@richardmarxhatesmyhair: Donal Logue's finest work, hands down. Those Denis Leary promos were pretty revolutionary, too.

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Mark Graham

I agree that MTV isn't What It Used To Be, but I think they have some really excellent programming now that shows real teenagers in all their normal, anxiety-filled, best-of-times-worst-of-times glory. Specifically, I'm thinking of their documentary Fat Camp, their True Life series, and the series The Paper, which for me cut soooo close to home that I had to watch many scenes cringing with my hands in front of my eyes.

PomPom

@geniusscientist: Aw, Liquid TV - an old relic of the days when MTV aired pretty adventurous programming with little regard for high ratings. Despite their sins of aiding the corporate exploitation of underground music, the former MTV does deserve credit for introducing artists and cultural ideas to scores of kids trapped in the suburbs like me. I was very inspired by a short clip where Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo describes how the street noises of NYC influenced his guitar sound. It's a little funny to look back at MTV 16 years ago and notice how they appeared to identify with the misfits, dissidents and art weirdos. It's also sad that we have a generation of teens who never saw any of that.

FWIW, the new MTV basically emerged when their execs found that music videos weren't boosting ratings high enough. Hence, the (staged) reality shows came in and the channel stopped caring about its impact on music.

Cam/ron

Only male news personalities are allowed to grow old gracefully on MTV. And by "gracefully," we mean that despite pushing fifty, they are expected to dye their hair and dress like members of Good Charlotte.

you wouldn't be talking about Kurt Loder now would you?

My favorite Loder moment was when he was interviewing Madonna - by interviewing I mean shoving his nose up her bum - and he pouted like a five year old after she gave a kiss to some crew member or something. He goes "aren't you gonna give me a kiss". Madonna looked disgusted and was all, "uh, NO"

roodles

The comments on this thread bring back so many memories! I forgot "Buzzkill" existed, and now I realize that the theme song is buried in my memory. And that Courtney Love shoe thing they'd show every year before the VMAs, and John Norris is the eyeliner-wearing News guy that dressed like a Ziggy Stardust on crack. Oh, man, remember when Prince sang "Gett Off" at the VMAs in the yellow jumpsuit and turned around to reveal that the buttcheeks were cut out? Too bad that ish isn't on YouTube. *Memories*

NoWireHangers

Best show ever: You Wrote It, You Watch It" hosted by an un-famous Jon Stewart. THAT was funny.

The_Lovely_Miss_Bronx

@Ernst Stavro Blofeld:

I stood next to Loder in line for a preview screening of that first new Star Wars prequel a few years back. He seemed like a nasty little elf with a yeah,-you-know-who-i-am 'tude. He's the little Chihuahua Madonna spanks in the "Human Nature" video . . .

The_Lovely_Miss_Bronx

And it's just going to continue to suck until someone gets Sumner Redstone to stop tyranting with one eye on the ticker. MTV (and VH1, and BET) needs someone at the helm with a free hand to do some fresh thinking, not continually being muscled into Lowest Common Denominator fare to shock viewers into watching (if only briefly).

RonMwangaguhunga

Tabitha was so dreamy!

TedCopacabana

The only network that found, co-developed, promoted, and aired great niche animation like The Maxx...I remember when I used to curse my Canadianity because we couldn't get MTV and that's where all the cool stuff was.

spankhaus

@ineffable.me: The look of terror on Madonna's face is fucking priceless! Damn, I love crazy-ass Courtney!

Ooh, and I also loved Sex in the '90s! That was such a damn good series.

DorothyZbornak

@Ernst Stavro Blofeld: Headbanger's Ball is still on, bro! Might be on MTV2, and is definitely on at like 2 AM, but they do occasionally play videos when nobody but my TiVo is watching.

I have nearly every episode of Sifl & Olly on the ancient format of videotape. Even back then, I was shocked and amazed that they would devote hours at a time on a national network to sock puppetry.

@braak: All that Spike Jonze wizardry and more (Fatboy Slim's "Praise You", the Lego White Stripes one) is available on one DVD, $6 used.
[www.amazon.com]

Sleepyhead

Oh man, y'all just seriously took me back. Headbanger's Ball, The State, Daria, Old Real World, Yo! MTV Raps, Top 20 Countdown (with Adam Curry, who had the best feathered mullet I've ever seen!), the list goes on and on. And then stops around 2000. What happened to my MTV?

DorothyZbornak

Tabitha is too busy being Mrs. Michael Lewis.

Juancho

@Ernst Stavro Blofeld: The greatest Kurt Loder-Madonna moment ever, courtesy of my most favorite Courtney Love

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ineffable.me

Aeon Flux. I really enjoyed that, and it just disappeared.

And "Choose or Lose" - it is hard to imagine MTV even caring about that anymore.

FormerEnglishMajor

I'm just thankful we still have John Norris to creepily cover all the boyband news.

Norma Desmond

I grew up in the bronx, and I wanted MTV so bad I could taste it back in the 1980s. My neighborhood didn't get wired for cable until 1992 (!), long after I had moved to another state --a nd, unfortunately, just around the time MTV tanked. Now, when I watch VH! Classic (occasionally -- they're pretty repetitive) I still come across old videos that I've never seen. All we had in the Bx was "Friday Night Videos" and "Solid Gold."

The_Lovely_Miss_Bronx

@NoWireHangers: Nice. I remember that Madonna "interview" (read: verbal clit-twiddle) being what got everyone saying that he just had to be gay.

Ernst Stavro Blofeld

@NoWireHangers: I couldn't stand that Kurt "Permanently Pissed Off" Loder who always looked like his dog just died.

scroll_lock

@emilypdx: Yes -- I remember "The Head".

Just call me Roy.

A Pimp Named DaveR

@ricker: MMMM. Dan Cortese!!! Also, Just Say Julie was one of their best shows.

scroll_lock

Is Kurt Loder still on MTV? Tabitha came and went and you'd see that other guy around--what's his name with the gap-tooth and eyeliner (not Jesse Camp)--he was alright. But I'd occasionally see Kurt Loder doing the news for some special report, maybe it was 4 years ago. And he's like over 50 and such a bitter bitch, but he's good. I hope they still keep him around. I like to think of him as MTV's cockroach: he'll still be there after all the VJs have melted. Or like MTV's dad or something. I remember watching him interview Cher and he was such a condescending prick. The only ass I ever saw him kiss was Madonna's; he was giggling.

NoWireHangers

@augie1: The Young Ones..they were the best. Vyvyan and Rick, hippie Neil and pervert Mike!

seancasio

@CorradoJr.: HAHA OH DEAR GOD

ineffable.me

Man does this hit the nail on the head.

MayhemintheHood

The part about Tabitha Soren made me laugh out loud... "It may be hard to believe"... Ouch.
And about the male presenters "expected to dye their hair and dress like members of Good Charlotte"... I can't quite figure out what you mean...

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CorradoJr.

@Old No.7: Nah, just kinda old.

PS: please don't flame me! I just feel strongly about good old Kurt Donald. Legend.

ColbertNation

@ineffable.me: @seancasio: Monday's in high school were hell for me between staying up late for the Young Ones and watching 120 minutes. Good times.

augie1

@ineffable.me:those were the days...

seancasio

@seancasio: 120 minutes was the greatest discovery of my life. i used to go to sleep at the appropriate bed time and wake up at 12 or 1 (pr doesnt do daylight savings time) to watch the show. i always had a video ready in the vcr to tape important music videos, performances and/or interviews. then i would go back to sleep when it was over.

sigh. memoriiies.

ineffable.me

they seriously need to bring the videos back or else change the initials to MRTV: Mindless Reality Television.

UnSeelie.......

@crescentia: Today, MTV aims their videos at early teen audiences because they are the only ones who still buy the music that is promoted to them. Older teens and even (gasp) people in their twenties simply don't buy much music in 2008. They might like the music, they might go to concerts or blog about the music - but labels (and therefore MTV) are hung up on people actually paying for the music. Jonas Brothers fans want to own the CD, Arcade Fire fans torrent the music and save their money for drugs.

You are correct that the demographic focus of MTV has narrowed. Look at Nickelodeon - there are multiple versions of Nick; one that aims at 6 to 9 year olds, then another for 11 to 13 year olds and so on. The broad spectrum "young people" appeal of early MTV reflects the way all television was back then. MTV was essentially the ONLY youth programming out there, so they got kids in college and in junior high. There is no programming that could get that broad an age range today, because there are so many niche-centric options.

Now, an all Lionel Richie channel ...

30f

@Old No.7: it will ALWAYS be too soon, dude.

seriously.

ineffable.me

I remember watchinhg my bloody valentine and pil on 120 minutes. Those days are loooong goooone. and so are my days of watching that channel.

seancasio

@Old No.7: OUCH and heh.

UnSeelie.......

@ineffable.me: They probably wouldn't let Gideon Yago on MTV anymore. Or Rivers Cuomo. Now the nerdy girls are supposed to love eternally teenaged vampires and Pete Wentz.

::SHUDDER::

not.a.clever.name

Liquid Television was also on MTV. Man I miss that show.

geniusscientist

The context has changed. Back when we were stuck with networks and low budget cable stations playing reruns, there was no outlet for anything edgy or hip.

