It's been a whirlwind of an awards season, but the end is finally in sight. Now, there's just one more major ceremony you need to watch before you can retire for the season, officially up-to-date with pop culture. (For five seconds or so.) So when do the 2017 Oscars start? You already know they're on Feb. 26, but what time on Sunday do you get to stop pretending like you're going to get anything done and actually tune in?
That magical hour is 8:30 p.m. EST, and unlike other less high-stakes shows that might air at similar times on both coasts, the Academy Awards air live on either side of the country. Basically, the ceremony will begin airing simultaneously on the West Coast, at 5:30 p.m PT.
It might sound early, but it's the only way to prevent the results immediately going public as soon as they're read and ruining it for those in later time zones. Plus, when you have a broadcast that frequently stretches past the three-hour mark, you gotta go into it with your eye on the clock. I'm sure that host Jimmy Kimmel will be doing his very best to keep things moving, but, in a room full of famous people receiving Hollywood's highest honor, there's only so much you can do.
But, hey, if you're reading those start times and thinking, "I want more," then you're in luck. The red carpet actually begins hours before the award ceremony itself as the celebrities begin arriving. ABC, which is the network airing the Oscars, will be live from the red carpet beginning an hour before the ceremony, at 7:00 p.m. EST. But you can start to catch red carpet coverage on E! as early as 1:30 p.m. EST.
Yup, you read that right: you can start scoping gowns and tuxes six-and-a-half hours before Kimmel even takes the stage to get things rolling and probably close to seven hours before the first award is handed out.
This can really be an all day and all night thing, if you want it to be, and you might as well, right? This kind of decadence comes but once a year, so hold onto your butts and let's dive in.
