Posts with tag music videos
Posted Jun 27th 2008 6:07PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Reality-Free
I'm one of the many people who laments the
"channel drift" that has affected MTV. A network that started out as, well, "music television" has clearly become "anything but music television." There's even a graph now on GraphJam the depicts how
The Real World caused the downfall of MTV. The graph shows how the airtime for music videos has decreased as
The Real World grew in popularity. Perhaps it should also measure how the cast of
The Real World became more attractive and subsequently less intelligent.
The graph posits that by 2010 music videos will be nonexistent on the channel. Also, interesting is the rise of what the graph calls simply "other crap" that coincides with the rise of shows like
The Real World and
Road Rules. I assume "other crap" refers to shows like
The Hills,
My Super Sweet Sixteen, and
Made -- shows that have replaced music videos in primetime (and replaced music videos with their incessant reruns in daytime).
Continue reading Proof that The Real World caused the downfall of MTV
Posted Apr 6th 2007 11:21AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Music and Variety, TV Squad Lists
Despite the fact that I'm part of MTV's target demographic, I don't really watch the network. I only tune in as I'm getting dressed in the early morning and MTV's running its morning music video block. For the rest of the day, MTV seems to avoid actually playing full music videos like the plague. Instead, they fill their programming schedule with awful reality shows about spoiled pre-teens and dating shows so depressing that contestants are even willing to
pee all over themselves to get out.
Now, please allow me to frolic about in my own fantasy world, in which I create my idea of MTV's perfect programming schedule. There are only five -- FIVE -- MTV shows that I would keep. That's right. Everything else should be full-on music videos. In my own MTV, there will be no
Laguna Beach, no
Pimp My Ride, and certainly no
Yo Momma (how did they manage to pitch that?!)
Continue reading The five shows MTV should keep
Posted Mar 14th 2007 9:31AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Cable, Music and Variety, MTV
MTV is really getting into this whole idea of TV viewers also becoming TV content providers. First they add a new viewer video category for the MTV Movie Awards, and now they're looking for guest hosts for Total Request Live.
Fans of the show have to answer six questions to enter, including which celebrity that they'd pick to star as in a movie about their life, who they would pick for the ultimate TRL guest list, and how they would describe TRL to someone who has never seen the show before (that last one is easy: they play music videos, a celeb comes on, and the kids in the audience go nutso). MTV and Acuvue will pick four winners who will each host a day in May.
You also have to upload a picture of yourself. So please, make sure you're attractive.
[via TV Guide]
Posted Feb 5th 2007 11:30AM by Liz Finn-Arnold
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, News and Gossip
American Idol's oh-so-brutally-honest judge Simon Cowell wasn't always quite so brutally honest. In fact, back in the 1980s, Simon was so intimidated by mega-star Eddie Murphy, that he didn't have the nerve to tell him that the songs he had written were complete and utter crap.
Simon recalls how he went to Eddie's home, expecting it to be "just the two of us and one hi-fi." Instead, he found himself in "a recording studio with about 20 nodders; a nodder is someone who gets paid to agree with the person paying him."Continue reading Simon Cowell wasn't brutally honest with Eddie Murphy
Posted Dec 29th 2006 1:02PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, The Five, Music and Variety, Web, Celebrities, MTV
I caught the video for Paul Simon's "Call Me Al" on VH1 Classic the other night, the one in which Chevy Chase lip syncs to the song, and it got me thinking about other funny music videos. I thought it would be a great idea for one of these "The Five" lists we bloggers love so much, and as I was racking my brain I realized I could just simply list five Weird Al Yankovic videos.
But no, Adam loves a challenge, so Weird Al is off limits. After the jump, check out the five videos I came up with, along with a little help from my pal Wild Bill. Throw down some of your own suggestions in the comments.
Let's rock:
Continue reading The Five: Funny music videos not featuring Weird Al - VIDEO
Posted Dec 5th 2006 2:28PM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Industry, Music and Variety, Celebrities, MTV
Christmas came early at my house. An
online casting call has been posted for a
continuation of R. Kelly's hip-hop opera Trapped in the Closet.
