The 2020 content that kept us sane, made us crazy, or otherwise checked into social media will get its due this May when MTV rolls out its awards for movies, television, and the reality show universe as part of the 2021 MTV Movie and TV Awards, which have just announced this year’s nominations.
In what the network describes as an “epic two-night Los Angeles takeover,” it will split out its award-giving for dramatic and reality-based programming. The MTV Movie & TV Awards will air Sunday, May 16 at 9/8c, live from the Palladium in LA, while Movie & TV Awards: UNSCRIPTED will follow on Monday, May 17 at 9/8c. The hosts and presenters for either show have not yet been announced, nor have any COVID-19 protocols. Maybe the presenters will toss the winners their gilded MTV popcorn buckets from across an expanse of Palladium stage. We’ll see!
But in order to win, you have to be nominated, and to that end, there are some heavy-hitters on the scripted side. WandaVision leads the field with five nominations, including Best Show, Elizabeth Olsen for Best Performance In A Show, Teyonah Parris for Best Hero, and Kathryn Hahn for Best Villain, as well as Olsen vs. Hahn for Best Fight. Emily In Paris is up for Best Show, too, plus Lily Collins & Lucas Bravo for that MTV awards show favorite, Best Kiss.
The Best Movie category, meanwhile, includes noms for Promising Young Woman (with Carey Mulligan also being nominated in the Best Performance category), Judas and the Black Messiah, Soul, To All the Boys: Always and Forever, and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, for which Maria Bakalova also grabbed a Breakthrough Performance nomination. Meanwhile, Bakalova and Borat himself, Sacha Baron Cohen, have some stiff competition in the Best Duo field, including Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo for the zany Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar.
Fans will be able to vote for their favorites in all 25 categories via vote.mtv.com through April 30.
On the reality/unscripted side of things, RuPal’s Drag Race leads all comers with four nominations, including Best Cast and Best Host. There are straightforward categories for Best Dating Show (90 Day Fiance, The Bachelorette, etc.), Best Competition Series (The Circle, The Challenge, Drag Race again), and Best Comedy/Game Show (Floor is Lava, Ridiculousness). But MTV also drills into the peculiarities of the reality show landscape with such categories as Best Fight — Chrishell Stause vs. Christine Quinn on Selling Sunset! Kourtney vs. Kim on Keeping Up With The Kardashians! — and Best Breakthrough Social Star, where the nominees include Addison Rae and Bretman Rock.
Somewhat curiously, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness was only nominated once, for Best Real-Life Mystery or Crime Series. Perhaps its manic social media takeover of Pandemic’s early stages has just receded too far into Lockdown Life’s rearview mirror. In any case, we’ll learn who bested who in the above categories, as well as Most Frightened Performance — don’t ever change, Music Television — when the MTV Movie & TV Awards and Movie & TV Awards: UNSCRIPTED take to the airwaves this coming May.
COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINEES, SCRIPTED:
BEST MOVIE
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Judas and the Black Messiah
Promising Young Woman
Soul
To All the Boys: Always and Forever
BEST SHOW
Bridgerton
Cobra Kai
Emily in Paris
The Boys
WandaVision
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MOVIE
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Zendaya – Malcolm & Marie
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SHOW
Anya Taylor-Joy – The Queen’s Gambit
Elizabeth Olsen – WandaVision
Elliot Page – The Umbrella Academy
Emma Corrin – The Crown
Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You
BEST HERO
Anthony Mackie – The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Gal Gadot – Wonder Woman 1984
Jack Quaid – The Boys
Pedro Pascal – The Mandalorian
Teyonah Parris – WandaVision
BEST KISS
Chase Stokes & Madelyn Cline – Outer Banks
Jodie Comer & Sandra Oh – Killing Eve
Lily Collins & Lucas Bravo – Emily in Paris
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan & Jaren Lewison – Never Have I Ever
Regé-Jean Page & Phoebe Dynevor – Bridgerton
BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE
Annie Murphy – Schitt’s Creek
Eric Andre – Bad Trip
Issa Rae – Insecure
Jason Sudeikis – Ted Lasso
Leslie Jones – Coming 2 America
BEST VILLAIN
Aya Cash – The Boys
Ewan McGregor – Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
Giancarlo Esposito – The Mandalorian
Kathryn Hahn – WandaVision
Nicholas Hoult – The Great
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Antonia Gentry – Ginny & Georgia
Ashley Park – Emily in Paris
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Paul Mescal – Normal People
Regé-Jean Page – Bridgerton
BEST FIGHT
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) – Final Funhouse Fight
Cobra Kai – Finale House Fight
The Boys – Starlight, Queen Maeve, Kimiko vs. Stormfront
WandaVision – Wanda vs. Agatha
Zack Snyder’s Justice League – Final Fight vs. Steppenwolf
MOST FRIGHTENED PERFORMANCE
Elisabeth Moss – The Invisible Man
Jurnee Smollett – Lovecraft Country
Simona Brown – Behind Her Eyes
Victoria Pedretti – The Haunting of Bly Manor
Vince Vaughn – Freaky
BEST DUO
Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar – Star (Kristen Wiig) & Barb (Annie Mumolo)
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – Falcon (Anthony Mackie) & Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan)
The Mandalorian – Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) & Grogu
Emily in Paris – Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) & Mindy Chen (Ashley Park)
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan – Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) & Tutar Sagdiyev (Maria Bakalova)
COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINEES, UNSCRIPTED:
BEST DOCU-REALITY SHOW
Below Deck Mediterranean
Black Ink Crew New York
Bling Empire
Jersey Shore Family Vacation
Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta
BEST DATING SHOW
90 Day Fiancé
Ex On The Beach
Love Is Blind
Ready to Love
The Bachelorette
BEST REALITY CAST
90 Day Fiancé
Jersey Shore Family Vacation
Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta
RuPaul’s Drag Race
The Real Housewives of Atlanta
BEST COMPETITION SERIES
Legendary
RuPaul’s Drag Race
The Challenge
The Circle
The Masked Singer
BEST LIFESTYLE SHOW
Deliciousness
Fixer Upper: Welcome Home
Making The Cut
Nailed It!
Queer Eye
BEST NEW UNSCRIPTED SERIES (brought to you by SONIC® Drive-In)
Bling Empire
Cardi Tries
Selena + Chef
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City
VH1 Family Reunion: Love & Hip Hop Edition
BEST TALK / TOPICAL SHOW
A Little Late with Lilly Singh
Red Table Talk
The Breakfast Club
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
BEST COMEDY / GAME SHOW
Floor Is Lava
Impractical Jokers
Kids Say the Darndest Things
Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out
Ridiculousness
BEST HOST
Nicole Byer – Nailed It!
Rob Dyrdek – Ridiculousness
RuPaul – RuPaul’s Drag Race
T.J. Lavin – The Challenge
Tiffany Haddish – Kids Say the Darndest Things
BREAKTHROUGH SOCIAL STAR
Addison Rae
Bretman Rock
Charli D’Amelio
Jalaiah Harmon
Rickey Thompson
BEST REAL-LIFE MYSTERY OR CRIME SERIES
Catfish: The TV Show
Evil Lives Here
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness
Unsolved Mysteries
BEST FIGHT
Selling Sunset – Chrishell Stause vs. Christine Quinn
The Real Housewives of New Jersey – Jackie Goldschneider vs. Teresa Giudice
Untucked: RuPaul’s Drag Race – Kandy Muse vs. Tamisha Iman
Keeping Up With The Kardashians – Kourtney Kardashian vs. Kim Kardashian West
Legendary – Law Roach vs. Guest Judge Dominique Jackson
BEST INTERNATIONAL REALITY SERIES
Acapulco Shore
Geordie Shore
Love Island (ITV)
¡Nailed it! México
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK