Why Do Oscars Keep Ghosting Comedies Like They’re the Ex Who Still Owes Them Money?
Added on September 20, 2025 inEntertainment News Cards, Movie News Cards
Popular
Numerology Meets Netflix: Get Your Daily Dose of Cosmic Cinema Suggestions Powered By Our AI Astrologer. Find The Show Or Movie You Were Meant To See!
Is it just me, or does the Academy Awards have a long-standing allergy to comedy? Like Mercury retrograde messing with the timing of the universe, the Oscars seem perpetually out of sync when it comes to honoring the hardest genre to master: making people laugh. Sure, horror gets the cold shoulder, but comedy? It’s the classic underdog, shunned by the serious suits while the Golden Globes quietly hand out their own little tokens to “serious” chuckles. Benedict Cumberbatch once said on Amy Poehler’s podcast, “If you can do comedy, you can do anything,” and honestly, if that’s true, then why does AMPAS act like comedy’s a cosmic joke they just don’t get? From “Step Brothers” to “The Martian,” comedy gold keeps getting snubbed in the quest for that Best Picture nod — a category as rare for comedy wins as a Venus-Jupiter conjunction in your birth chart. Are we dealing with genre bias, a failure to appreciate comedic craft, or just some celestial prestige trip? Whatever the case, it’s high time we give comedy its rightful place on the red carpet. So, which comedy gems do you think deserved a spotlight? And why is the Academy so straight-faced about what’s truly tough to pull off? LEARN MORE
If there’s one genre that just doesn’t get enough love at the Academy Awards, it’s horror. But if we had to pick another, it’s comedy, which is widely ignored at the Oscars despite being one of the most challenging genres to master. They have such a hard time being recognized by the industry that they have their own category at the Golden Globes — you know, so laugh-out-loud knee-slappers like The Martian can thrive.
The topic of comedy movies at the Oscars was brought up on a recent episode of Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, where she had Olivia Coleman on as a guest. Calling in was Benedict Cumberbatch, who declared, “If you can do comedy, you can do anything. I really do believe that.” As Poehler responded (via Variety), “Of course. You don’t have to tell me, babe! Every single year at the Oscars, everybody [in comedy] gets blanked and all the serious people get up and accept and accept…It’s some hot bullsh*t! Because comedy is not easy. And I got to tell you, both you and Olivia can do both.”
Yes, comedy movies have been given some attention at the Oscars but it’s extremely rare, especially in the Best Picture category. Think about it: how many comedies have won Best Picture? If you don’t think Anora deserves to be called a comedy (I sure don’t), Everything Everywhere All at Once is no doubt the most recent (but even that’s a hybrid), but what about before that? Birdman, if you want to count that, but then you’d have to go back to Shakespeare in Love back in 1999 — which only reminds us that it didn’t deserve to win at all! Sure, there are more nominees and other categories to explore, but when it comes down to it, AMPAS has been historically straight-faced.
Whatever the reason — bias against the genre, inability to recognize how hard comedy is, falling for “prestige” and bait — there have been so many comedy movies that deserved Oscar consideration.
With that, we want to hear from you! Which comedy movies legitimately deserved Best Picture nominations? Why do you think AMPAS shies away from proper recognition? Chime in and let us know below.
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.
This will close in 0 seconds
This will close in 0 seconds
){kind=link}