MTV Movie & TV Awards Scraps Traditional Show for ‘Greatest of All Time’ Special Hosted by Vanessa Hudgens

Michael Schneider
·3 min read

MTV has finally revealed its plans for this year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards. Instead of a regular show honoring the year’s best entertainment, the network has announced that this year’s edition will instead focus on the best moments in film and TV over the past 40 years.

“MTV Movie & TV Awards: Greatest of All Time,” which premieres Sunday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. on the network, will be hosted by Vanessa Hudgens. The 90-minute special, produced by Den of Thieves, “will pay homage to the best of the best from the most beloved actors to scene stealing moments” from the 1980s until now, the network said.

The special will include mostly new material, along with some clips from previous MTV Movie & TV Awards shows. The special also promises “exclusive footage of the most anticipated 2021 releases.” Performers and honorees will be announced later.

Spanning from the 1980s to today, “Greatest of All Time” comes as MTV prepares to mark its 40th anniversary next year (having launched on Aug. 1, 1981).

MTV said it was planning to return to the regular MTV Movie & TV Awards format next year, promising a “weekend event takeover.” MTV didn’t confirm whether the show would stay in December — which would put it in the middle of the Oscar awards season.

Executive producers for “MTV Movie & TV Awards: Greatest of All Time” include MTV’s Bruce Gillmer, Wendy Plaut, and Vanessa Whitewolf, along with Den Of Thieves’ Jesse Ignjatovic and Barb Bialkowski. Jackie Barba and Alicia Portugal are executives in charge of production and Lisa Lauricella is music talent executive.

This represents the first time MTV hasn’t held the awards show in its normal form since the kudocast first launched (then, as the MTV Movie Awards) in 1992.

MTV never announced a firm date or plan this year for the Movie & TV Awards, but last year’s event was taped in Los Angeles on June 15, and aired June 17 on the channel. Zachary Levi hosted.

When no show materialized this year, it was assumed that the Movie & TV Awards had been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. But MTV execs said they had been planning to move the franchise to December even before COVID-19.

In August, MTV held its annual Video Music Awards on a virtual set, with outdoor performances around New York, instead of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn as originally planned.

For most of its existence, the telecast was known as the MTV Movie Awards, taking advantage of the spring kickoff of the summer box office season. In 2017, the name was changed to the “MTV Movie & TV Awards” and included television series for the first time. Also that year, the network went gender-neutral, embracing a decision to merge male and female performers into singular categories.

In 2018, MTV moved the show to June, in order to capitalize on Emmy For Your Consideration campaign season on the TV side. The show also TV categories this year include best show and best performance in a show, intergrated TV and film into joint categories including “Best Hero,” “Best Villain,” “Best On-Screen Team,” “Best Comedic Performance” and “Scene Stealer.”

Last year’s big winners included “Avengers: Endgame” as best movie and “Game of Thrones” as best show, while “A Star is Born’s” Lady Gaga was named best movie performance, and “The Handmaid’s Tale’s” Elisabeth Moss was best TV show performance.

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