Posted on: June 4th, 2007 Somebody Kill the Video Star!
Aintitcool’s MiraJeff left this comment over at the AICN talkbacks.
I couldn’t agree more.
—————————————————————–
…MTV has become completely irrelevant. They used to be on the cutting edge. They used to matter to teenagers, and sometimes, they even made a difference. Now it’s all watered-down generic bullshit, and the worst part of it is that music videos have become an afterthought. I don’t think I’ve seen a music video on that station in years. It’s just awful Hills and Laguna Beach re-runs. Just because MTV ushered in the reality TV era with Real World, they feel they can exploit the format with partially scripted series about completely vapid people.
Take, for instance, its Rolling Stone reality show. It was a great idea that could’ve been really cool. I actually filled out the 15 page application and sent in a video. Am I a little bitter about not getting on the show? Sure. But that’s no excuse for the piss-poor casting job that was eventually done.
After watching the pilot it was easy to tell, in my infinite wisdom, that not one of those people deserved to ever have a job at Rolling Stone, let alone an unapid janitorial internship. It’s all about picking a bunch of weirdos to fill demographics, the same mega-issue currently plaguing On the Lot, which lost all credibility in its first episode when complete hacks made “The Top 50.” Out of 12,000 submissions, I am virtually positive that the show’s producers received better short films from better directors than the ones they chose, but the talented ones were either too polished for the amateur-filled show or they simply didn’t fit the casting demands – like the kid who didn’t go to film school, the guy with a family who has one last chance to make it, the mom who’s a wanna-be filmmaker, etc. But that’s Fox’s problem.
As for MTV it’s like a plague on society. There’s not an iota of creativity within that whole network. It’s just safe, poppy crap, from Room Raiders to Pimp My Ride to Punk’d to whatever new awful show they’re trying to trick teenagers and twentysomethings into watching.
It’s sad, because it’s a channel that caters exclusively to that holy demographic of 18-24 year olds, but there’s nothing remotely engaging about its programming. Why make repeated half-hearted attempts at drama when MTV should be sinking its money into original comedic programming given the dire state of the network sitcom. Believe me, there are plenty of people at MTV being paid ridiculous amounts of money to package and produce pure shit like The Hills, Newlyweds, Road Rules, etc. It’s gotten to the point where I’m not sure that channel can even be saved. And what’s worse is how easily people are buying into that trash. It reached a boiling point for me when I listened to last week’s Sports Guy podcast on ESPN, only to find a 20 minute “interview” with some dude from Inferno. Talk about a Z-grade celebrity.
Here’s a guy, Bill Simmons, who I love and cherish as a fellow Boston sports fan, a guy who’s columns/podcast are one of the highlights of my week, getting sucked into this pointless whirlwind of hype generated by the geniuses at MTV, and devoting an entire podcast to asking him softball questions about a reality show that pits former reality show contestants against each other… or something. Sports Guy should be embarrassed, but MTV might deserve a medal for brainwashing a credible media personality into thinking that Inferno and its pea-brained audience matter whatsoever. It’s frustrating, knowing there’s a channel out there that’s supposed to be “for me,” and not being able to find a single watchable show on it. I don’t know what can be done to change it. All I have is my little pulpit here and hope that Sumner Redstone spends his evenings reading AICN talkbacks.
MTV is completely unredeemable and if anyone of you watch it I urge you to reconsider your television viewing habits. Granted, the MTV Movie Awards are literally the annual apex of its programming, and Sarah Silverman is the bomb-diggity, but even that awards show has been suffering for years, recycling the same ideas and breaking no new ground in the format, when it’s the supposed to be the only “fun” awards show whose structure and awards can be played with. There are so many things that could be done to make that show cooler, but judging by those user-made entries, letting fans make their own mash-up trailers is not one of them. Just more fuel to the fire that’s burning the network to the ground. MTV2 is still cool, but it’s only available in a handful of households, and is best enjoyed under the influence of some sort of drug.
I long for the days when John Norris, Kurt Loder, Matt Pinfield were front and center. Hell, even The Devil himself, Carson Daly, would be an improvement over some of the “talent” that’s currently on the air. It really is a shame. And for the love of God, bring back Rock and Jock. I would tune in just to watch Michael Rapaport post-up Frankie Muniz one more time.