Now we have the internet, the mtv of old wouldnt make it. The need is satiated by far more specific outlets that satisfy their audiences far mroe efectively than one single cable channel

fugit

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU for writing this article. I was in High School watching MTV. I was there for Daria, Kurt, Dial MTV (The precursor to TRL), and the first 5 seasons of "Real World" when somewhat real people were on the show. Oh how I miss you. When did 34 get to be old. When did MTV become the bastion of consumerism with no heart? You used to make young people think. Don't you remember, "Read a Newspaper Everyday"? Choose or Lose? What happened to you. Viacom owned you then too. When did Satan begin your programming? Now I'm an Vh1 watcher. What is that about? You've lost me, and yet I still suck at the teat of "Celebreailty". Oh Lawd what happened to my life???????? Nicole Wilson Nicole C. Wilson Program Analyst Veterans Benefits Information Technology Office of Enterprise Development Department of Veterans Affairs work: (202) 461 - 9992 fax: (202)275-0951

SandhayaAegimius

Kurt Cobain could never be allowed on MTV now, because his scalp is now the wallpaper design in a suburban Seattle residence.

Too soon?

Old No.7

Also, The State and all those weirdo cartoons. (Anyone remember The Head?)

These days, MTV makes me feel genuinely sad and pretty scared for young girls in America.

emilypdx

And Jimmy the Cab Driver. Again, brilliant.

richardmarxhatesmyhair

They probably wouldn't allow Dan Cortez on either. His muscle tone and interest in things that aren't relegated to online communities would intimidate the slight-framed, technology dependent *key demo*.

ricker

Anyone remember the brilliance that was "Buzzkill?" There would be no Johnny Knoxville without this show which was so fresh and different...and would never ever been seen on what passes as MTV today.

richardmarxhatesmyhair

In college, I had a year of watching MTV2 and really enjoying it. But from what I understand, that's not even music videos anymore, and definitely not the somewhat more adult ones they used to show.

juniperjenny

@OneMartiniAway: Directed by Spike Jonze--who also made the hilarious video for the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage," and the one with the guy on fire running down the street (I think: Wax's "California").

braak

Headbangers Ball, bitches.

I just don't get why MTV's sole reason for existence these days seems to be celebrating and elevating worthless, rich brats into 15 minute celebrities, utterly devoid of creative output or or any form of accomplishment.

Ernst Stavro Blofeld

@not.a.clever.name: I'd miss Gideon Yago asking me where the condoms are *hint* *hint*

also, I will make a point to watch CBS Sunday morning now.

ineffable.me

Not that I support illegal file sharing or whatever, but you can totes download all the Daria episodes on Limewire.

Molly McAleer

MTV used to encourage average kids to dream big (perhaps foolishly). Now it reinforces a new America where only entitled children of the rich and famous are worth paying attention to/have a chance.

Nic Fit

Daria and Radiohead ruled my middle school years.

I just realized that the only thing I've watched on MTV in the last, oh, three years? America's Hottest Dance Crew. I miss Gideon Yago telling me to use a condom.

@ineffable.me: Serena graduated to CBS Sunday morning!

not.a.clever.name

@viciouslies:
I don't like the guy but it was the first name that came to mind. It was either him or Kenny Loggins.

crescentia

Daria for the win.

Chryss

this is all so. fucking. true.

although my heart belonged to serena altschul. she was just the coolest.

i doubt even sifl n olly would make it to mtv today, again, not enough chicks making out or pouting or whatever it is that chicks do these days.

ineffable.me

The music video pictured in the last item is one of my faves of all time. I believe it's "Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim. Christopher Walken dancing around an empty hotel just makes my freaking day.

OneMartiniAway

@crescentia: Though I agree with your thesis, I'm not sure invoking Lionel Richie is your best argument.

viciouslies

This article is great. Also, DARIA marathons were the highlight of my highschool years.

happysquid

I think the worst part of MTV is that they still try to be "alternative", while completely missing the mark.

Ok, so boy bands and Britney came up and were hugely exposed on the MTV scene. A few years later, they can hardly get their videos on, or even mentioned in a positive light - regardless of how much revenue they generated for the station.

They move to emo bands, Good Charlotte and HIM and that godawful band whose name I can't recall but had a music video in a coffin - because this is talent! This is cutting edge! Yeah, about as cutting edge as middle school kids with safety pins adorning jackets.

And now, all the former pop stars are basically blackballed from MTV unless they hook up with Timbaland and make a song that sounds like every other song Timbaland has produced in the last five years.

Although, can we really blame MTV? Radio does the same thing.

At least I have never completed a full episode of that Tila Tequila thing, so I come out of this with my pride still intact.

Victor Ward

Oh Daria...how I cherished your brief revival on The N.

psych101

The reason why MTV has sucked hard for the last 15 years or so is because they started to just target teens and tweens. In the 80's more adult oriented artists such as Lionel Ritchie got a lot of play. It would be safe to bet that 99% of the videos shown on MTV in the 80's wouldn't be shown today because they would be deemed not tween/teen centric enough.

crescentia

Oh, Tabitha. You'll always be the one that got away...

