Top TV moments of 2022: Oscars slap, royal loss and celebrity legal battle

NEW YORK — In a year marked with unexpected winners and losers, television was keeping tabs.

A Hollywood star tarnished his and Oscar’s image.. A defeated country repeatedly stood before the aggressor. The January 6 uprising became a An unexpectedly watchable TV docudrama. There was a king. Celebrated and mourned. Television had the usual highs and lows of entertainment.

Here are some notable TV moments of 2022 from the perspective of Associated Press television and media writers:

The Oscars is Hollywood’s biggest platform and one of its biggest stars, Will Smith, was expected to reign supreme with the best actor award for the tennis-dead biopic “King Richard.” But Smith lost while winning. Angered by a joke that presenter Chris Rock made at the expense of wife Jada Pinkett Smith, he walked on stage and slapped Rock, drawing gasps from the TV and theater audience. Oh A tearful Smith made excuses During his acceptance speech on March night and Later issued an apology.. the film The Academy punished him.but Oscar His upcoming film prospects“Freedom,” is being debated.

Frankly, when the House Committee investigating the capital coup scheduled public hearings for January 6, 2021, expectations were low. Congressional hearings generate more heat than light, as politicians compete for sound bites to impress their supporters. But with only two Republicans on the committee — both of them horrified by what happened in the Capitol — the committee, aided by a former ABC News producer, produced sharp, tightly focused presentations. All are made to be compelling viewing, but Nothing more than a living testimony. of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who Calmly described what is happening in the Trump administration. As events spiraled out of control.

Last year, Britney Spears’ bid to end her conservatorship was a celebrity legal battle. This year there was a crossfire between the courtrooms. Johnny Dip And Amber Heard – playing on Sub TV – was the main attraction. His defamation suit put both the actors. A kind of harsh, uncomfortable light Banned from any Hollywood set. As the exes traded charges of assault and substance abuse, the trial grew increasingly sad, seminal and inevitable. June of Jury The verdict largely favored Depp.. Experts warn that Hard may not just be Hard: The spectacle and its consequences can have a chilling effect on women who may press claims of abuse.

Images of war are always terrifying. Russia invades Ukraine Many of them created. Yet several moments of bravery by the Ukrainian people and their leader, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, changed the perception of a conflict that many feared would be an ugly defeat, and brought the world on board. . Choose Your Moments – A woman who offers sunflower seeds to a Russian soldier to sprout from his trouser pocket where his body falls, is unaccounted for by Ukrainians stationed on a remote island. Reaction When the Russians asked them to surrender, Zelenskyy’s media-conscious campaign It was the stuff of heroes for support.

Those who see Disney’s ever-expanding “Star Wars” universe leaving them cold, may have warmed up after the season finale. “Obi Wan Kenobi.” The nearly four-minute lightsaber battle between Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and former apprentice Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) certainly hung in the balance of good and evil. But it was Vadar’s unveiling that sent Disney+ viewers into a stratospheric frenzy, his scarred face and psyche revealing a man beyond redemption.

when 12.1 million people watch. on November 13 to watch the season premiere of Kevin Costner’s “Yellowstone” Otherwise unseen on Paramount and some sister cable networks, it was the most-watched scripted show of the new television season. The Western is the definition of a widely popular show, yet not on a broadcast network, that was conceived with the idea of ​​reaching as many people as possible. You could call it a failure of imagination that shows the networks’ decline, but the reality was that they never took a shot at “Yellowstone,” which was originally produced at HBO. But he didn’t go anywhere. For every television success, there are people kicking themselves because they didn’t see it coming.

Queen Elizabeth She was not America’s king, but his. Died in September at age 96 Hit home and got blanket coverage in the former British colony. Probably It was “The Crown”. Perhaps it was his conspiratorial smile when he Shared tea and secrets with Paddington Bear.. His dedication to service and a A magnificent funeral procession Definitely deserves attention with echoes of history. But the catnip for TV came as brothers William and Harry and wives Kate and Meghan, publicly glossed over any tension. joined to greet the bereaved.. Princess Anne provided a memorable grace note: a deep chair she carried as her mother’s coffin.

when “the walking Dead” Its final episode aired on November 20, marking the end of the AMC cable network’s Best Punch era. Just how much that was the case became clear less than two weeks later, when company chairman James Dolan sent a memo to staff saying CEO Christina Spade was out after three months and mass layoffs were taking place. AMC is hardly the only media company, or cable network, hurting. “We’re primarily a content company and the way we monetize content is disruptive,” Dolan said. Weep for the boutique network that gave us “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” and cable networks in general.

With fresh memories of the 2020 election chaos, news organizations are bracing for a midterm election night where democracy itself may be at stake. Only… it wasn’t.. Elections were certainly close and Congress control was unclear for several days. Although there were a few exceptions, the elections went smoothly and most candidates accepted the results. And the story became those results: one An unexpectedly strong showing for Democrats One that defies history and expectations.