Conan O’Brien is returning to host the Oscars for a second consecutive year. The Academy Awards will air live on ABC and stream on Hulu on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.
O’Brien hosted the 97th Oscars in 2025, where he helped bring the telecast to a five-year ratings high. Variety called him at his “acerbic best” during that show – a performance strong enough to earn him an invitation back.
“That experience was fun for me,” O’Brien said. “My old rule is that if it’s fun for me to do it, it might be fun for people to watch it. There’s a lot of chatter about how it’s a thankless task to host one of these shows, and I didn’t find that to be true. I found it to be a fun gig; I enjoyed it.”
As for preparation this time around, O’Brien joked he’s made adjustments. “Last year, I ate a massive Italian meal just before going onstage. Huge! Multiple cutlets of veal parmesan, mountains of meatballs, spaghetti carbonara, and then I drank a huge glass of warm cream. Those things weighed me down a bit. This year, I’m not going to do that. I’m going to have a very simple Japanese bento box – a little bit of raw fish, maybe some edamame – and then I’ll hit the stage. It’s going to be a bit lighter this year.”
O’Brien and his team of writers are preparing jokes for the ceremony. “I don’t care how long someone has been in the business of making people laugh: getting a laugh is as exciting now at my age as it was when I was 12,” he said. “It’s the same endorphins, the same chemicals, the same sense of ‘Oh, my God! I’m so glad that worked!'”
Disney and theme park fans have a stake in this year’s show. Avatar: Fire and Ash costume designer Deborah L. Scott is nominated for her work on the film, which set much of its story across Pandora – the world that inspired Walt Disney World’s Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
The Oscars air live on ABC and stream on Hulu on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.
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