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MTV turns 30 years old

TLC was a "LEARNING" channel. MTV was a "MUSIC VIDEO" channel. Now, TLC is all about Jon and Kate + 8, What Not to Wear, etc, nothing to do with education, and MTV has Jersey Shore, Teen Mom 2, etc, stupid shows that I don't care about. Kudos to the 1980s and early/mid 90s (mostly because of Beavis & Butthead) MTV!

-crainbebo
 
crainbebo said:
TLC was a "LEARNING" channel. MTV was a "MUSIC VIDEO" channel. Now, TLC is all about Jon and Kate + 8, What Not to Wear, etc, nothing to do with education, and MTV has Jersey Shore, Teen Mom 2, etc, stupid shows that I don't care about. Kudos to the 1980s and early/mid 90s (mostly because of Beavis & Butthead) MTV!

-crainbebo
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I remember when TLC was more like National Geographic TV, History and to some extent PBS and MTV was Top 40 and AOR. fast forward to 2011 TLC is basically a channel for people rejected by MTV. and MTV is on Life support for Viacom.
 
recto101 said:
I remember when TLC was more like National Geographic TV, History and to some extent PBS...
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As was The Discovery Channel, which was practically nothing but nature and history documentaries until the late-1990s.

recto101 said:
...and MTV was Top 40 and AOR.
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In its early days, pre-VH1, MTV was indeed that -- mimicking Top 40 and AOR radio with what was practically the video version of radio.

Here's an overview of the first two hours of MTV, featuring its first VJ, Mark Goodman, who apparently had a terrible floor manager that day:

http://www.platypuscomix.net/videos/therealfirstday.html

recto101 said:
fast forward to 2011 TLC is basically a channel for people rejected by MTV...
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Actually, those seeking music won't be watching TLC, that's for sure.
 
MarcB said:
Just watched The Insider and they were spotlighting some of the artists who said MTV was a major influence on them. They also said there was a 30th Anniversary of MTV Special airing on VH-1 Classic and then a special with the original VJs including the above mentioned Mark Goodman on the 80s on 8 Channel on Satellite Radio tomorrow.
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It's been airing all day. They've been airing "Liquid Television", "Remote Control", old music video shows like "120 Minutes", old VJ intros, old promos, old MTV News promos. At midnight, they'll air the first hour MTV was on the air in its entirety.
 
That was the "Golden Age" of cable, when it was new, different, sophisticated, entertaining and worth paying for. That was when WTBS, WOR and WGN were REAL superstations, that offered unique and mesmerizing programming that the local stations couldn't afford or didn't have enough sense to air. Since the late 90's, not matter how many 100's of channels you buy, its all the same crap, most of the time airing the same rerun shows that are running on local OTA DTV! And the clowns in charge think that beaming that garbage in HD or Sensurrsmellaround will make it worth that $100 or more/month it costs.
 
VH1 Classic is airing the first hour of MTV as it originally aired August 1, 1981 right now.

I remember when I first "discovered" MTV in the early 80s when we got cable. It was the last channel on the line-up, channel 22!
 
in its earliest years MTV broadcast a frank zappa concert.

hard to believe today.
 
I remember when MTV used to air "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and "The Young Ones" reruns.

Today, its corporate sister station CMT shows "Dukes Of Hazzard" reruns. I suppose MTV was truly ahead of its time in that regard... :-[
 
MTV on life support...that's a good one. But if one wants to live in denial to try to validate being stuck in the past, it makes sense. ;)
 
imhomerjay said:
MTV on life support...that's a good one. But if one wants to live in denial to try to validate being stuck in the past, it makes sense. ;)
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HAHA^ If I'm not mistaken, MTV has never been more watched than in the past few years. Shows like Jersey Shore and Teen Mom have been a boon to the channel. Rightfully, this isn't 1981, and if someone wants to watch music videos like they can go on YouTube, MySpace, their smartphone, and so on and so on. MTV would have never survived in 2011 the way it looked in 1981 or 1991. "We" may not like MTV because it was music videos and limited, generally music related, programming back in the day, but it probably doesn't matter because "we" are too old to be in their audience anyway.
 
Exactly.

What's perhaps more amusing is the idea that glam-rockers and pop-tarts dancing round and lyp-syncing their songs somehow was ever-so-much more intelligent and valuable programming. I loved MTV back in my youth, but, really, I have no illusions that music videos represented the high point of our culture. They were mental bubblegum, some a bit more creative than others, but bubblegum nonetheless.
 
I remember as a kid watching MTV and hearing our parents say "How can you watch that crap" Now 25 or 30 years later I'm an adult and I'm asking kids "How can you watch that crap?"
 
flytrap said:
I remember as a kid watching MTV and hearing our parents say "How can you watch that crap" Now 25 or 30 years later I'm an adult and I'm asking kids "How can you watch that crap?"
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I agree.The crap now is so stupid.Reality shows about peoples daily lives,I dont care what people do in their everyday lives.
 
WPPCProductions said:
flytrap said:
I remember as a kid watching MTV and hearing our parents say "How can you watch that crap" Now 25 or 30 years later I'm an adult and I'm asking kids "How can you watch that crap?"
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I agree.The crap now is so stupid.Reality shows about peoples daily lives,I dont care what people do in their everyday lives.
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Arguably, shows like Teen Mom are more sociologically important than the "glam rockers and pop tarts" dancing around in videos ever were. Don't get me wrong, I'm not completely defending MTV programming, but a little perspective is in order- MTV has never been the arbiter of anything other than popular culture- it served pop culture well then and it serves pop culture well now. Its a channel for 12 to 34 year olds, though, it isn't intended to be deep...
 
And that's why there are a plethora of other entertainment options for those who don't care for a Jersey Shore or what have you. Journey lip-syncing to Don't Stop Believing wasn't some high-minded intellectual pursuit back in the day. One type of entertainment suits one audience, the other suits another audience...nothing more, nothing less.

(I wouldn't be surprised if we heard about the "bad influence" line, but let's be objective: the same things were said about the artists in music videos 30 years ago, too.)
 
while i do think music videos had a bad effect on the business,being as important to put out a good video as well as a song if not more important to do the video better,i can respect what MTV was. a cable channel of music for the current generation.too bad they did not stick with it and continue with music for the current generation still.

obviously van halen videos and such wouldn`t be shown but like the old days they could mix bands that are good but not heard that much with the more popular bands in videos and music programming.

it was good for what it was .its a shame a helter skelter of reality programs is taking its place.

if MTV had music videos i would at least occasionally see something i like.thats not the case now as it is.
 
Videos were a novelty 30 years ago. There was no widely available alternative delivery method. Now, if someone wants to see a particular video, they're not going to sit through hours upon hours of things they don't want to see on the chance of maybe seeing what they want.

It's always amusing to see that concept so completely ignored.
 
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