The 2008 MTV Movie Awards are live this Sunday night, but with a disturbing lack of female nominees (is anyone really surprised?), I’ve realized that you might more incentive to watch than usual. How does this do it for you?

OK, so the Pussycat Dolls might not exactly provide a huge musical presence, but the aesthetic boost certainly doesn’t hurt, does it?

Additionally, there are some lovely A-listers scheduled to present awards as well; Sarah Jessica Parker, Lindsay Lohan, Charlize Theron, Katherine McPhee, and Megan Fox are only a few.

Hello, Megan!

My shallow tendencies aside, I can’t really ignore such an obvious opportunity to see drunken celebrities act like, well, I usually do on weekends. After all, who can forget the fabulously groan-inducing Sarah Silverman jokes about jail-bound Paris Hilton a year ago? If only Mike Myers wasn’t hosting this year; I foresee more Love Guru plugs in this show than the American Idol finale. … continue reading

As we mentioned in Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. last week, there's a new interactive web series called How Do I Say This? I'm Gay on the mtvU website. The project was inspired by an email from Lilly, a college student seeking advice on how to come out to her family. Here's a snippet from her email:

"I’m in college and about to go off to my second year. That’s not the problem. I’m gay, and that’s not a problem either, it’s that I don’t know how to tell my mom and dad. I can go off to school and be who I really am, but I don’t want to have to hide it from my family."

Readers respond via video clips and images — so far the responses include a coming-out story in which "gay" is distinguished from "eccentric," and an animated short that captures the concept of taking "baby steps."

Take a look at this clip, in which a reader describes one of those awkward mom moments: … continue reading

Remember when MTV played music? When there were videos all day, not just at 6 a.m.? Well, some of you may be too young to remember that, but trust me, there was a time. For a few hours tomorrow afternoon, it will be almost like the old days .. that is, if you view a full-length Broadway musical as sort of a long music video. That's right, at 1 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, MTV will air the Broadway show Legally Blonde in its entirety.

I know that I'm a little reticent to mention it, but I like musical theater. So I'm quite pleased that MTV is airing a current Broadway show that I would not pay to see. (Free musical theater is the best.) Despite my skepticism about Legally Blonde, it's still a guilty pleasure kind of show that I kind of want to see. (It fits with my occasional desire to surreptitiously read Cosmo when I travel.) And this will not be just any airing of Legally Blonde: there will also be a “pink carpet extravaganza” and a behind-the-scenes look at the show. Apparently, the tween audience is an important part of the MTV demographic, because this show is aimed right at them.

Check out the trailer for a glimpse of what you'll see. … continue reading

Well, that was just wrong on every level. By now, you’ve probably watched, re-watched and texted your friends so they could watch the horror of the big Britney Spears MTV Video Music Awards comeback that wasn’t. For a supposed entertainment event, that was one of the more painful, more inexplicable and more unnecessary displays I’ve ever witnessed. But more than anything, it just made me sad.

If for some reason you missed it and your friends didn’t call to insist you watch it over and over again with them, consider yourself lucky ... until now. Britney Spears. “Gimme More.” VMAs 2007. You’ve been warned. … continue reading

I am way too old to watch the MTV Video Music Awards. I couldn’t pick a good chunk of the nominees out of a lineup. I don’t own any of the performers or presenters’ CDs (though I have downloaded a song or two, legally — because I am old). Yet, still, I plan to watch this Sunday. Why? Why put myself through the ordeal of watching something so clearly not aimed at my demographic, tastes or sensibilities? Why grate my teeth to a nub at the nominated songs and their accompanying bad grammar? ("The Way I Are"? I Are? Ahhhhh!) Well, it’s simple and terribly shameful. I’m going to watch the VMAs for Britney Spears.

Now, before you come after me with barber shears and a bag of Cheetos, let me explain. Sure, Britney isn’t much of a singer. Sure, she isn’t much of a scholar. And, clearly, she isn’t any kind of a role model. But there is one thing you can always count on from ol’ Brit: pure, unadulterated, unintellectualized spectacle. For good or bad, the girl knows how to create a scene. And some of her best stunts have come at the VMAs. Things like — oh, I don’t know — this.

Or this. … continue reading

Tonight's premiere of The Real World: Sydney (10:00 p.m. on MTV) introduces us to Shauvon Torres. She's 24; she's a sex columnist; she's a student at Sacramento State; she's bisexual. She's probably going to keep things interesting.

And you've probably seen The Real World, so I'll spare you the summary. When it first hit the airwaves, I thought the show was the coolest thing ever, but I eventually came to see it as the most incontrovertible proof that growing up is the coolest thing ever. The so-called real world, as envisioned by the series, is often just a shallow, selfish display of drama and whining, with the requisite hot-tub kissing scene thrown in for good measure.

But, well, Shauvon seems kinda cool, as well as kinda hot. Apparently she just broke off an engagement to a man who asked her to choose between him and her career. Reminds me of the time my sister's boyfriend asked her to choose between him and softball. You can guess how that turned out. … continue reading