The Run Of Shows MTV Put Out In Its Heyday Will Never Be Topped
Frank Micelotta Archive. Getty Images.
Today I was lucky and blessed enough to join Barstool Chicago on their weekly Draft. The category was a simple but strong one: TV Channels. They left it rather open-ended for a reason- you can pick your channel and defend it however you'd like. In my mind, there were two clear cut choices for #1 overall pick, MTV and ESPN, and then a clear-cut 3rd, HBO. When White Sox Dave picked HBO 1:1, I had a decision to make for the #2 overall pick- MTV or ESPN? I couldn't go wrong with either. Both have impacted pop culture, society, and Americana a metric shit ton. And while I believed ESPN would "look better on the graphic", I had to stick to my heart, and my brain, and go with the channel I believe has changed and impacted multiple generations more than any other channel, and that is MTV.
Now, what's wild is it would be hard to explain to someone growing up today just how important and how massive MTV was in the 80's, 90's, and early 2000's. The impact it had on culture was second to none. The list of shows that defined the entire year, or became empires themselves, is unmatched. I listed some of these shows on the podcast, but let me do it in this here blog:
TRL
Making The Video
MTV SPRING BREAK
Jersey Shore
Jackass
The Osbournes
Real World
The Challenge
MTV UNPLUGGED
Beavis and Butthead
Cribs
Super Sweet 16
Teen Mom
Laguna Beach
The Hills
True Life
Room Raiders
Making the Video
The Jessica Simpson reality show
Catfish
Singled Out
Rob and Big
MAKING THE BAND
And the GOAT, Pimp My Ride
And that was just the list I made off the top of my head. Think about how many of those shows became empires and produced mainstream stars like Jersey Shore and the Real World. And then shows like Jackass that spawned movies. Even shows we hardly think about anymore, like The Osbournes, was GINORMOUS when it was on. And then silly shows like Pimp My Ride still are ingrained in pop culture even to this day.
Not even to mention awards shows like the VMAs and the MTV Movie Awards all had moments (Taylor Swift/Kanye West, for example) that are some of the biggest pop culture moments of the last 20 years.
And don't even get me started on MTV Spring Break…but that's for another time.
It sucks MTV only shows Ridiculousness 24 hours a day, 7 days a week now. But nothing will ever top the run they had. I mean shit, in this blog I didn't even talk about the M in MTV- MUSIC! I put the picture of Cobain on Unplugged at the top, and that barely scratches the surface of the impact MTV had on the music industry. Getting a music video on MTV changed careers, getting to play on TRL made careers, and while nobody really cares about music videos anymore, they mattered A TON back in the day. Shout out to "Californication" and "Freak On A Leash", my two favorite videos of all time.
You can watch the full draft here: