Cable dispute settled:More than 3 million Cablevision Systems Corp. subscribers in parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut missed part of Sunday's Oscar telecast because ABC's parent company, Walt Disney Co., had switched off the ABC signal in a dispute with Cablevision over fees.
Cablevision said the signal of New York station WABC-TV was switched back on at 8:43 p.m. The Oscar telecast began at 8 p.m., with the ceremony starting about a half hour later. It was the first time in a decade that a major broadcast station had gone dark in a dispute with a cable company.
Cablevision Systems Corp. spokesman Charles Schueler said a last-minute deal was reached in a dispute over millions of dollars in fees that had led the Walt Disney Co. to pull its programming from the cable operator's subscribers at midnight Saturday.OK to say 'winner':In a throwback to more competitive days, Oscar presenters used the line "and the winner is ..." instead of the blander "and the Oscar goes to ..." at Sunday's show.
The last time "and the winner is ..." was used officially was for the 60th Academy Awards in 1988, when "The Last Emperor" won for best picture. The next year, show producer Allan Carr changed the wording, although some presenters ignored the new guidelines.
Although academy staff would not confirm the change before Sunday's telecast, the phrase "and the winner is ..." had been cropping up all week in rehearsals.
Clooney was hopeless:No one could accuse George Clooney of raising expectations about his Oscar chances or those of Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick, his "Up in the Air" costars.
"It's probably not going to be Vera or Anna, and it's certainly not going to be me," he said outside the Kodak Theatre. "But what you do know is that a nomination for Vera and Anna changes their career."
The wrath of Streep:Ryan Seacrest found out the hard way that Meryl Streep was watching him.
After noting that Seacrest had predicted Sandra Bullock would win the Oscar for best actress, Streep went nose-to-nose Sunday with the E! red carpet host. "I was watching you earlier," Streep said with mock gravity. She chastised Seacrest for "cheerleading a little," but added: "That's all right."
Seacrest, a little stricken, responded: "I knew you were going to come and you were going to crush me."
Mo'Nique is No. 5:Mo'Nique became the fifth black woman to win an acting Oscar, 70 years after Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to do so for "Gone with the Wind." The 42-year-old stand-up comic portrayed an abusive mother in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."
Other black women to win in the supporting actress category are Jennifer Hudson for "Dreamgirls" (2006) and Whoopi Goldberg for "Ghost" (1990). Halle Berry was voted best actress for "Monster's Ball" in 2001.