The not-live host-less 2023 edition couldn’t escape the specter of the strike, not least because some of its biggest stars expressed their support directly in taped acceptance speeches. Like so many other flailing Hollywood institutions before it, the awards show tried to turn things around with a stunt from Tom Cruise in which he professed his passion for entertaining (and plugged Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One) while flying a plane. But Cruise’s daredevil ways couldn’t cover up the fact that the night was MTV’s own Frankenstein’s monster, with new clips sewn together with old clips so as to be nearly indistinguishable. Even Barrymore’s most significant pre-taped bit relied on nostalgia (reprising her role as Josie Grossie in Never Been Kissed.