The MTV Movie & TV Awards winners support the WGA strike and show a complete waste of time

The start of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike prompted this change. Almost immediately, Drew Barrymore resigned as host in solidarity with the WGA union, although she said she would return next year. From there, the show quickly ditched its red carpet and eventual live broadcast.

When it aired, it was little more than a clip show with a bumbling narrator announcing the categories and winners, spliced ​​through a series of “flashback” moments…to remind us when this show was fun!

“As we carefully consider how best to deliver the Fan First Awards show, we envisioned our team worked so hard to create it, we are turning our backs on a live event that still allows us to produce an unforgettable night full of exclusive sneak peaks, irreverent categories that our audience awaits and countless moments that will both surprise and delight as we honor the best of film and television of the past year”, executive producer Bruce Gilmer said in a statement last week.

It was an ambitious plan with very little time to carry it out. We’ll give them credit for filling the full two hours, but that’s about all we can praise. Even Tom Cruise accepting his award from the cockpit of his fighter jet wasn’t enough to save the show – but to be fair, isn’t that expected of him at this point?

With so little time to develop a real backup plan, and perhaps worried about how much money they had already invested, the show moved on with all the pre-taped bits that featured Drew Barrymore with the big movies and TV shows of the year interacted.

They were cute enough and perfectly suited to the silly things that usually happen on this show, but there was no on-screen context as to why we were seeing so much of Drew. Someone not paying attention to the news would have just found it odd, although we’ll never complain about a Josie Grossie appearance!

About half of the winners sent in pre-taped acceptance speeches, ironically including both Barrymore and Lala Kent, who notably withdrew from the live show — before it was scrapped by MTV — in support of the WGA strike.

Some of the winners who sent in recorded messages included messages of support for the authors in their acceptance speeches, including Barrymore. “I want to think of Chelsea White, Christina Kinon and Liz Koe, our amazing, amazing writers,” she said. “It’s definitely for her and for every single person who does this show. There is no I in Mine, only Ours and We. Thank you, from Us and Me.”

Joseph Quinn, who took home Breakthrough Performance for his fan-favorite role as Eddie Munson in “Stranger Things,” also paid tribute to the writers and credited them for how fans came to embrace his misfit personality.

“I don’t think people would relate to a character like Eddie or anyone else in the Stranger Things universe without compassionate, intelligent, quality writing,” he said. “Being a writer is a tough job and it deserves respect. And I think the more people respect each other, the more friendly, inclusive and collaborative it’s for everyone. Wouldn’t that be nice.”

He also made a brief joke about the “ST” fandom’s bigotry and their love for Eddie by thanking them for their support. “I’m incredibly grateful to you guys,” he told his fans. “I’m a little scared of you, but ultimately I owe you a deep, deep debt of gratitude, so thank you.”

Comedic Genius Award winner Jennifer Coolidge sent her two messages (she also won for Most Frightened Performance) while eating real popcorn in classic Coolidge fashion. In her first speech, she supported the WGA strike as a union colleague.

“As a proud member of the SAG, I stand here before you tonight, you know, alongside my sisters and brothers from the WGA who are fighting right now and fighting for artists’ rights everywhere,” she said. “I think of the words of Shakespeare, where he once said: ‘The play is the thing.’ Well, I don’t want to put words in his mouth or anything, but I think what he really meant was, ‘It’s everything!’

After winning the Best Competition Series, the stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race: All-Stars continued their message of acceptance and urged the visibility of LGBTQIA+ children while shouting down anti-trans and LGBTQIA+ laws nationwide.

“It’s so important to hear queer and trans stories from queer and trans people,” Jinkx Monsoon said, “to meet the artists behind the art and see the people there so we can develop empathy for one another.”

In the spirit of what we said above that this could have been an email, here’s what that could have looked like:

To whom it May concern,

Below are the winners of the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards. “The Last of Us” was the night’s big winner, taking home three golden popcorns, followed by Jennifer Coolidge, “Stranger Things” and “Scream VI”, the each took home two awards.

• BEST HERO – Pedro Pascal, “The Last of Us”
• BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FILM – Tom Cruise, “Top Gun: Maverick”
• BEST REALITY DOCUMENTARY SERIES – “The Kardashians”
• COMEDIC GENIUS AWARD -Jennifer Coolidge
• BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE – Joseph Quinn, “Stranger Things”
• BEST REALITY ON SCREEN TEAM – Ariana Madix, Katie Maloney, Scheana Shay & Lala Kent, “Vanderpump Rules”
• BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE – Adam Sandler, “Murder Mystery 2”
• BEST DUO – Pedro Pascal & Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us”
• BEST FIGHT – Gale Weathers vs. Ghostface, “Scream VI”
• MOST TERRIBLE PERFORMANCE – Jennifer Coolidge, “The White Lotus”
• BEST COMPETITION SERIES – “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars”
• BEST KISS -Madison Bailey & Rudy Pankow, “Outer Banks”
• BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY: “Selena Gomez: My Mind and I”
• BEST SHOW – “The last of us”
• BEST MUSICAL MOMENT – Sofia Carson, “Come Back Home”, “Purple Hearts”
• BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SHOW – Jenna Ortega, “Wednesday”
• BEST VILLAIN: Elizabeth Olsen, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”
• BEST KICK-ASS CAST: “Stranger Things”
• BEST SONG: Taylor Swift, “Carolina”, “Where the Crawdads Sing”
• BEST HOST – Drew Barrymore, “The Drew Barrymore Show”
• BEST MOVIE – “Scream VI”

Thank you for your time and enjoy the rest of your evening – including the two hours we just saved you.

Best regards,

MTV