Here we have the "Adult Video News Awards 2001" and the title includes all the information you need really. This is from 2001, so will have its 20th anniversary very soon and of course here we have the adult film equivalent to the Academy Awards. This was the eighteenth edition if I am not mistaken, which means that in other words, there were approximately the same amount of editions between when it all started and 2001 as there is betwen 2001 and now. Maybe even less. Just to show you how old this is. This was recorded in January 2001 and if information here on imdb are correct, it did not air until October 2001. Shocking long time in-between. I think awards shows should really be live, but I guess one or two days max is still somewhat tolerable, but seriously nine months? This is so wrong. I mean maybe the (grown-up) family members of the winners want to see their loved ones here and they have to wait for ages. Then again, this seems to be a common problem with this awards show, also on many other occasions, but normally it is just four or five moths I believe. This one here ran for an eternal over two hours and twenty minutes. Massive, but also not the exception. These days, this show is much shorter (also without corona), but back then they really stretched it for as long as they could. The main reason for that is that they included scenes from some of the winners and nominees, actually pretty lengthy scenes. So there is not necessarily more stage action. Nonetheless the fact that some of these scenes from the films were more entertaining and arousing than the ceremony is pretty telling. My favorites probably were "Please", "Island Fever" and a modern adult take on the enternal Jekyll/Hyde story. Or I should say the stunning women in there. But there were also pointless moments and parts of the show that made sure we go way beyond two hours here. Like near the end, on one occasion, they had simply basically every woman in the room (okay that is exaggerated) come to the stage and dance a bit to the music. So random, but also awkwardly funny. Probably would not happen in 2020. Still, even with this scene, there was less focus on music. these days, they have one or two pretty famous recording artists, usually the biggest name of the entire event, perform once or even twwice, but back then, there were other priorities. One would be a cam installed on the stage in a way you could take a look from the bottom up the awards recipients' legs and even see their genitals. Some of the women, one Black woman especially, even posed in a way where the intention was that you could literally see everything. Charming. But also pretty hilarious how this was perceived back then. Today, it is almost considered a felony and if this show, with such an inclusion took place today, then everybody would be up in arms and probably the entire event would be cancelled for the future. And the person who had the idea would never find work again in this industry. But props to the one dude who is not scared of showing what he got there. Now that was the perfect approach to gender equality. Not banning, not removing everything and telling people not to speak about it. Political correctness is the really the death of any kind of boldness, creativity, freedom of speech etc. People back then apparently knew this much better compared to snowflakes, feminists and white knights today. Guess what women need much more than changes in language? Same wages. And most of all to get away with their lives when they want to divorce their husband. But hey, that is one area we'd better not talk too much because it involves the self-proclaimed religion of peace. Okay, drifting a bit away now. Back on subject: Let's keep in mind this was 2001. Up to you to decide if that's old. Feels almost like yesterday to me. I mean this happened briefly after the WTC terrorist attack to put things into perspective. I forgot about two of the basics here too. First would be that the director is Mark Stone. He died a while ago, but was truly prolific back in the day. Also the fella who has been in charge of writing, directing and producing nowadays is not a prolific adult filmmaker himself, but this is exactly what Stone was really. In terms of video. The second I want to mention is Jenna Jameson. One of the big names of the adult film industry for decades now really. She was the host. But honestly, she did a really poor job there. Absolutely motionless, standing in the same spot every time and reading something she printed before. Tough to watch. Her only somewhat good moment was maybe the joke about how comedy combined with sex in her life. Liked it because it was a bi mean and politically incorrect.
As for the big names, if we are looking at the males especially we have quite a few people in here who were at least nominated if not even winners that still play a role these days: I am talking mostly about Lexington Steele, Randy Spears and Rocco Siffredi. Thier inclusion show you that males in the adult film industry have far bigger longevity than women. Or of course, Ron Jeremy. Back then, he was still truly an icon presenting awards on his own, being constantly mentioned and made fun about in a respectful manner etc. Nowadays, the AVN Awards would probably prefer if he had never existed. Okay, what else can I say about this show? It's been quite a bit already. Oh yes, as for the production companies in the background, you also get the same ones over and over again in terms of the big releases. One would be Evil Angel, then there is another one with Angel in the title and of course "Wicked Pictures". In general, you could say it was the year of the angel because one of the films that won the most awards was called "Dark Angels", so pretty much a title that sounds like the one from my perhaps favorite television show of all time. Other than that, a film named "Watchers" was pretty trimphant. Also a film with a French title called "Les Vampyres" scored many nominations. And the parodies must not be missing either. One would be linked to Godfather I think and another to "The Sopranos". I think this show was really big at that point back then. And what was it called? Of course: The Sopornos. I think I found this much funnier than I should. One of really not many moments I found funny from the entire broadcast. The Eminem fella at the end did not doo too much for me. But I will admit that the amount of beautiful woman in here was not too shabby. I have seen worse on other AVN Awards editions. My favorite from all of them was probably the one on the left from the trio that announced Nic Andrews for Best Director. She was stunning. Alrightey. Another thing that came to mind a bit for me here is that back in 2001, there were still a lot more truly blonde adult film actresses than there are today apparently. Not just Jameson. If that is something positive or not is up to you to decide. I mean diversity is not a bad thing or anything and I am saying this as somebody who prefers dark-haired chicks most of the time. Oh yeah, to show you how old this show already is: You can say that four of five people who lived back then are sadly no longer with us anymore. But a new generation is there and those who were old back in 2001, probably would not have watched this event anyway. Just like those who were born in and after 2001 probably do not watch this show in 2020. Or not yet in 2020. Another thing that was common back then and that is still common now that they have many more nominees per category than every other awards show basically. I personally do not think it is a good thing because it feels like quantity over quality, so this is something they could change in the future for all I am concerned. Not a biggie though. There are other reasons why I do not think this show was a success at all. the biggest is the way too massive running time. And still they have so many categories that they did not even come close to including all of them during the broadcast. Even some categories that sound pretty major fit this description. Oh and I already mentioned the special cam on the stage. In general, you could say that they were far more focused on vaginas than on breasts back then. Today it is more about the upper half of the body in terms of what you see during the broadcast. But they sure weren't prudes back then. Also very early on, in what was still the warm-up we have a guy in drag do some interviews. I do not even know if this was officially part of the show already and even if 2001 is not 1981 (oh boy that 20-year difference seems massive, much bigger than 2001-2021), it was a bit of a bold move and on the courageous side. That is all then I guess. Overall, this event gets a massive thumbs-down. Definitely inferior to many other AVN Awards editions. I still found it interesting how it looks really old now, even older than 2001 if you ask me.
As for the big names, if we are looking at the males especially we have quite a few people in here who were at least nominated if not even winners that still play a role these days: I am talking mostly about Lexington Steele, Randy Spears and Rocco Siffredi. Thier inclusion show you that males in the adult film industry have far bigger longevity than women. Or of course, Ron Jeremy. Back then, he was still truly an icon presenting awards on his own, being constantly mentioned and made fun about in a respectful manner etc. Nowadays, the AVN Awards would probably prefer if he had never existed. Okay, what else can I say about this show? It's been quite a bit already. Oh yes, as for the production companies in the background, you also get the same ones over and over again in terms of the big releases. One would be Evil Angel, then there is another one with Angel in the title and of course "Wicked Pictures". In general, you could say it was the year of the angel because one of the films that won the most awards was called "Dark Angels", so pretty much a title that sounds like the one from my perhaps favorite television show of all time. Other than that, a film named "Watchers" was pretty trimphant. Also a film with a French title called "Les Vampyres" scored many nominations. And the parodies must not be missing either. One would be linked to Godfather I think and another to "The Sopranos". I think this show was really big at that point back then. And what was it called? Of course: The Sopornos. I think I found this much funnier than I should. One of really not many moments I found funny from the entire broadcast. The Eminem fella at the end did not doo too much for me. But I will admit that the amount of beautiful woman in here was not too shabby. I have seen worse on other AVN Awards editions. My favorite from all of them was probably the one on the left from the trio that announced Nic Andrews for Best Director. She was stunning. Alrightey. Another thing that came to mind a bit for me here is that back in 2001, there were still a lot more truly blonde adult film actresses than there are today apparently. Not just Jameson. If that is something positive or not is up to you to decide. I mean diversity is not a bad thing or anything and I am saying this as somebody who prefers dark-haired chicks most of the time. Oh yeah, to show you how old this show already is: You can say that four of five people who lived back then are sadly no longer with us anymore. But a new generation is there and those who were old back in 2001, probably would not have watched this event anyway. Just like those who were born in and after 2001 probably do not watch this show in 2020. Or not yet in 2020. Another thing that was common back then and that is still common now that they have many more nominees per category than every other awards show basically. I personally do not think it is a good thing because it feels like quantity over quality, so this is something they could change in the future for all I am concerned. Not a biggie though. There are other reasons why I do not think this show was a success at all. the biggest is the way too massive running time. And still they have so many categories that they did not even come close to including all of them during the broadcast. Even some categories that sound pretty major fit this description. Oh and I already mentioned the special cam on the stage. In general, you could say that they were far more focused on vaginas than on breasts back then. Today it is more about the upper half of the body in terms of what you see during the broadcast. But they sure weren't prudes back then. Also very early on, in what was still the warm-up we have a guy in drag do some interviews. I do not even know if this was officially part of the show already and even if 2001 is not 1981 (oh boy that 20-year difference seems massive, much bigger than 2001-2021), it was a bit of a bold move and on the courageous side. That is all then I guess. Overall, this event gets a massive thumbs-down. Definitely inferior to many other AVN Awards editions. I still found it interesting how it looks really old now, even older than 2001 if you ask me.