The suits over at MTV have decided to pull the plug on Total Request Live after 10 years on the air — which for MTV is equivalent to maybe 200 in human years. Executive producer Dave Sirulnick says the show, which will conclude on a Saturday in November with a two-hour special, isn’t gone for good, but just taking a rest — which sounds a bit like a concerned parent telling the children at Grandpa’s funeral, "See, it’s kind of like he’s sleeping." Apparently, MTV’s new Pete Wentz-hosted FNMTV show is being touted as the next-gen TRL.
The news raises a few questions:
1. TRL was still on the air?
2. Does this mean Internet officially killed the video star?
3. Is Pete Wentz the new Carson Daly?
4. When will MTV quit pretending to care about music and fully commit to being a reality-TV channel?
5. What’s an FNMTV, and is it anything like an OMFG? (Apparently, the young-uns love the FNMTV; check it out here.)
Anyone gonna miss TRL? Care to share some memories of TRL from its ‘N Sync-Eminem-Britney Spears heyday? Who would win in a fight between Daly and Ryan Seacrest? Discuss.
Comments (1-30) of 105 Add your comment
I still remember Adam Curry and 1-800-DIAL-MTV.
I’ve hardly watched TRL, and when I have, I absolutely cannot stand the claustrophobia of 100 teenagers screaming on cue. I am intrigued by Pete Wentz’s new venture, and will have to check that out.
Happy Days. This show, and MTV, have ruin music. There are so many ways why this was a horrible show, but I’ll list just one right now. TRL never played a whole video. They would play a minute of a 2 minute video and then end with a bunch of screaming 13 yr olds. Never come back TRL. I will say one nice thing about TRL. TRL was the only part in a 24 hour day that MTV attempted to play music vidoes. Other then that, all we got on MTV were reality shows that repeated over and over again.
There was a time when I watched TRL, and that was seven years ago when I was 13.
And with the end of TRL comes the end of all music programming on the channel. They didn’t even play the whole videos anymore, did they?
Ah, *NSYNC & Britney Spears, those were the days. The battles between the *NSYNC fans and the BSB fans (I fell on the *NSYNC side of things myself). I’ll never forget being in the TRL studio back in 2001 when *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached came out and looking down on Times Square to see the streets lined with thousands of screaming fans with the boys from *NSYNC in the studio. That’s the TRL I’ll miss. The one going off the air today, eh, not a big fan of it. I would like to see the final episode be a ‘best of’ show with all the great moments over the past 10 years.
I’m sad to see TRL end!! I remember the good old days: Watching the Backstreet Boys sing on top of the MTV building with a huge audience in Times Square, Mariah unleashed, Britney Spears, Elton John and Justin Timberlake interview, MJ and Carson D! So many good memories!! I hope Daly returns for this farewell special!!
Not only do I remember TRL back in it’s heyday, I remember TRL BEFORE it’s heyday–back when it was just Carson Daly, a camera, no studio audience at all, and 10 music videos. It’s a shame really, that it’s become what it is. TRL was the show I watched, at one time, to learn new songs across genre lines. I mean, I initially watched the show for things like the Backstreet Boys, but I never EVER would have found songs I like in Limp Bizkit or Eminem without TRL’s influence. I remember how exciting it was to premiere a new video, how artists made TRL as important as Leno, and how many of those damn “vote NKOTB onto TRL” fwds I got. Without TRL we have no Carson Daly, no Jesse Camp… no Mariah Carey breakdown. I’m not sad to see THIS incarnation of TRL go, but the teenager inside of me misses the 2001-era TRL, and the 2001-era MTV for that matter.
Even though it was still called TRL for the last couple of years, it hasn’t been that since Carson Daly left. He was TRL. Carson was the only VJ that could interview the likes of Britney Spears and Eminem with any kind of ease because Carson was a music fan and knew the artists as well as the fans. He was replaced with former beauty queens who may have looked good on TV and could read a teleprompter but they knew nothing about music and that is what killed TRL. It lost it’s heart when Carson left and so in my opinion it was over years ago.
Yeah, there’s something I’ll miss: Watching 10 seconds of a video I’m trying to enjoy (that is, if the artist is actually good) while some preteen is sitting on the corner of the screen screaming “WOOOOOOO!!!” right up until the camera cuts away to whatever VJ was hired that week. While there’s no denying its impact on pop culture, TRL was clearly the beginning of the end for MTV, and the news of its cancellation has given me a noticeable pep in my step. Good riddance. Long live music.
I remember the heyday of Total Request Live. It was great at the begining and was something you had to watch everyday after school. But then they got away from the point of TRL and just threw in a 15 second clip of a video or shoved the video in a small box in the corner so Jessica from Philadelphia can scream “OMG I WANT TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO MY BOO JACOB, MY FRIEND EMILY, KRYSTAL AND OMG :SCREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM:”
Yeah that’s when I lost interest.