JudgeFudge

Austin Stories!

Buenavista

@derby: i think that was one of the crappiest videos ever thing and jon stewart was also in it. i actually taped the show as it is one of the funniest things i have ever seen in my life. their grilling of Journey's separate ways and jon stewart saying "screw this, i just gotta dance" when wham comes on is fucking priceless.

ineffable.me

@PomPom: The short-lived series "Two-A-Days" was actually pretty interesting and the teenagers portrayed were relatively normal, even though they lived in Alabama.

Caroline Meeber

They should have a "MTV:Origins" channel or whatever, and only show original programming from back in the day (pre-Real World) and actual music videos from start to finish, and then see how it does ratings wise vs. the actual MTV. It probably wouldn't do as well, but I bet it would do better than Viacom thinks.

Dave J.

It's influence is still powerful. Which is dangerous. I don't remember anyone criticizing Rick Ocasek for his looks back in the '80's, now He's a "freak". Not to mention it's influence on the music. Skill and talent are third rate values, compared to rap's criminal idolization, and rock's posing and posturing. Remember guitar solos? Remember singing?

Passwordforgetter

I want my Clone High back

friendlynerd

@roodles: So now's not the time to admit my ever-so-slight crush on Loder, right?

hallsoats

@derby: That was the show where Vanilla smashed a copy of his music video and the rest of the show's set, right?

@SikeChick19: I remember when Lou Reed and Jack White played VU's "White Light, White Heat" a few VMAs ago. Poor Reed had a "Don't you goddamn kids know who I am?" look on his face.

Cam/ron

@Caroline Meeber: Kari Wuhrer, FTW. Rrrrrowwwr.

Dave J.

I'm honored that I grew up with the 'original' MTV in all its crazy glory. Great memories. Now it's a joke. Yes, I'm no longer in their demographic, but it's evolved into something completely worthless. Last truly interesting/funny I watched was when Leary, Kattan, Garafalo and ?, counted down the videos MTV would no longer air.

These were lame videos, obviously, and the commentary was pretty damn funny. Vanilla Ice making an appearance and freaking out was priceless...

derby

@SikeChick19: Yeah but at least on late night BET you can find videos entitled "Baby tell me what that thang smell like" and "Let me see that azz drop"

roodles

I remember when MTV first started and they just showed the same videos over and over. It was Video Killed The Radio Star, Dire Straits, and a live jam session concert with Paul McCartney. Nonstop. Those were the days....

kookla

Remember a few VMAs ago when MTV presented Duran Duran with the Video Vanguard award or whatever for basically putting that stupid network on the map in the 80s. (Do Not Argue with Me! I am still at nearly 37, a rabid Duranie.) Not only did the doltish audience have to be goaded into applauding because the little snots didn't know who DD was, but then MTV screwed up the video montage. That's pretty much when they lost me. I will watch an episode of True Life (I will always love the calf implant guy's friend who told him he had fake boobs in his legs), but that's about it.

And the really sad thing is that BET is the same way, but with Black versions of the shows and crappy Master P movies all the time.

SikeChick19

@Caroline Meeber: Never missed. First MTV crush = Marisol, the original Remote Control girl.

Ernst Stavro Blofeld

They could totally put Daria back in syndication on MTV, and re-name it 'Quinn' or 'Fashion Club'. It'd be like The Hills, in cartoon form! All the LC-Conradettes out there would go crazy for it. 'I love Quinn! She is lyk soooooo awesome! I soooo wanna be in the Fashion Club! But why is that four-eyed lesbo bitch Daria always being to mean to her????'

Anything to get Daria back on my TV, please. I was born in 86 so I've never heard of most of the people listed above, which makes me a sad panda :(

Jill Tyrrell

@The_Lovely_Miss_Bronx: He also had his own talk show on MTV where William Shatner cuddled with him and Elizabeth Shue grabbed his package on-camera.

Cam/ron

Daria's my girl. Me and her, we related. But even then, I could see the dark road MTV was about to head down...

wednesdayam

@PomPom: True Life is the best thing left on MTV. It reminds me of old MTV. Made is decent too, when it's not about something stupid. I liked Fat Camp, but I never saw THe Paper (heard good things about it, though).

DorothyZbornak

What about "Remote Control??"

Caroline Meeber

@NoWireHangers: Heh,I'd never forget that prank where they took spring break kids on a creepy taxi ride that ended when the pranksters stopped at a 7-11 and pretended that they robbed the joint.

Cam/ron

@Molly McAleer: Not that I'd ever do that--but it's good to know. Daria was a character I really liked. I generally oppose sequals, but her life post-high school/college would be interesting to see.

joe_gillis

No mention of Wonder Showzen? MTV still had some puppet love up until a couple years ago.

Also, I gladly admit to watching Rob + Big.

