"We're living in a golden age of content, and great storytelling and characters resonate regardless of whether you're watching it in a theater or on TV," MTV president Chris McCarthy said in a March 13 news release. "The new 'MTV Movie & TV Awards' will celebrate even more of the brightest, bravest, funniest and most shared films and TV shows resonating across youth culture."
The network announced on Thursday that categories once designated by gender -- Best Actor and Best Actress -- will be replaced by gender-neutral categories Best Actor in a Movie and Best Actor in a Show.
The Best Fight category has also been changed to Best Fight the System because of “the audience’s increasing awareness and activism around broader social justice issues,” according to the news release.
Other new categories include Best American Story for a show or movie that “showcases America at its most open and diverse,” Tearjerker for the most emotional scene in a show or film, Best Host, Best Reality Competition and Next Generation for emerging major stars like “Get Out’s”Daniel Kaluuya, “Insecure’s” Issa Rae and Chrissy Metz of “This Is Us”, who are among the nominees in that category this year.
The MTV Movie & TV Awards will be hosted by "Modern Family" actor Adam Devine and will air live at 8 p.m. May 6 on MTV.
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