Drew Barrymore may not have hosted the MTV Movie and TV Awards, but she still had a presence on Sunday night. The clip-packed awards show featured several pre-recorded skits starring Barrymore doing everything from dancing on “Wednesday” to reprising his role in “Never Been Kissed.”
Barrymore was originally scheduled to host the MTV Movie and TV Awards, but pulled out of the event last Thursday, two days after the start of the WGA strike. At the time, the host of “The Drew Barrymore Show” said she withdrew from the event “in solidarity with the strike.” MTV likely planned to accompany Barrymore’s hosting duties with a batch of sketches that put the beloved stars in some of the biggest shows and movies of the past year. But watching the clips without Barrymore as the host was still fun.
The awards ceremony began with a memory. In her iconic “Never Been Kissed” gown, Barrymore wowed her way through recent hits like Parker Finn’s horror flick “Smile,” Jordan Peele’s sci-fi western “Nope,” Netflix’s “Wednesday,” and Tim Burton, Mike White’s “Wednesday” and HBO. The White Lotus,” Gerard Johnstone’s horror comedy “M3GAN,” Joseph Kosinski’s blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick” and Elizabeth Banks’ stranger-than-fiction “Cocaine Bear.” And before you ask, yes of course Barrymore did the “Wednesday” and “M3GAN” dances.
She then appeared in the “Barbie” trailer, correcting a major casting oversight. Barrymore pretended to be an unofficial “Patron”. If he doesn’t know, Skipper was Barbie’s first sister, appearing in 1964. Barrymore doesn’t just respect the WGA; she respects the Barbie tradition.
He then returned to “Wednesday” to dance some more. As Jenna Ortega looked on in shock, Barrymore spun in the rain and was eventually struck by lightning.
Thats not all. Barrymore also won an award for best talk show host from her. During her speech, she made it a point to thank the writers of her show.
It’s all part of the intentionally clip-laden awards show from the MTV Movie and TV Awards. Originally, the network planned for Barrymore to host her awards show live, which would air after she arrived on the red carpet. But in the aftermath of the writers’ strike, MTV was forced to quickly change the format of the show that has been around since 1992.
While more and more presenters and nominees walked out of the awards show out of respect for the strike and the WGA protested the event, the red carpet was cancelled. The live element of the show was canceled as the event was rotated to show clips from past ceremonies. Nominees for each category were called, and the winner accepted their award via a pre-recorded message.