Barry White Stripes, Office LW

Maybe the mid-90's trend of record labels producing multi-million dollar music videos hastened the end of the MTV video since music videos became way too expensive to produce.

I miss the 80's era of videos that were proudly tacky:

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+ Watch video

Cam/ron

This post has managed to make me feel both pleasantly nostalgic and depressingly elderly. Well played.

metroville

@richardmarxhatesmyhair: I loved Buzzkill. The episode where they convince a crowd of people that their voodoo doll actually works and then they accidentally kill a guy was priceless. I miss Dave, Travis and Frank.

Also, a few years ago they shortened 120 Minutes to one hour and renamed it Subterranean. It has bounced around on the MTV2 schedule so much that my poor Tivo has given up trying to find it. It always shows that it's taped but when I try and watch it, it's just an hour of Rob and Big or Scarred. Infuriating.

whitiris

@amandarp: That's because they have a rotation of six videos. Who wouldn't get bored. Maybe if they started showing some quality artists we'd tune in.

More than a Reference

Not that I advocate boot leg copies of wonderful TV shows they will NEVER release on DVD, but there is a website where you can order the Daria DVD "collector set" for $40 and it comes with the two movies and allll the glorious episodes...

More than a Reference

MTV doesn't play videos anymore because, despite what everyone SAYS they will do, no one watches them. They're the lowest-rated thing on the channel.

amandarp

@CorradoJr.: Having seen him out at NYC's finest gay bars, I can say the look is not only his own doing, but can get much worse.

MattGaymon

It's happened, Daria. Kevin and Britney have taken over. They run the world now.

Lady Skittlehattington

Man, I loved the hell out of "Just Say Julie"! She sells the DVDs for it on her website although most of the music video bits are edited out due to copyright stuff.

It's so weird to think of how integral MTV was to my youthful TV watching. Now you could hardly pay me to do more than skim past that channel during a channel surf.

narymary

This article is wonderful! Don't forget House of Style with Todd Oldham and Cindy Crawford. In my head Tim Gunn is the Kurt Loder of the 21rst century.

booksnotboys

There will never be a show like Remote Control on MTV ever again. If anything, the grand prize round would be a walk in the park as there are only 5 videos MTV plays now, 4 of which are by JayZ.

You will also never again see a character like Stud Boy or Stickpin Quinn (both Adam Sandler) on MTV.

pepelicious

@Jill Tyrrell: oh Daria...my love for Trent knows no bounds.

I has all 5 seasons of Daria on my computer. Endless.Joy!

halakahiki82

Yeah, you guys must be younger than me because my first memories of MTV were of the five original VJ's: Mark Goodman, Nina Blackstone, Martha Quinn, JJ Jackson and Alan Hunter. And I just named them by memory..

StaringatScreen

Someone should make a book of these comments.

I always enjoyed videos that featured non-dancing singers dancing, i.e., Billy Joel in Uptown Girl, Van Halen in Hot for Teacher and my personal favorite:

+ Watch video

dango

Brilliantly written article. And painfully true.

I can't imagine why at age 30, I feel like an old man reminiscing on the days of old when "Real World" was less about drunken hook ups at celebutard wannabes and more about...well, real people.

Antonella

Liquid Television....I'm that old.

Sir Winston Thriller

@friendlynerd: You don't know what you're getting into, and that's out of my friendship. And do you know what hurts the most, Joan? This nail I just stepped on. But there's a metaphorical nail in my other foot that hurts the second most, and it's from you backstabbing me. So maybe instead of the nail metaphor, I should have used a stabbing metaphor, but it's too late for that now, isn't it?

Major_Major

You know what I miss? Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. Now THAT was a show!

/as wheeled away by orderly

Tiger_Tanaka

I was a teen in the 90's and while I didn't grow up on MTV (too much stupid stuff even then), they did have several shows that I remember fondly.
"Buzzkill", the first couple seasons of "Singled Out" (when they asked 4 or 5 innuendo loaded questions to narrow the choices down rather than just one or two), I LOVED "Daria", "Bevis and Butthead" was decent to a teenager (I tried watching it recently and couldn't, it was horrible). I even used to like TRL when it first came on but I can remember when I gave up on that show, The Offspring song "Pretty Fly For a White Guy" was in the top 5 for weeks and they took it off not because it was going down in the charts but because they wanted to premier some crappy boy band video instead.

My only remaining reason to watch MTV was "Pimp My Ride", I'll admit it is a retarded show but I enjoyed it for the most part, and everyonce in a blue moon you can catch "PMR: International Edition" from what I've seen of that is VERY interesting since they do cars you don't see in the US (a Soviet Era Lada with a sound system and TV's in the headrests makes me giggle) but they don't show them anymore so I no longer have any use for MTV.

jasonof2000

This was a great piece. Thanks for writing it. I had to double check to make sure I was reading a Defamer written story.

the.munson

@Lady Skittlehattington: sick sad world, indeed.

ineffable.me

Will never forget when Mark Goodman told me that the show I was watching was sponsored by Tampax tampons. I was horrified that a guy knew about that stuff...

