515 Crew

[El Rhino]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111799 ... id=14&cs=1


I know it's a little cliche to talk shit about MTV in underground music circles, but this is pretty cool. Glad to see that people are turning that garbage off.

I thought the Real World was alright when it came out, 120 Minutes with Matt Pinfield was fuckin' sweet, Headbanger's Ball was cool, Liquid Television, The State and Beavis and Butthead were good. Since then it's been nothing but well, garbage. This is not even simply a matter of taste, there's no redeeming value to their programing.

I hope they either A. make it interesting again, although I still probably won't watch it or B. go broke.

So here's my question that maybe some of you younger folks can address: Is MTV really relevant anymore? I know it's probably not to anyone here, but when I was in school people seemed to take their cues from MTV as far as music tastes, fashion, politics, etc. Does MTV still influence people's tastes in music and other pop culture things? Has it been replaced by the internetz as far as being the driving force behind popular youth culture? Discuss.

[kristy]

If people are taking cues from this bullshit (http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/exiled/series.jhtml) ...I don't want to live among them.

[jjjsXe]

I loved The State though very few remember seeing it (i'm gonna dip my balls in it). When I was growing up, I was always watching MTV, especially 120 minutes, Alternative Nation, and Beavis and Butthead. It wasn't until the late 90's' when I think it was TCI decided to take MTV off the air and replace it with Animal Planet. Everyone was pissed. But a couple months later MTV returned and it was completely different. It was now referred to as "the ten spot" and I think that is when TRL and Carson Daly started and I hated it. MTV had always had a handful of lousy musicians, but when TRL started it was just one terrible performer after another. I miss MTV from 1996 and earlier

[tylerjames515]

I am pretty sure the only kids taking cues from MTV are those in under developed countries. Maybe a few of them xXHotxXxTopicxxxxxxxXxxXOXOX kids might buy into some of that shit too. The only thing they play that is still sort of alright to watch is "True Life: I'm a ........"

[tom2electricboogaloo]

the real deal...

[robdigi]

The ten spot was what they called their late night prime time programming - it's when new episodes of Singled Out and whatever other hot shows for the time would debut.

When my teenybopper cousin lived with my family around 2004 she would always have MTV on in the background. I really couldn't comprehend it.. just a ton of "reality" TV featuring narcissistic teenagers overdramatizing their lives. At least when MTV flooded their programming with non-music content in the 90's they would attempt to make it funny or somehow loosely related to music.

[jnice]

The last good MTV show that I'm aware of was Wonder Showzen (also, sadly, a show that had nothing to do with music), and that was on MTV 2!

A couple weeks ago at work I was looking at the upcoming programming for MTV in a newspaper for a given 12-hour period: There wasn't one block for music videos to be found! I think Subterranean (the modern equivalent of 120 Minutes) is still on MTV 2 but gets buried late at night for programs that feature spoiled brats trying to pursue careers most people can relate to, such as modeling or being a professional cheerleader.

One thing I always appreciated about Beavis and Butthead was how the show featured videos within the program. Now you have to go to Youtube if you're still interested in music videos (which is OK with me because I don't have to sit through five minutes of commercials per video).

MTV back in the '80s (when they played ONLY videos) was nothing great, of course: You had the same ten videos being looped over and over... Don't like Wham? Too bad! Something needed to change, obviously, but I just wish "Jackass" hadn't eventually been part of their solution.

I think MTV should make it official and replace the "Music" in their name with something else.

[robdigi]

MTV needs to create another channel and recapture what MTV2 was in the mid-90's. That channel was amazing for a few years. Not only did they play music videos exclusively, they played a wide variety and even played some esoteric/unknown stuff... on a regular basis.

[robdigi]

Also this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUZl02yH9y4


MTV's proudest moment.

[Walking Thunder]

So reality TV is what got them into the shitty ratings . . . and reality TV is going to get them out of it?

