“MTV Movie & TV Awards 2023: Celebrating the Best in Pop Culture”

The MTV Movie & TV Awards 2023 was held on Sunday in the midst of a writers’ strike that caused many changes in the event’s production. Despite the last-minute shake-up, the awards show still managed to attract a motley crew of stars who graced the occasion with their presence. Among them were blockbuster film “Top Gun: Maverick” and TV shows such as “Stranger Things,” “The Last of Us,” “The White Lotus” and “Wednesday,” which received the most nominations in the scripted content categories.

The unscripted categories were also filled with shows such as “Jersey Shore Family Vacation,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and “Vanderpump Rules” leading the nominations. Although there were no actual hosts, Jennifer Coolidge received the Comic Genius Award, while Purple Hearts for “Come Back Home” won the best musical moment award.

The ceremony’s original host, Drew Barrymore, stepped down after the announcement of the writers’ strike. However, she had already taped some bits before the strike, which were used in the show. In her statement, Barrymore vowed to return as host for the 2024 show.

The strike took place as striking members of the Writers Guild of America planned to picket at the Santa Monica Barker Hangar, where the event was being filmed. In response, the MTV Movie & TV Awards pivoted away from a live event by airing a pre-taped version of the ceremony on Sunday instead. The telecast included flashback clips from previous MTV Movie & TV Awards shows, which constituted an overwhelming majority of the show, along with pre-taped speeches from winners.

### Nominees and Winners

The full list of nominees for the various categories is provided below, with the winners indicated in bold:

#### Best Movie

– “Avatar: The Way of Water”
– “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
– “Elvis”
– “Nope”
– “Scream VI” *WINNER
– “Smile”
– “Top Gun: Maverick”

#### Best Show

– “Stranger Things”
– “The Last of Us” *WINNER
– “The White Lotus”
– “Wednesday”
– “Wolf Pack”
– “Yellowstone”
– “Yellowjackets”

#### Best Performance in a Movie

– Austin Butler — “Elvis”
– Florence Pugh — “Don’t Worry Darling:
– KeKe Palmer — “Nope”
– Michael B. Jordan — “Creed III”
– Tom Cruise — “Top Gun: Maverick” *WINNER

#### Best Performance in a Show

– Aubrey Plaza — “The White Lotus”
– Christina Ricci — “Yellowjackets”
– Jenna Ortega — “Wednesday” *WINNER
– Riley Keough — “Daisy Jones & The Six”
– Sadie Sink — “Stranger Things”
– Selena Gomez — “Only Murders in the Building”

#### Best Hero

– Diego Luna — “Andor”
– Jenna Ortega — “Wednesday”
– Paul Rudd — “Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania”
– Pedro Pascal — “The Last Of Us” *WINNER
– Tom Cruise — “Top Gun: Maverick”

#### Best Villain

– Elizabeth Olsen — “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” *WINNER
– Harry Styles — “Don’t Worry Darling”
– Jamie Campbell Bower — “Stranger Things”
– M3GAN — “M3GAN”
– The Bear — “Cocaine Bear”

#### Best Kiss (presented by Cheetos®)

– Anna Torv + Philip Prajoux — “The Last Of Us”
– Harry Styles + David Dawson — “My Policeman”
– Madison Bailey + Rudy Pankow — “Outer Banks” *WINNER
– Riley Keough + Sam Claflin — “Daisy Jones & The Six”
– Selena Gomez + Cara Delevingne — “Only Murders in the Building”

#### Best Comedic Performance

– Adam Sandler — “Murder Mystery 2” *WINNER
– Dylan O’Brien — “Not Okay”
– Jennifer Coolidge — “Shotgun Wedding”
– KeKe Palmer — “Nope”
– Quinta Brunson — “Abbott Elementary”

#### Breakthrough Performance

– Bad Bunny — “Bullet Train”
– Bella Ramsey — “The Last Of Us”
– Emma D’Arcy — “House of the Dragon”
– Joseph Quinn — “Stranger Things” *WINNER
– Rachel Sennott — “Bodies Bodies Bodies”

#### Best Fight

– Brad Pitt (Ladybug) vs. Bad Bunny (The Wolf) — “Bullet Train”
– Courteney Cox (Gale Weathers) vs. Ghostface — “Scream VI” *WINNER
– Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna) vs. Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) — “Stranger Things”
– Keanu Reeves (John Wick) vs. Everyone — “John Wick 4”
– Escape from Narkina 5 — “Andor”

#### Most Frightened Performance

– Jennifer Coolidge – “The White Lotus” *WINNER
– Jesse Tyler Ferguson – “Cocaine Bear”
– Justin Long – “Barbarian”
– Rachel Sennott – “Bodies Bodies Bodies”
– Sosie Bacon – “Smile”

#### Best Duo

– Camila Mendes + Maya Hawke – “Do Revenge”
– Jenna Ortega + Thing – “Wednesday”
– Pedro Pascal + Bella Ramsey – “The Last Of Us” *WINNER
– Simona Tabasco + Beatrice Grannò – “The White Lotus”
– Tom Cruise + Miles Teller – “Top Gun: Maverick”

#### Best Kick-Ass Cast

– “Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania”
– “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
– “Outer Banks”
– “Stranger Things” *WINNER
– “Teen Wolf: The Movie”

#### Best Song

– Demi Lovato – Still Alive (“Scream VI”)
– Doja Cat – Vegas (“Elvis”)
– Lady Gaga – Hold My Hand (“Top Gun: Maverick”)
– OneRepublic – I Ain’t Worried (“Top Gun: Maverick”)
– Rihanna – Lift Me Up (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”)
– Taylor Swift – Carolina (“Where The Crawdads Sing”) *WINNER

#### Best Docu-Reality Series

– “Jersey Shore Family Vacation”
– “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”
– “Family Reunion: Love & Hip Hop Edition”
– “The Kardashians” *WINNER
– “Vanderpump Rules”

#### Best Competition Series

– “All-Star Shore”
– “Big Brother”
– “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All-Stars” *WINNER
– “The Challenge: USA”
– “The Traitors”

#### Best Host

– Drew Barrymore – “The Drew Barrymore Show” *WINNER
– Joel Madden – “Ink Master”
– Nick Cannon – “The Masked Singer”
– RuPaul – “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
– Kelly Clarkson – “The Kelly Clarkson Show”

#### Best Reality On-Screen Team (presented by SONIC®)

– Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, Vinny Guadagnino, Pauly D (MVP) – “Jersey Shore Family Vacation”
– Tori Deal and Devin Walker – “The Challenge: Ride or Dies”
– RuPaul Charles and Michelle Visage – “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
– Ariana Madix, Katie Maloney, Scheana Shay, LaLa Kent – “Vanderpump Rules” *WINNER
– Garcelle Beauvais and Sutton Stracke – “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”

### The Impact of the Awards Show

The MTV Movie & TV Awards has become a significant event in the entertainment industry, heralding the diversity of modern pop culture. The award categories reflect the ever-changing trends and shifts in cultural norms, with nominees ranging from traditional films and shows to emerging content formats. By recognizing excellence and achievement in the industry, the awards help shape modern-day pop culture’s direction and set the standard for future content creation.

Despite the challenges caused by the writers’ strike, it is commendable that the MTV Movie & TV Awards 2023 still managed to deliver an excellent show that celebrated a diverse range of nominees and winners. It remains to be seen how the successive events will shape the future of pop culture, but one thing is for sure: the 2023 awards set the bar high for content creators to strive towards in the future.