Oscars 2021: Chloé Zhao, 'Nomadland' make history at wobbly Academy Awards The producers of the 93rd Academy Awards were handed an unenviable assignment.

They were tasked with putting on a lively show that resurrected both the rarefied glamor of vintage Hollywood and the comforting normalcy of life before the pandemic — all while abiding by a laundry list of Covid-19 safety protocols. If they succeeded, the thinking went, they just might be able to stave off a record-low ratings disaster and maybe even drive some Americans back to movie theaters.