William Earl The 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards ran a lot like a COVID-era awards show, as the non-live event padded out two hours of runtime with throwback clips, a result of a quick pivot due to the writers strike. (And actually, this was a repeat of the very same thing the MTV Movie & TV Awards did during COVID in 2020, when it also had to trot out dusty clips in lieu of new material.) In the days leading up to the show, Variety broke the news that host Drew Barrymore was pulling out of her hosting duties in solidarity with the strike.
After that, producers hoped to still pull off some sort of live event sans host. But when the WGA announced it would picket the event on Sunday, producers gave up and announced that the show would shift to a pre-taped event.
At least most of the pre-tapes were already written and shot prior to the May 1 strike. Although that did make for an awkward use of Barrymore as the non-host, but really the only consistent presence on screen.
The show began with a “Never Been Kissed’ spoof recorded before the strike, with Barrymore reprising her role of the film’s Josie Geller and parodying the night’s nominees like “Smile,” “Nope,” “Wednesday,” “White Lotus,” “M3GAN,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Cocaine Bear.” Barrymore also showed up in the first commercial break in a pre-taped sponcon ad for Cheetos Popcorn, which simulated her backstage while hosting the event.
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