And staying up all night waiting for the naughty Duran Duran video to come on: Girls on Film?

Those were the days!

Scout 3.0

What, no one has mentioned "IRS Records' The Cutting Edge", hosted by Peter Zaremba? It was only on like the last Sunday of every month at 11pm, about 1984-1986, if I remember. It was the ONLY time you could see anything considered indy-rock or punk on MTV back then.

Gnip-Gnop

Nauseating 16 year olds complaining that they got a new BMW instead of the new Land Rover...Parents choosing the least-vile companion, (er...hook-up) for their teenange son/daughter's way-too-overactive sex life, a made-up reality show that sends fake magazine interns to Paris to attend an event that a visiting head of state would have a tough time getting into.

MTV is serving up s**t sandwiches and I have NEVER been less hungry !

p.s. I totally remember the "waiting up for the Duran Duran videos"
...good times !

stacicaz

OOOOOOOOOOh a MTV nostalgia thread! I too wish those damned kids would get off my lawn and have similar tastes as me!

PBH

Daria will always be my favorite but I did enjoy the short lived Clone High. "Bling...Bling"

Bring back old school MTV, Nick, Pee Wee's playhouse and the likes. The crap that's on MTV and such is a waste.

Queen Of Diamonds

Hey, who remembers that viewer's choice DJ kid, Jesse something-or-other? Viewer choice seems to be the mark of the beast.

There were also the Adam Curry years of Headbangers Ball with his Always-with-Wings hair and attempts to seem rockin'. Even at metal's glammiest, he still came off like a poseur. I just loved me some Martha Quinn because she was cute and also a big old Duranie just like I was.

SikeChick19

I'm old, so I remember watching the initial broadcast. My all-time favorite show was The Cutting Edge with Peter Zaremba of The Fleshtones as the host. And I never missed 120 Minutes on Sunday nights.

Midge

@FuriousD1:

That sounds like Canadian VH1.

SikeChick19

@spankhaus:

Amen on the Maxx. Episodes of that and Aeon Flux (before she got a voice) used to blow my 13 year old mind.

drftjgoj

@Barry White Stripes, Office LW:
Oh god Wonder Showzen! So delightfully disturbing. I'll probably be talking about the Aunt Flo cartoon until I'm 80.

friendlynerd

Growing up as a child of the 1980s we had the arrival of Muchmusic, Canada's answer to MTV. It had a cheap charm in the early days, because no one really knew what they were doing.

Nowadays the only show worth watching on Muchmusic is "Video on Trial" where comedians shit on music videos because I think the only other show that channel airs are reruns of "So You Think You Can Dance."

I guess it fell into the same trap as MTV.

Memories....

FuriousD1

I've never seen so many comments on a Defamer article. There's your niche: articles about MTV celebs from 15 years ago. I've still got a pair of non-stretch tapered legged jeans from that era that I can kinda squeeze into (as long as no one expects me to zip it shut).

OldTowneTavern

Randee of the Redwoods for President!

+ Watch video

showboat

I want my MTV DEAD! so it can rest in peace.

Rosewater

@roodles:

BET After Dark traumatized me when I saw that video with the guy swiping a credit card down a chick's buttcrack. Not at my drunkest will I watch that trash.

@Scout 3.0:

I never saw the naughty "Girls" video on TV. My high school friend some how obtained a copy of it on the sly and my 12-year-old mind was scandalized. I somehow deluded myself into thinking a bunch of 20-something pretty-boy popstars was squeaky clean.

SikeChick19

I miss Aeon Flux and I blame this "appealing to teen's mindset" for the Charlize Theron movie version. Ok, so I own the box-set. But I shouldn't have to. Bring back creativity by the likes of Peter Chung and others! Oh liquid television, where art thou in my time of need?
Oh, and I loved Daria. Thanks for reminding me.

PresidentSquirrel

@CorradoJr.:
Remember when John Norris disappeared from MTV for a few years in the mid-90s while his hair plugs took root?

showboat

This post is almost like a eulogy. MTV has just degenerated into just such a shit-filled crassfest that's completely unwatchable as far as I'm concerned.

If you go to the Museum of Television & Radio (a.k.a. The Paley Center For Media . . . I went to the one in NYC), you can watch episodes of "15 Minutes With Andy Warhol." This was Andy's MTV show which aired in the mid-80s. Now there was some truly very cool, cutting edge programming, that the powers-that-be at that network have no use for any longer . . .

SuperBien

I was done with this station once they cancelled Remote Control.

