That was no broadcast for old men. But then it never is. Ending late, sometimes with the rising sun, Oscars telecasts tend to bring out the worst in critics, who look for any reason to hate the show and find the ceaseless nature of this beast the most convenient one. 
But me? No. Not me. This one ended at around a quarter to twelve which is sort of like a reprieve - an unexpected and thoroughly welcome early release for good behavior. Whom to thank? Not just Jon Stewart, who was in fact brisk. Not just the writers' strike which meant (I'm spitballing here, of course) that writers didn't have enough time to over-write this thing. It was helpful that most of the winners didn't speak English. One tends to be gloriously brief in one's acceptance speech when one tends not to understand a word of what one is saying.
But we should be deeply, eternally grateful to Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men" winners over and over and over. I think they got up on stage fifteen times, or something like that. Each instance, Joel said about ten words, Ethan just two ("thank you.") They're kind of like the Penn and Teller of directors - Ethan's Teller, of course. It must be that austere Minnesota temperament, but Ethan - shorter of stature and words - is the perfect, or at least, ideal winner. Imagine if these two were the type of winner who needs to thank every aunt and uncle four generations back? Last night's show wouldn't end until Wednesday. If these guys were also actors, writers and set designers, they woulda won those awards too and we'd have all been in bed by 10.
What of Stewart? For the most part, pretty good. His monologue (you can always tell whether a show will be excruciating, depending on these five minutes) was solid and often funny. Discriminating tastes may have found offense in the Barack Obama/"Gaydolf Titler" line - but such tastes would find offense in anything. I thought he was fine, overall.
Clips? Yeah, a lot and none particularly nourishing (there were too many, given that this was the 80th.) Political jokes? A few (see above) though I can't remember any (from Stewart) with any bite. The writers' strike? Seemed like ancient history - forgotten already, as if nothing had really happened over the last three months. Diablo Cody dedicated her award to the writers; I'm sure they all appreciated the gesture, even though meaningless. Stewart called last night's show "makeup sex," but the broadcast's relative brevity, overall garage-band rougher-around-the-edges feel, and gloom-and-doom nominees/winners list gave the sense that the long enforced period of chastity was even better.