is it any wonder that this year's Academy Awards had the lowest TV ratings in their history?

Half the acting nominees were people no one had ever heard of -- for roles in movies that no one saw -- and more than 50 percent of the show consisted of non-famous people reading laundry lists of their friends and co-workers.

What a snooze.

Jon Stewart's opening monologue was funny -- especially the "Gadolf Titler" joke and the line about "Atonement" capturing "the passion and raw sexuality of Yom Kippur" -- but the rest of the show was downright dreadful.