I Want My MTV: A Collection Of Nostalgic Complaints
Published on November 29th, 2008 in: Issues, Music, Retrovirus, TV |As the network grew more popular over the years and developed into a well-oiled pop culture machine, things became more polished. Yet even on Total Request Live, there was always the possibility of the unexpected. When the Backstreet Boys made an in-studio appearance on the release day of their album Millennium, the crowds outside on the streets were so massive that NYC police were forced to shut down Times Square. All the scripting, blocking, and gel in Carson Daly’s hair could not prevent Mariah Carey from having her infamous breakdown while in the studio to promote Glitter; this happened live, and on national TV. The live element, the craziness of the fandom, and the anticipated presence of everyone’s favorite superstars and VJs still contained an energy that only MTV had. Anything could happen at any time.
Dweezil Zappa & Downtown Julie Brown
Photo © MTV.com
VJs were the core of these shows. The laxity of the earlier MTV days had allowed them to play up their personalities and do their best with what they had. Besides looking cool with thick-rimmed glasses and being a decent teleprompter reader, there were plenty of people who could have done just as good a job as Kennedy. Pauly Shore and Downtown Julie Brown were out of their minds and just wanted to party with the kids they interviewed at Spring Break or in the clubs. But that was the thrill of it all—the VJs were cool, young, semi-awkward, and excited, just like their viewers. The only difference was, they were on TV, hanging with their favorite bands, and we weren’t. MTV gave them the freedom to hang out with rock stars and show the rest of us who couldn’t what it was like.
As vital as the bands and the VJs were, much of MTV’s greatness relied on true-to-life content. It’s been a while since MTV execs first realized that they needed to program something other than straight music videos; they had the foresight to predict the appeal of reality shows, especially those targeted specifically towards the younger demographic. This was real “reality TV,” before the superficial dramas and dating shows of today. You can blame these guys for today’s reality TV overload, but the initial idea was pretty groundbreaking! Even The Real World started out as a true depiction of young strangers living together with some cameras capturing it all. Rewatch the infamous show’s first season and you’ll come to realize that without the forced melodrama and scripted conflicts, these guys mostly got along. It’s almost boring. But they were just like us!
Jesse Camp
Photo © MTV.com
Wanna Be A VJ, which ran for three seasons, was vital in transforming everyday young people into stars. Kids were handpicked from the crowd outside the Times Square studio to compete for the coveted job of the next MTV VJ. It was the American Idol of MTV, before American Idol existed. Remember first season winner Jesse Camp? He rose to fame, winning the show, and beating out second runner-up Dave Holmes who, in all ways, was obviously better for the job. But Jesse Camp was the cool one, the guy who was poor, in a struggling band, and desperately trying to make it big by partying while he struggled. In a year or two he returned to obscurity, but he was the epitome of MTV’s hip rationale.
Anyone could win, and we made it happen by calling in and voting online like crazy. Soon after the contest ended, The Village Voice reported that a hacker had broken into the online system and voted for Camp 3,000 times to make him the winner, proof that the contest was indeed real and controlled by its viewers. This viewer polling had the same concept as TRL, except voters were sending one of their own to the top. And when we made our favorite people winners, we could watch them live the rock and roll dream—and make fools out of themselves—by tuning in every afternoon.
The show Fanatic was the same deal. It was great watching shameless teenagers profess their love in order to be proclaimed the supreme “fanatic” and meet their favorite celebrity. It was the ultimate honor and the ultimate embarrassment. And we could watch safely from home with our boy band posters plastered all over our walls, knowing we were just a few bars below the level of insanity these fans displayed. This was not the fake or forced “reality” TV of now. MTV showed us a culture, mindset, and style influenced by our beloved rock and pop stars to become our own. Like TRL, these shows capitalized on our anticipation and energy; we knew that what we watched was exciting because it came from us.
2 Responses to “I Want My MTV: A Collection Of Nostalgic Complaints”
December 2nd, 2008 at 2:42 pm
I really loved this article. Even though I’m pretty young in the spectrum of MTV and wasn’t around for a bunch of the shows you mentioned, I really got what you meant and feel the same way about the lack of videos, and the eventual pre-tapings of TRL. Excellent article, really interesting and fun to read, and relatable even for someone who missed all of the 70s and half of the 80s!
December 4th, 2008 at 5:53 am
I am NOT young in the spectrum of MTV, as I recall it’s inception and how innovative and exciting a time it was to actually visualize what you only could hear unless you were able to get to a live perfomance. This article totally captures the recollection of that time – It was truly genuine and fun early on . . . But times change, just as radio gave way to TV, the availibilty of internet access to whatever past or current visual musical performances you’d like to see has had an impact on MTV. You don’t have to vote to see what you want to see – you just type it into your computer – TRL no longer required. It’s not as fun and doesn’t require any social interaction (not that MTV did so much but at least there was some social connection there) but it is what it is, and this article exemplifies that, as it very accurately recollects and depicts what once was.
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