Actor Jim Carrey, in an impromptu reprise of his role in "Liar, Liar,"

a story of a man damned to tell the truth, may have best described the

star-cluttered gala of the MTV Movie Awards as he accepted his award for

best comic performance.

"I'd like to thank MTV, especially the producer of this show," Carrey said. "He

obviously had a real brainstorm, 'wow, we can sell a lot of airtime and

have a lot of celebrities in a room, and we'll give them an award so

they'll look ungrateful if they don't show up.' "

Now in its seventh year, the MTV Movie Awards, voted on by fans and

carrying no critical weight, offers prizes in frivolous

categories such as best kiss, best fight scene and best action sequence,

with nominees promoted by soundbites of popular artists such as

Radiohead, Third Eye Blind, Foo Fighters and Chumbawamba.

Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia and Jakob Dylan's Wallflowers each

performed; the final musical segment was a duet between Puff Daddy

protégé Mase and R&B singer Brandy, with the twosome trading verses on

the song "Top of the World" before ascending a wrought iron globe, where

Mase dropped such glib rhymes as "Brandy on top of the world/ MTV on top

of the world" in his Notorious B.I.G.-influenced slur.

Imbruglia performed her hit version of "Torn," while the

Wallflowers performed their hit remake of the David Bowie gem "Heroes" (RealAudio excerpt), complete with violins and cellos .

In addition to the musicians and awards, the program was dotted with

skits spoofing popular culture and the show itself with the best of

these involving actor and host Samuel L. Jackson breaking up a potential

love scene between a pair of "Dawson's Creek" cast members by crushing a

stereo blaring Paula Cole's hit "I Don't Want To Wait" and then being

forced to render the tune a cappella.

The mood of the show fluctuated wildly with appearances by Mike Myers

and Adam Sandler, who took on a decidedly somber note in light of the

recent shooting death of fellow "Saturday Night Live" cast member Phil

Hartman. Both Myers and Sandler paid tribute to their dead friend as

they accepted their awards in the shape of a bronzed popcorn carton.

Providing the counterpoint to Myers and Sandler was Puff Daddy, who appeared as an award presenter.

Resplendent in a white suit and black shades, Puffy flirted

salaciously with his co-presenter, actress Christina Ricci, comparing

winning the category of Best Breakthrough Performance to losing one's

virginity, in the sense that it can really only happen once.

As Semisonic's anthem "Closing Time" (RealAudio excerpt) played, Jackson shut the show down with a line that could have been copped from "Pulp Fiction" (his most famous role to date): "I got my coat on, put your coat on and get the

fuck out of my house."