2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony: Season 1

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Mixed or average reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews

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Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Ratings

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2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony

Season Details & Credits

NBC | Season Premiere Date: July 23, 2021

Summary: Postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, the four-hour ceremony launches the games.

Genre(s): Sports, Events & Specials

Season 1 Episodes

No episode information is currently available for this season

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Robert Lloyd

Jul 23, 2021

The times being what they are, the mood of the “creative” segments was more contemplative than flashy, more serious than celebratory. ... The hosts’ commentary here had something of the flavor of the Rose Parade. ... The final acts let in some fun. Read full review

IndieWire Steve Greene

Jul 23, 2021

With Naomi Osaka lighting the flame on the beautifully designed Olympic cauldron, there was a sense of reverence that at least partly counteracted all the questionable parts of the preamble. Read full review

James Poniewozik

Jul 26, 2021

It was not the boisterous return-to-life party we might have hoped for a year ago, nor was it the retreat we might have expected. It was a halfway, transitional ceremony for a halfway, transitional, precarious moment. Read full review

Inkoo Kang

Jul 23, 2021

Unfortunately, the messaging was muddled — the ideas crowding one another out — by a ceremony most notable for how small and muted the staging felt, an effect amplified by the empty stadium. Read full review

Kelly Lawler

Jul 23, 2021

It was an odd, sometimes awkward, and tonally dissonant four-hour presentation that tried to balance the weight of the ongoing pandemic with the joy and elation that usually accompanies the world's most prestigious athletic competition. ... So in one sense, the producers of the ceremony succeeded just by pulling something together. ... But in another – especially considering the controversy behind the Games and the toll they are taking on Japan and the world – this lackluster ceremony is a huge letdown. What's the point of all the risk, all the testing and quarantining and masks, if this is the best emotion and spectacle we can muster? Read full review

Spencer Kornhaber

Jul 26, 2021

A a mournful mishmash of a ceremony that only emphasized its dark context. ... It was a celebration suited to an Olympics that many aren’t sure should exist at all. ... The moments that drew viewers into rapture were outnumbered by jolts back into distressing reality. More egregiously, the four-hour ceremony devoted multiple minutes to John Lennon’s “Imagine” as arranged by Hans Zimmer and sung by performers around the world, including the overexposed celebrities John Legend and Keith Urban. Read full review

Daniel Fienberg

Jul 23, 2021

Over the course of the two-plus-hour Parade of Nations, NBC’s coverage of the opening ceremonies alternated between edifying trivia (Kiribati is the world’s only nation to occupy all four cardinal hemispheres!) and America-centric jingoism. ... The silence was strange. The lack of ambient crowd energy was strange. The NBC director’s resistance to wide shots capturing the full venue was understandable, but still strange. Add “somber” to the list of adjectives that could be applied to this opening ceremony that have never been applied to an Olympics opening before. Read full review

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User Reviews

Beecee

Aug 6, 2021

I felt that many of the reviews were based on whether or not the Olympics should have been held during COVID and not actually a review of the ceremony itself. That said, I enjoyed the ceremony. Performers included the magnificent pianist Hiromi and the great African singer Angelique Kidjo.I felt that many of the reviews were based on whether or not the Olympics should have been held during COVID and not actually a review of the ceremony itself. That said, I enjoyed the ceremony. Performers included the magnificent pianist Hiromi and the great African singer Angelique Kidjo. Highlights included the globe made of drones and the intriguing acting out of the Olympic pictograms for each sport, as well as the final torch lighting. And of course they had the parade of athletes from each country. The Olympics were conducted as safely as possible and they all gave us something to cheer for in these somewhat grim times.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

brocktarogar

Jul 28, 2021

Oh no! It's still 2020? I thought that god-awful year was finally gone. Who really cares about the sports, 99% of the viewers are here to ogle male and female anatomy at peak physical performance.

Mario Sunshine blesses all Olympians with his eternal warmth.

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

ssplendid

Jul 26, 2021

I was on my phone the whole time and I didn't watch a goddamn minute of it.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

thedaarkbatty

Jul 25, 2021

Why are they doing the olympics again? This is likely going to kill several thousand people by giving them covid. CANCEL THE OLYMPICS UNTIL COVID IS OVER.

1 of 5 users found this helpful14

Seasons & Episodes

49

Series Overview
Season 1

49
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: July 23, 2021
- No episode information is currently available for this season