Defining TV moments of 2022: Oscar slap and the Queen’s death

NEW YORK — In a 12 months marked by surprising winners and losers, tv was holding tabs.

A Hollywood star tarnished his image and that of the Oscars. A battered nation stood as much as an invader, once more and once more. The Jan. 6 rebellion turned an unexpectedly watchable TV docudrama. A monarch was celebrated and mourned. Television leisure had its standard highs and lows.

Here are some of 2022’s defining TV moments from the perspective of The Associated Press’ tv and media writers:

The Oscars are Hollywood’s greatest platform and Will Smith, one of its greatest stars, was anticipated to reign with a best-actor award for the tennis dad biopic “King Richard.” But Smith misplaced whereas successful. Angered by a joke that presenter Chris Rock made at the expense of spouse Jada Pinkett Smith, he strode onstage and slapped Rock, exhausting, drawing gasps from the TV and theater viewers. A tearful Smith made excuses throughout his acceptance speech that March evening and issued subsequent apologies. The movie academy penalized him, however the Oscar prospects of his upcoming movie, “Emancipation,” are being debated.

Frankly, expectations had been low when the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol rebellion scheduled public hearings. Congressional hearings have a tendency to supply extra warmth than gentle, as preening politicians compete for sound bites to impress their supporters. But with solely two Republicans on the committee — each of them appalled by what occurred at the Capitol — the committee placed on sharp, tightly-focused displays, aided by a former ABC News producer. All made for compelling viewing, however none more than the live testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who calmly described what was happening in the Trump administration as occasions spiraled out of management.

Last 12 months, Britney Spears’ bid to finish her conservatorship was the mesmerizing superstar authorized battle. This 12 months, the courtroom crossfire between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard — all taking part in out on TV — was the major attraction. Their defamation fits put the two actors in the kind of harsh, unflattering light barred from any Hollywood set. As the exes traded allegations of assault and substance abuse, the trial turned more and more unhappy, seamy and inescapable. The jury’s June verdict largely favored Depp. Heard won’t be the solely loser, consultants warned: the spectacle and its consequence might have a chilling impact on girls who would possibly press abuse claims.

The pictures of warfare are all the time terrible, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine produced many of them. Yet the many moments of bravery proven by the Ukrainian individuals and their chief, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, modified the notion of a battle many feared could be an unpleasant rout, and rallied the world to their aspect. Pick your moments — a lady who provided sunflower seeds to a Russian soldier to allow them to sprout from his pants pocket the place his physique falls, the defiantly profane response from Ukrainians stationed on a distant island when Russians informed them to give up, Zelenskyy’s media-savvy campaign for assist. It was the stuff of heroes.

Those who discover Disney’s ever-expanding “Star Wars” universe is leaving them chilly might have warmed up after the season finale of “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” The epic, roughly four-minute lightsaber battle between Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and former apprentice Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vadar (Hayden Christensen) was a fierce back-and-forth with, of course, good and evil hanging in the steadiness. But it was the unmasking of Vadar that despatched Disney+ viewers right into a stratospheric tizzy, his scarred face and psyche revealing a person past redemption.

When 12.1 million people tuned in on Nov. 13 to look at the season premiere of Kevin Costner’s “Yellowstone” on the in any other case invisible Paramount and some sister cable networks, it was the most-watched scripted present of the new tv season. The Western is the definition of a broadly well-liked present, but wasn’t on a broadcast community, which had been conceived on the thought of reaching as many individuals as potential. You might name {that a} failure of creativeness that typifies the decline of the networks, however the fact was they by no means actually had a shot at “Yellowstone,” which was initially developed at HBO however went nowhere there. For each tv success, there are individuals kicking themselves as a result of they did not see it coming.

Queen Elizabeth wasn’t America’s monarch, however her death in September at age 96 hit residence and drew blanket protection in the former British colony. Maybe it was “The Crown,” possibly it was her conspiratorial smile when she shared tea and secrets with Paddington Bear. Her dedication to service and a stately funeral procession with echoes of historical past actually merited consideration. But the catnip for TV got here when brothers William and Harry and wives Kate and Meghan, any tensions publicly masked, joined to greet mourners. Princess Anne supplied a memorable grace word: A deep curtsy as her mom’s coffin was carried by her.

When “The Walking Dead” aired its closing episode on Nov. 20, it was the finish of an period for the quintessential punch-above-your-weight AMC cable community. How a lot that was the case turned clear lower than two weeks later, when firm chairman James Dolan despatched a memo to employees saying CEO Christina Spade was out after three months and large-scale layoffs had been coming. AMC is hardly the solely media firm, or cable community, that’s hurting. “We are primarily a content company and the mechanisms for the monetization of content are in disarray,” Dolan mentioned. Shed a tear for the boutique community that gave us “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” and cable networks typically.

With reminiscences of the 2020 election chaos recent, news organizations ready for a midterm election evening the place democracy itself could possibly be in peril. Only… it wasn’t. Certainly, there have been shut elections and management of Congress wasn’t clear for a number of days. While there have been a couple of exceptions, the election ran easily and most candidates accepted the outcomes. And the story turned these outcomes: an unexpectedly strong showing for Democrats that defied historical past and expectations.