Madge

What about Angela Chase from "My So-Called Life"? She wouldn't make it because she spent the entire season (of the one there was) trying not to sleep with Jordan Catalano.

c_kav

Julie fuckin' Brown, the one and only!. Hilarious. Earth Girls Are Easy's main number "I'm A Blonde" was like something Frank Tashlin would have directed, and her epic pwning of Madonna as "Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful" on HBO deserves new viewers. Thanks so much for writing this--

regisgoat

@Mark Graham: This is pretty much all I have to say:

+ Watch video

Desk_hack

@geniusscientist: Back in 9th grade, we would get stoned and watch Liquid Television marathons.

My personal faves were DogBoy, Aeon Flux and The Adventures of Thomas & Nardo.

Ah, memories.

HowardRoarkLaughed

Where oh where can I FIND episodes of Sex in the 90s? I would love to see them now...the crazy small town girls with huge bangs rolling around in the truck looking for dudes cut with the jaded NY club kids? What a great show.
Anyone remember the special Freaks Nerds and Weirdos? They had Tim Burton on showing how being a freak in high school paid off for him in the end.
So happy to see people mention Julie Brown. I was at a party with her not too long ago and told all my friends later and no one knows who she is? How can you forget Just Say Julie!!!
I miss 120 minutes too...in junior high I used to tape the show every week, I just got rid of them all, the sound dropped off all the tapes, so sad. It was like a time warp to watch them.
I totally agree with the MTV Origins idea, I am dying to see all the old school videos and shows that used to be on MTV...bring it on!

veronykah

Something not mentioned: Around 1995 MTV inexplicably pushed all rock videos into late night hours despite rock videos and rock radio being very popular. Instead of rock they showcased rap and hip-hop in the crucial after school hours, as they also were phasing in crap like The Grind and TRL. Being the thing that kids turn on when they come home, i think MTV actually influenced the tides of genre popularity and caused the downturn of rock. Bands struggled to get back on the airwaves by doing things like the crappy rap-rock hybrids of the late 90's. then everyone forgot what good rock was and the rise of tween boy-bands gave way to supposedly "edgier" boy bands a.k.a. Emo. Thanks MTV, for goign from inspiring to creativity-killing.

Zlevee

I think part of MTV kind of wants to get back to creative, smart
programing, but they just can't pull that trigger. I EP-ed a pilot for them
last year called "The Stereo Sound Agency", with Jason Lee, that was a massively irreverent take on Hefner's "Playboy After Dark" mixed with a skate video and live music. The pilot was really funny and DVD's got passed all over the place among employees, but MTV just couldn't program it. It was the heyday of Date My Mom and Room Raiders. Here's a thing someone cut together of a little of the pilot...

+ Watch video

C'est la vie!! I give them credit for giving it a shot.

StylusPictures

I recall a time when I paid $5 a month for the premium Bravo channel and it only played obscure european art films. Now it's a reality show network where james lipton is considered high brow.

uncle_wiggly

@HowardRoarkLaughed: Don't forget the Psycho-grams that began with "DEAR MUM."

Cam/ron

Look What I Found!! Duran Duran's GIRLS ON FILM (uncensored)

+ Watch video

and here is a list of my crushes on the members of Duran Duran
(in chronological order)
John T.
Simon
John T.
Roger

Scout 3.0

@regisgoat: My love for Julie Brown was cemented when on "Just Say Julie" she was going to a commercial thusly: "..Brought to you by Skittles and the U.S. Army (pause) The Sugar and Death people."

Other MTV stuff I miss - the above mentioned IRS's The Cutting Edge, 120 Minutes, London Calling, and especially the one hour celebrity VJ shows. I can't even look at it any more.

Topsyjane

@StylusPictures: I'd pay money just to watch Jason Lee skate.

Desk_hack

@Scout 3.0: It was funny and retro and weird. And a great excuse to sneak live music onto television!

StylusPictures

@StylusPictures: That looks like it could be pretty funny. But I guess 7 Hannah Montana interviews per day are more important to MTV.

Scout 3.0

@ineffable.me: i love sifl & oly! i got their shows on dvd...they still crack me up

getbackloretta

jesus - what a bunch of old farts. "Back in my day, we had to hand-crank the TV...and we were damn glad to do it!" You guys are worse than old hippes talking about Woodstock. MTV is for people in their late teens-20s. TV Land and VH1 is for you - enjoy it!

JohnDoe

MTV has been unwatchable for at least 10 years.

@ineffable.me: Me too. I found so much great music I still enjoy today (Bjork during and post-Sugar Cubes, The Cowboy Junkies).

@metroville: Ditto here. I watched it during the Martha Quinn days (I thought she was hot). MTV's low point then was when they teamed up with the WWF (now WWE). These days, that would probably be the best thing they could ever do.

atypicalxian

You know, I wish there was a channel where the only thing on was just music videos. Oh, but to dream.

spikespeigel

I miss Adam Curry's hair.

