MTV Movie Awards 2015: 16 Things You Didn’t See on TV
“The first MTV Movie Awards was in 1992,” Robert Downey, Jr. said while accepting his Generation Award last night at this year’s edition at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. “And I said, ‘Wow, that’s my generation’s version of the Oscars.'” That little gold, bald guy is still around, of course, but the network’s celebration of all things pop-blockbuster-y has proved to be a brattier, more irreverent twist on the venerable, stuffy awards show.
And like its predecessors, the 24th installment had an unmistakable air of catering to a young demographic — the same one that flocks to the summer movies that are peddled during commercials and, more often than not, the actual ceremony. (For instance, Downey’s heartfelt acceptance speech clumsily segued into his introduction of a clip from his forthcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron.) But not everything that happened before and during the show made it on air. Here’s what we saw go down from inside the 2015 MTV Movie Awards that didn’t make it to your TV screen.
Give It Up for the Cheap Seats
The closest orchestra seats were occupied by nominees and folks associated with the movies. But most of the rest of the orchestra guests had a blasé attitude about the entire evening. “The ordinary people in the back get a lot more excited,” one of the front-row folks said, and that dynamic ruled the rest of the show. Schumer did a solid job as host, but her bits drew little reaction from the orchestra seats. It was only in the mezzanine where you could hear real laughter — which is appropriate, given this is an award show for the people who plunk down money for multiplex tickets on Friday nights.
Not So Fast
The night’s first presenter, Furious 7‘s crooning Vin Diesel, came out to announce Best Female Performance. On TV, you could tell that he started on one side of the stage — but then he read the winner on the other side of the stage after the producers ran quick clips of all the nominees. What you didn’t see is that he spent so much time slapping hands with the pit crowd that he almost missed his cue to get across the stage before the clips ended. The stage crew didn’t let that near-mistake get close to happening again the rest of the night, moving presenters efficiently from place to place.