‘The Simpsons’ Will Compete Against Martin Scorsese at These Entertainment Awards
I imagine that, for Martin Scorsese, it’s an honor just to be nominated in the same category as The Simpsons, SNL50 and Brian Cox’s Uber Eats commercial.
On May 12th, Broad City star Ilana Glazer will host The Webby Awards, a wide-ranging ceremony presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences every year as they reward the work of content creators great and small with a springy statuette and enough screen time for a five-word acceptance speech. The Webby Awards features over 100 award categories across numerous mediums with a loose focus on online content, although the recipients aren’t just limited to internet celebrities — or even human beings, for that matter. Apps, companies, brands and consumer goods are all listed among this year’s nominees alongside A-listers like Ryan Reynolds, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey and, of course, cinema legend Bart Simpson.
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As O.G. Simpsons writer and producer Al Jean pointed out on Twitter earlier today, this year’s slate of Webby nominees will pit The Simpsons against venerated director Martin Scorsese in the category of Best Comedy in Branded Entertainment. I’m sure the Silver Slinky would look great next to Scorsese’s Oscar.
The Simpsons’ entry for the awards category that many Simpsons fans (myself included) didn’t know existed until the lengthy Webby nominations came out earlier this week is the show’s Disney+ exclusive short film “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” which featured many famous villains from the Disney canon alongside Sideshow Bob and a tied-up Simpsons family. This past October, the three-minute mini-episode became the first piece of Simpsons content ever to be released exclusively on streaming, and Disney followed up their Simpsons content generation with the two-part holiday special “O C’mon All Ye Faithful” in December.
Scorsese’s contribution to the field of branded online comedy came during last year’s Super Bowl when he and his internet famous daughter Francesca awkwardly recreated the chemistry of their viral joint TikToks in a Squarespace ad titled, “Marty & Francesca Make a Website.” While the commercial will find a slightly lower place in the rankings of Scorsese’s immense filmography than Goodfellas, “Marty & Francesca Make a Website” could very well earn the oft-nominated but rarely victorious film legend one of the industry awards that so often eludes him.
Of course, both commercial comedy endeavors will be up against stiff competition with the aforementioned delivery food commercial from Cox and Vanessa Bayer’s Maybelline ad during the SNL50 broadcast. Then, there’s the dark horse nominee: Will Ferrell’s patriotic music video “That Stuff's American” for Last Week Tonight.
With such a crowded field, it’s hard to pick a frontrunner for this prestigious prize, and, come May 12th, only one branded comedian will take home the Webby. We’ll be watching — even if Scorsese probably won’t.