I haven't had cable for a few months now, but when I am at my parents' house I flip to the station when I'm bored. MTV's shows focus too much on extravagance that its audience doesn't have (shows like Cribs, My Super Sweet 16, NEXT, The Hills, Laguna
Beach, etc.). I think it'd get a little boring to watch shows about people who are on TV for the mere fact that they have more money than you. Most of MTV's reality TV shows don't have any narrative structure which might be why they are getting ignored. It's easier to sympathize and be entertained by a character submerged in a plot than a "real" person that is the equivalent of a game show contestant. Daria, Aeon Flux, even Beavis and Butthead are more memorable than The Andy Milnakis Show, Parental Control, and Pimp My Ride for a reason; they have characters which in some sense can be related to the audience. Granted MTV has some shows that aren't too plot-driven that I do enjoy--mainly True Life--but basing an entire "slate" on shallow entertainment that does nothing but point a way of living you can't afford is bound to get tiresome.

[Walking Thunder]

http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/bromance/se ... 20bromance

[Smoking Guns]

that thurston more/beck video is so good

[elliot]

Also this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUZl02yH9y4


MTV's proudest moment.

After watching that, Beck becoming a Scientologist doesn't seem so unbelievable.

[Smoking Guns]

ugh. i forgot he was a scientologist. ugh.

[Hank Fist]

After watching that, Beck becoming a Scientologist doesn't seem so unbelievable.

i'm really disappointed, never knew that, just lost about 25% of my respect for him.

[TooManyHumyns]

Beck has been involved in Scientology for most of his life; his wife is also a second-generation Scientologist. Marissa and her twin brother, Giovanni, were delivered by Beck's mother, Bibbe.[62] Beck publicly acknowledged his affiliation with the controversial Church of Scientology for the first time in an interview published in the New York Times Magazine on March 6, 2005. Further confirmation came in an interview with the Irish Sunday Tribune's i Magazine on June 11, 2005, where he was quoted as saying, "Yeah, I'm a Scientologist. My father has been a Scientologist for about 35 years, so I grew up in and around it." When questioned by the interviewer about Scientology's core beliefs, he replied:

What it actually is is just sort of, uh, you know, I think it's about philosophy and sort of, uh, all these kinds of, you know, ideals that are common to a lot of religions....There's nothing fantastical...just a real deep grassroots concerted effort for humanitarian causes. I don't know if you know the stuff they have. It's unbelievable the stuff they are doing. Education...they have free centres all over the place for poor kids. They have the number one drug rehabilitation programme in the entire world (called Narconon). It has a 90-something percent success rate...When you look at the actual facts and not what's conjured in people's minds that's all bullshit to me because I've actually seen stuff first hand.

lol

[@nonymous]

haven't watched mtv in years but isn't that human giant show on there?

we've got the first season and it's great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=950AaQki ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_mAIyAR ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9q30Ce2vwE

[jjjsXe]

but I just wish "Jackass" hadn't eventually been part of their solution.

I remember that MTV used to have show that was kinda the same as Jackass in the early 90's called Buzzkill. It was a group of skateboarders who i also believe were in a band called Buzzkill and they would skate around and pull pranks on people and things. I remember one episode where they crowd-surfed a guy in a crow costume into a Black Crows concert and...for some reason it was funny. I don't remember much about that show other than it being really cool and funny.

[Hank Fist]

but I just wish "Jackass" hadn't eventually been part of their solution.

I remember that MTV used to have show that was kinda the same as Jackass in the early 90's called Buzzkill. It was a group of skateboarders who i also believe were in a band called Buzzkill and they would skate around and pull pranks on people and things. I remember one episode where they crowd-surfed a guy in a crow costume into a Black Crows concert and...for some reason it was funny. I don't remember much about that show other than it being really cool and funny.

yeah, they wore those yellow masks...weren't they affiliated with the Jerky Boys or something?

[moltar]

P Diddy has sure made a lot of bands.

[JoePreppy]

Pretty sure ratings will rebound w/ the new show they've been promoting "Bromance" Some fuck named 'Brody' that's lookin for some good 'bros' to hang out with. He's not gay, he's just looking for 'bros'.

[robdigi]

old MTV = inspired slang

new MTV = inspired by slang

[Beaver]

haven't watched mtv in years but isn't that human giant show on there?

we've got the first season and it's great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=950AaQki ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_mAIyAR ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9q30Ce2vwE

Human Giant is the only thing worth watching on those channels.

[joseph]

remote control was great

[Walking Thunder]

old MTV = inspired slang

new MTV = inspired by slang

Haha, truth!

This makes me think of Fredric Jameson's Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. It's worth checking out if you want to learn about how capitalism has messed up art.