In the summer of 2005, Kelly released the first five chapters of
Trapped in the Closet as music videos, each ending with a cliffhanger, on MTV and BET. Unable to contain his genius, Kelly introduced a sixth chapter for the
MTV Video Music Awards in 2005 and an additional six chapters on DVD in 2006.
Next to K-Fed's rap career,
Trapped in the Closet is one of the greatest acts of unintentional comedy to be unleashed on the music-listening public in the past several years. His commentary track is comedy gold, and the chapters have been parodied by Jimmy Kimmel,
South Park,
SNL,
MADtv, Upright Citizens Brigrade and Weird Al. Even his
fans have referred to the "hip-hopera" as the "Plan 9 of music videos."Continue reading R. Kelly makes a casting call
Posted Nov 8th 2006 3:01PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Music and Variety, Web, MTV
Wouldn't it have been hysterical if on its first day MTV couldn't afford the rights to any songs, so the entire day was nothing but videos for public domain songs like "Happy Birthday" "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?" I'm sure a few strobes and a fog machine would have added a whole new dimension to "Three Blind Mice," as performed by Alice Cooper: "She cut off their tails with a CARVING KNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE!!!"
But no, MTV launched in 1981 with a bunch of videos of regular pop and rock musicians, starting off with The Buggles catchy "Video Killed the Radio Star," a hit song that was later followed by other great hits from the band such as "Country Music Molested A TV Personality" and "Ragtime Was Convicted of Aggravated Assault."
Thanks to whoever runs the blog IZ Reloaded, you can now watch YouTube clips of every video that aired when MTV first jumped out of your cable box. There's also some REO Speedwagon songs for people like me who mock the band when around friends but secretly sings "Keep On Loving You" in the shower. I've placed The Buggles' video after the jump, cause I love that song.
Continue reading See every video from MTV's first day - VIDEO
Posted Oct 12th 2006 8:56AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Animation, Web, MTV
Our fearless editor Keith hepped us bloggers to a piece in Stuff Magazine listing the best videos Beavis and Butt-Head ever watched. I'm glad he did, because I sure as hell wouldn't have read Stuff voluntarily. The piece also has links to YouTube clips of Beavis and Butt-Head providing their running commentary for videos by Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies, Gwar and Crowbar, among others. What, no "Punk Rock Girl" by the Dead Milkmen? No "Push the Little Daisies" by Ween? No "Elvis is Everywhere" by Mojo Nixon? Well anyway, if you're bummed out by the fact that the DVD releases don't include these little music video gems, the piece is worth checking out. Though I must admit when I watched Beavis and Butt-Head in high school I always wanted them to hurry up and get through the videos and back to the main story. Some of their commentaries were funny, but mostly it just felt like filler.
Posted May 22nd 2006 9:03AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: OpEd, Video, Web
Pearl Jam is making one of their videos
available online under the Creative Commons license. Why do I care about Pearl Jam doing this? Well, I don't actually, but it got me thinking about music videos and how they've found a new life online and in DVD form, as television has all but eradicated them. While many networks and channels are moving online with broadband content while still remaining secured to TV, these days you can't really see a video from your favorite band unless you go online, or buy a number of DVD collections dedicated to certain video directors like Michael Gondry and Spike Jonze, among others. The thing is, videos haven't gotten worse, in fact, they've gotten much better, I think, and while the idea of sitting through three whole minutes of song might cause the programmers at MTV to gasp in horror, I'm glad to see bands are still making videos, and making them easily accessible to fans and anyone else who wants to check them out. The Web can be a place not only for networks to try out online-only content and rerun old shows, it can also be a place where ideas no longer suited to television can still find an audience.
Giveaways reminder: Office, Eli Stone, Supernatural, South Park
Giveaway Thursday: Tickets to the New York Television Festival ... all of it!
I miss the media-friendly John McCain - VIDEOS