And whatever happened to Martha Quinn?

NotReadyForPrimeTime

@Cam/ron:

"DEAR MUM: I've got a swank new place in the church basement..."

My memory is compressing everything good about MTV into the years 1990-1993, but surely that can't be the case. Daria was a little later, right? And 120 Minutes started early enough to show Smiths videos?

nonce

@nonce:

"DEAR MUM: I lost my virginity as per the instructions!"

Daria came out around 1997-99ish and 120 Min. debuted in the mid-80's so I can imagine that they ran Smiths videos. I believe that MTV reach its peak in vitality during the 1992 VMAs that Dana Carvey hosted. It was downhill since.

Cam/ron

@JohnDoe: yeah, MTV's for twelve year olds, chuckles. that's what we're saying. you little millenial fuckers are so obsessed with yourselves that you can't get enough "reality" programming. Bitterness aside, I know for a FACT that there are plenty of twelve year olds who hate MTV for a lack of focus on music, so this isn't some generational issue.

StratfordX

@PresidentSquirrel: ...y'know peter cheung worked on the aeon fluxx movie? it was nutty and arty and didn't make any sense, what did you want?

StratfordX

@Juancho: Damn her!!!

raincoaster

@Dave J.: Ohhhhhhh yes! Kari was the hottest thing on MTV at the time, IMHO. Remember how she always was all up in Ober and Quinn's deal with "It's KAH-RI, not carry." I graduated high school with a guy who was a contestant. Yes, I am very old.

TheQuestion

@StratfordX: Or put more simply, JohnDoe: STFU!

TheQuestion

MTV is still a channel? On cable, even?

badasscat

This really does bring back memories. Like so many others, I loved Daria, The Real World (back when it was a little more real) and the videos. The 80s videos were my favorite. I used to watch Mtv hoping to see Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benatar, Duran Duran....

It's really sad to see what this network has become. I'll admit that I get hooked on some of these reality shows, but I'd give it all up in a heartbeat to get the good stuff back.

jwick25

RIPMTV..IMHO

stephenfalken

I'll even take the days when they just played NEXT 24/7... if I have to sit through an entire cycle of AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL again I'm going to blow my brains out.

CatherineTrammell

Liquid Television, Daria, Beavis and Butthead...none of that would fly under the current MTV regime. I remember when MTV used to be cool and interesting and something that actually assumed that its audience had a collective IQ over 92. But now it's just one long session of tweens yelling at goodness knows what, 30 second video clips and a TRL that isn't even live anymore. Sheesh...

Thank you Thank you Thank you Defamer for writing this article.

Consider it bookmarked.

wundergirl

@narymary: Julie Brown - I. Love. Her.

I first saw MTV on my parents' cable (I didn't have cable) in June, 1982. First video I saw was 'Hungry Like the Wolf' and my first video crush (at 27? WTF?) was on Simon Le Bon. I wanted to be the tiger lady so badly...

I should be embarrassed, but I'm not.

gwendolyn

@Old No.7: not too soon. too late. he's been dead 14 years. so you're edgy for someone in, say, the summer of 1994. the addition of "too soon" only makes your comment less funny, if that's possible.

Liberace

@ Staring at Screen: Yes, mine too. (JJ Jackson died, btw.) It was great. People worried some of them were too attractive and it might take away from the music. It's hard to imagine MTV ever worrying that they might come across as superficial, but I swear, they did.

@Kookla - It seems people forget that MTV essentially made U2 into stars - they played U2's "Gloria" video constantly for example. Also the Police, Madness etc. Madonna owes her very existence to MTV showing "Borderline" seemingly on "repeat". And don't forget Pat Benatar, Adam Ant, J Geils and The Cars.

Michael Jackson was the first crossover act on MTV as well.

@Scout - I always loved the "Rio" video with the painted chick on a yacht.

That's the thing, at one point MTV played interesting music that crossed a number of boundaries. They'd play pop like Duran Duran, but then follow it with Def Leppard, and then UB40, then John Cougar (no, he foreswore his last name forever) then The Specials.

That was what was good about it, and what is, to me, bad about the narrowcasting/niches of the internet. There was a real range of stuff being played. If you were into it, you'd watch MTV raps and see Public Enemy or something, or The Fall on 120 minutes, and hair bands and the birth of speedmetal on Headbangers. And entirely too much Huey Lewis at all times.

It's a problem with corporate ownership and shareholders. No one will say: "We're making money, and doing stuff we like - reporting "youth" news, breaking new bands, showing weird cartoons and that's enough. Let's keep it this way."

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DefameWhore

A friend of mine made a very astute observation a while back:

"I've found that with the less I've watched Muchmusic the happiness in my life has grown exponentially."

So true. Oh, and Muchmusic is Canada's MTV.

Quilt