If you took the time to deconstruct it - and let's face it, there was more than enough time for that - the 86th annual Academy Awards was a fairly standard Oscars show.

Still, it was one of the worst in recent memory. There were mistakes, miscues, things that went on too long, things that never should have gone on at all. But if you stand back from the whole mess, the real problem was that there was so little suspense about most of the awards. Before we list all the things that went wrong, here are some of the rare highlights of the show:

-- Gracious, moving acceptance speeches from Jared Leto ("Dallas Buyers' Club"), the stunning Lupita Nyong'o for best supporting actress in "12 Years a Slave," and John Ridley (adapted screenplay winner for "12 Years a Slave").

-- The deservedly standing-O appearance of Sidney Poitier on the 50th anniversary of his own historic Oscar win.

-- Best director winner Alfonso Cuarón thanking the "wise guys at Warner Brothers," before correcting himself to say the "wise people."

-- Kim Novak's long overdue appearance, since she's not one to seek the spotlight these days, but you couldn't help wondering whether the audience knew who she was.

-- Pharrell Williams' "Happy" wake-up call, a welcome bit before Ellen DeGeneres reappeared to hit the snooze button.

What was also great about the show, though, was the continuing affirmation of at least some progress in diversity in Hollywood. From presenter to presenter, nominee to nominee, winner to winner, we saw evidence that Hollywood has come a bit further since Poitier's role in "Lilies of the Field." How wonderful, how truly deserved was the best picture win for "12 Years a Slave," a moment in history and a moment to be cherished.

Hot and cold host

DeGeneres was a decent host, and then she wasn't. She started with a fairly typical and often funny monologue from the moth-eaten-lining Oscar playbook - "It's been another tough couple of days here. It's been raining." She acknowledged various audience members, including Liza Minnelli, dressed in a garish blue satin pant suit, by saying it was "one of the most amazing Liza Minnelli impersonators I've ever seen." Minnelli either didn't find it funny - or wasn't conscious. To Jonah Hill of "The Wolf of Wall Street": "You showed us something I haven't seen in a long time," referring to his full-frontal shot.

After Leto's award as best supporting actor, the show fell from whatever narrow precipice it was on and dragged for the next two hours before any big awards with a whole bunch of science, technical and production honors which were no doubt deserved, but really - isn't it time to get rid of the awards template? Take some of the more popular awards, the ones that go to people whose faces past or post-surgery the audience knows, and pepper them into the first half of the show. Yes, you want to build to the big awards at the end, but does "building" have to be such torture?

Uneasy and unneeded

Jim Carrey made people feel uncomfortable as we wondered if he'd totally lost his grip on reality and thought HE was hosting the awards. His facial imitation of Bruce Dern was, well, plastic, to quote Benjamin Braddock, but kind of creepy.

Somehow, Oscar decided to get heroic this year, with two seemingly endless, time-wasting montages about "heroes," by which the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences meant heroes as interpreted and often trivialized by Hollywood.

Why did this show, so filled with nothing, have to go a half-hour over? I can't blame the dopey heroes montages, because once they've been cut and compiled, it's pretty hard to decide midshow to dump them. Same thing for Bette Midler's lovely but unneeded rendition of "Wind Beneath My Wings" after the In Memoriam segment, and Pink's rousing delivery of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to mark the 75th anniversary of "The Wizard of Oz."

Trying too hard

But DeGeneres really didn't have to become so in love with her own cuteness as the night wore on that she seemed to be doing a Kate McKinnon impression of herself. She gathered a bunch of stars to take a group selfie, whose retweets then crashed Twitter. She ordered pizza for the audience and spent time collecting money for it in Pharrell Williams' hat. As the hour grew later and later, she became the living, boring embodiment of overstaying one's welcome.

No one expects the Oscars to be great, but the show doesn't have to be this much of a drag. The truth is, we pretty much know the big award winners more often than not these days. It's about buzz, sure, but it's also about advertising budget, public relations and, most of all, social media. Anyone who didn't know that Cate Blanchett, Matthew McConaughey, director Cuarón and even "12 Years a Slave" were going to win their respective categories must not have been paying attention.

And, heaven knows, the Oscars are making it terrifyingly easier every year not to pay attention.
