You won’t see it reflected at the Emmys, but there’s a great demand for mindless entertainment.
There’s prestige TV, there’s Oscar-bait, and then there are films and TV shows that most people actually want to see. Someone has to acknowledge our appetite for the elements of pop culture that critics hate. That’s the purpose of the People’s Choice Awards.
The 45th annual People’s Choice Awards, which took place on Sunday, remind us that critical acclaim and popular success do not always coincide.
In its 12th season, The Big Bang Theory beat out critically acclaimed Veep and Orange Is the New Black for best comedy show. The latter shows may pair humor with social commentary, but the endurance of nerdy jokes from The Big Bang Theory may indicate that sometimes, audiences just want to laugh.
Other wins of the night rewarded relatability and not, as one might expect from reading the news, politics. Jimmy Fallon, the less political of the Jimmys, won best nighttime talk show. Ellen DeGeneres won daytime talk show and social celebrity. No matter how many wokescolds try to shame her for hanging out with George W. Bush, the people love her anyway. Same goes for Kevin Hart.
When it comes to drama, youth beat prestige. Viewers picked Stranger Things for best show and drama show, and Millie Bobby Brown (who plays series-star Eleven) won female TV star. Cole Sprouse (formerly of the Disney show the Suite Life of Zack & Cody) beat Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington and This is Us’ Milo Ventimiglia for male TV star thanks to Sprouse’s role in Riverdale, a popular high school show. Also a former Disney star, Zendaya won drama TV star award for her role in the gritty teen drama Euphoria.
For music, listeners awarded South Korean band BLACKPINK, Shawn Mendez, and Billie Eilish, as well as Taylor Swift’s Lover for album of the year. Other winners included the box office hit Avengers: Endgame, the dumb but fun movie Murder Mystery, and Aladdin.
As they did last year, viewers chose Keeping Up with the Kardashians as their favorite reality show. Khloé Kardashian also won as reality star of the year. Somehow, audiences enjoy watching dramatic divas who refuse to defer to the PC crowd.
The People’s Choice Awards reflects viewers’ tastes, but it also awards super fans. Votes used to be counted by Gallup, but now E! News releases a list of eight nominees so viewers worldwide can vote on them. For 45 days, fans can vote up to 25 times per day on Twitter and on E!’s website.
This year’s winners are diverse, spanning from the dumb comedy of Big Bang Theory to the sad girl music of Eilish. One thing that unites the winners is this: They were largely apolitical. Taylor Swift has been in the news recently for finally speaking out for political issues, but she mostly keeps them out of her music. You’ll find more patriotism than politics in Stranger Things and product placement, not political plugs, in Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
Hollywood may award certain narratives, but viewers have their own taste. And they can’t get enough of escapist television, no matter how mindless it may be.
