CHATSWORTH, Calif. — With the 29th annual AVN Awards Show only two weeks away, this weekend’s Charles Barkley-hosted episode of the NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live included a timely segment featuring the “Oscars of porn.”
In the sketch, the AVN Awards were presented as the 17th annual “Adult Video Awards” as broadcast on the Spike network (the real awards air on an alternate cable station)—but they did choose as their comedic target a very legitimate portion of the AVN Awards: the memorial reel.
In the amusing sketch, SNL regular Bobby Moynihan, donning the signature mop-mane and mustache of Ron Jeremy, and newer cast member Abby Elliott, as fictional “Starlet of the Year Crystal Butt,” take the podium to introduce a tribute to such fallen industry notables as “Ricky Stroker, Actor,” “Tony Dingle, Pizza Guy” and “Dong Corleone, ‘The Dongfather.'”
This isn’t the first time SNL satirized the AVNs. In a 2007 sketch (http://business.avn.com/articles/video/AVN-Awards-Featured-in-Saturday-Night-Live-Skit-27039.html) with then cast member Darrell Hammond playing Al Gore, a genuine AVN trophy was featured as one of Gore’s myriad awards.
(The category: Best Group Sex Scene, for his work with four others in “the adult version of An Inconvenient Truth.”)
* To view the January 7, 2012 SNL sketch involving the AVN Awards, visit www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/january-7-charles-barkley/1377371/ (found after the 48-minute mark).
The AVN Awards takes place January 21, 2012 at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The Joint is a sleek and upscale, 4,000-seat showroom with the reputation as one of the most sophisticated and authentic venues in Las Vegas.
Comedian Dave Attell and adult superstars Bree Olson and Sunny Leone host the awards. Tickets to the gala event also are available for fans to purchase through AVNAwards.com. Industry members receive limited reserved seating. More information about reserved seating can be obtained by emailing Bonnie LeBlanc at [email protected].
Studios or groups wishing to purchase a table at the show should also email LeBlanc.
Dubbed “the Oscars of porn” by Entertainment Weekly, the AVN Awards is a must-attend, must-see event featuring the hottest stars from adult and mainstream pop culture.
The AVN Awards will take place after the annual Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE). AEE runs January 18 – 21, also in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. In 2012, AEE includes traditional exhibits, meeting rooms, exhibit suites, more networking events, more parties, more product demos and more educational components.