Youth Seal of Approval

“Feel free to stand up and dance during the show,” the person in charge of wrangling the audience announced before the start of “The 1999 MTV Movie Awards” taping Saturday at the Santa Monica Air Center’s Barker Hangar. “This is not the Oscars, and you’re not 59.”

That, pretty much, summed up the whole point of the evening. It’s not the Oscars. And the audience is not, indeed, 59.

At the Oscars, you wouldn’t get Jim Carrey accepting the best actor award for “The Truman Show” in the character of a ‘70s vintage biker-rocker with full beard and elbow-length hair (think Val Kilmer doing Jim Morrison’s last days in “The Doors” movie). Or giving a speech that, even on cable, will have to be edited before airing.

You do get people politically putting their feet in their mouths at both, as the Farrelly brothers did during the MTV ceremony with an ill-advised remark about youth and violence during their acceptance speech--a comment that will be edited out of the show when it’s broadcast on MTV tonight. But then again, you don’t get the Farrelly brothers’ crude, but wildly successful, comedy, “There’s Something About Mary,” chosen as best picture either.

And it’s a pretty sure bet the Oscars will never add categories for best villain, best kiss and best action sequence--no matter how worthy. Or filmed bits mercilessly mocking the very movies that are being honored--such as a “trailer” for “Armagedd’nsync,” with the hit boy band ‘N Sync playing with animal crackers on show host Lisa Kudrow’s belly before saving the world from the asterisk broken loose from teen girl group B*Witched’s name.

But more and more the film studios are treating the MTV show, now in its eighth year, with a greater measure of respect. Miramax, following its aggressive Oscar campaign for “Shakespeare in Love,” ran TV ads promoting the film as nominated for four MTV Movie Awards--”including best kiss!” Universal Pictures took out trade ads the day before nominations were announced pushing Chucky “for your consideration” in the category of best villain. Chucky, for those who prefer nightmare-free sleep, is the homicidal doll in a series of films, most recently “Bride of Chucky.” Paramount, Sony, New Line, Disney and Warner Bros. all joined the ad blitz to highlight their nominees as well.

“God bless [Miramax head] Harvey Weinstein,” says Judy McGrath, president of MTV. “He’s done this every year. And the Chucky thing, we were about to put out our own ad like that for fun, and then Universal did it themselves.”

The activity is testament to the value of the MTV Movie Awards, which has risen dramatically, hand-in-hand with the prominence of youth-targeted films and the emergence of a generation of young, hot actors, typified by “Dawson’s Creek” stars Katie Holmes (best female performance this year for “Disturbing Behavior”) and James Van Der Beek (breakthrough performance for “Varsity Blues”). The decisions, too, largely rest with MTV viewers, who vote for the awards via a 900 phone number and the Internet--not to mention watch the awards show in increasing numbers.

Last year’s show was seen by 17 million people combined for the premiere and first week of rerun showings, with the number of households tuning in up 35% since 1996. Those numbers put it second in viewership of cable shows, just behind sister event “The MTV Video Music Awards.”

“The MTV awards are as important to us as the Academy Awards,” says Bob Friedman, New Line co-chairman of worldwide marketing and president of New Line Television--and a former MTV executive. “We’ve been doing some trade ads for ‘Blade’ and ‘Rush Hour’ being nominated. [Tying them to this show] says that the films have the Good Housekeeping Seal of Youth Approval.”

Joel Gallen, the show’s creator and producer, as well as the director of the spoof film clips, said the recognition and validation of those tastes is exactly the point.

“This was an irreverent, unique show reflecting an audience that is now definitely the most important audience for the movie studios,” he says.

Kudrow--nominated last year for best dance sequence from “Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion”--says that this irreverence does not imply a lack of respect for either the films or the audience.

“[The fans] of these movies are more discerning than many would like to give them credit for,” she says. “It’s not a big secret that this audience . . . sees movies many, many times, and that’s where you make a lot of money.”

That wasn’t such a no-brainer in the beginning, though, when a lot of people wondered what business a music channel had doing a movie awards show.

“The first year we did the show, I remember thinking that if none of the winners showed up, it would still be entertaining--and all of them showed up,” Gallen says. “I never expected that involvement.”

This year’s celeb presence included, among many others, Mike Myers, Katie Holmes, Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan, Brendan Fraser, Keanu Reeves, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith and Ben Affleck.

“I’m very flattered they all want to come to our party,” says MTV’s McGrath. “That’s an A-list for anything.”

In that sense, perhaps a better comparison than the Oscars is the Golden Globes, which in recent years has promoted itself as much for its fun as its significance. MTV takes it even further, to the point that the awards themselves often seem incidental. There’s no suspense--the winners know before they arrive that they’ve won--and, with the show taped five days before airing, there’s no attempt made to keep the results from the public.

While an award here doesn’t generally mean a box-office boost the way a good showing at the Oscars can--most of the films have long since left the theaters--the studios do find it an ideal place to promote upcoming video releases, such as “Shakespeare in Love,” and to hype upcoming films.

“We have a lot of people at this show,” says Jeffrey Godsick, senior vice president of publicity and promotions at 20th Century Fox, the home of “There’s Something About Mary.” “Jim Carrey, for example, is there for ‘The Truman Show,’ but he’s making a movie for us, ‘Me, Myself and Irene,’ with the Farrelly brothers.”

In a refreshing twist, no one pretends that it’s not about marketing the future. In the opening spoof film Mike Myers’ Dr. Evil has kidnapped Kudrow and introduces Billy Crystal as her co-star in “Analyze This,” looking directly at the camera to pitch, “Available on home video Aug. 17.”

Later, presenters Hugh Grant and Salma Hayek with a wink and without shame used their time on camera to plug their current and upcoming films.

Grant, nibbling a mini-roast beef sandwich in the green room, readily acknowledged that his presentation shtick was nothing but the truth. With “Notting Hill” currently in theaters and “Mickey Blue Eyes” coming soon, this was a great opportunity to shill.

Asked if he considered being there important, he admitted, “I’m told it’s important by the people I hire to tell me these things.”

* “The 1999 MTV Movie Awards” will air tonight at 9 on MTV.