The traditional trend of MTV over the past 20 years. The last bit of music that MTV actually had (even if in 1 minute increments). I remember when Music Television actually had music, but that is no more. I didn’t care much for TRL; there’s no love lost there, but it’s still a sad fact that the last remaining music on Music Television is gone. The suits at MTV should consider changing the channel’s name now.
I remember TRL during its heyday. I also remember its predecessors. There was MTV Live and later on at night they would give Total Request with Carson Daly in a dark room by himself. Oh how I miss my TRL from back in the day – you know 1999 – when Britney was still a “virgin” I want the MTV back
Jeez and crackers, of course MTV is booting TRL ten years for that channel is like a lifetime. I can honestley say in its day TRL was great. It kept you informed and you got to see the music videos of some of the amazing artists over the years. The sad thing is now music videos will never be shown on that dern channel so whats the point for an artist to make one now???
I used to vote every day for about 20 minutes for the BSB during my internship during the peak of TRL. Ah, “Everybody” – that was the video!!
Yes, I agree that MTV is so far away from videos, but I don’t think its the internet’s fault. I don’t think videos are as necessary as they used to be.
Judging by his cameo in Knocked Up, I’d say Seacrest beats up Daily- looks like the dude’s got a mean streak deep inside! (though it would still be a girly slap fight, so this all isn’t saying much)
I’ve always hated TRL, from the moment it debuted, so I’m glad they’re finally pulling the plug.
I’m not surprised at all by this. The show just had too much music, which nowadays, is counter programming to what MTV normally airs.
Yes, internet killed the video star.
Carson would beat Ryan to a pulp and hopefully spit on him afterwards. Ryan sucks.
My family took a vacation to NYC when I was 15, and on the first day we were there my sister and I stood outside the window at TRL. Carson Daly and Busta Rhymes waved at us – it was pretty awesome.
I had no idea TRL still existed. I used to watch it every afternoon during the summer and remember when “I Want it That Way” was #1 every day.
Aw, and I also miss pre-manorexic Carson Daly.
Do you think 106 & Park had something to do with this? Or is TRL responsible for its own obscurity?
I remember back when it was just Total Request and it was Carson Daly sitting alone in a dark room. They counted down about 3 videos, 2 of which tended to be “Southampton” and “My Heart Will Go On” form “Titanic”. Doesn’t get much better than that.
Of course TRL is ending, it involves music.
I grew up on TRL, literally, my friends and I used to head into the city (from Brooklyn and Staten Island, not NJ!) after high school to hang outside. We developed a relationship with those who were responsible for bringing people into the audience, announcing songs and just general camera shouting. I’m only 26, but wow, TRL going off air just makes me feel so old!
That show was still on?
It’s the end of an era. TRL leaving makes me feel old, but I’m glad that when it was so well done, and Carson was the host, there were some great moments.
For those wondering, this has nothing to do with the success of “106 & Park”. The premise of that show is based largely on TRL, so eventually it too will run its course.
I’m gonna miss TRL, but I hope if and when it comes back, it is bigger and better than ever. LONG LIVE TRL!!! : )
FNMTV? WTF? Although I liked what those scamps over at Defamer did with Gossip Girl’s OMFG (On Meth Feeling Good)
I didn’t know TRL was still on, so this has little effect on me. It’s not like MTV plays that many videos nowadays anyway (unless it’s very early in the morning), so it’s kind of a moot point that the internet killed it.
I highly doubt BET’s 106 and Park was the reason TRL fell off, since it borrowed TRL’s concept to begin with. 106 did do a better job with the videos, since they played the majority of the songs before panning away, save the 30 second intro or outro. Also, BET, unlike MTV, isn’t obligated to play music at all, yet they air it far more than MTV does now, despite the ‘music’ part of their name.
I agree that the network should be named the 24 hour reality TV channel, because that’s all it is.
Sarah & I have really similar memories of TRL! No kidding, but I can actually remember the very first time, in 1999, that I watched an episode of TRL. Suddenly, music that I liked could cross many genres – rock, rap, pop, and more. In the same day, you could see Britney Spears, Marilyn Manson, and Eminem, all with great music videos. I thought Carson Daley was so cool and collected (now he’s kind of a jerk) – but he’s still way more down to earth and knowledgeable about music than Ryan Seacrest. TRL helped me gain a new appreciation for music and for the music video medium. It really does suck that it’s gone so far downhill.
I remeber when it was a half hour show at 930 at night. Only 5 videos, and Carson was sitting next to a TV monitor.
I never really liked Carson Daly, he never seemed that interesting to me.. kinda like watching someone from the local news try to host a talk show. eh but TRL was due for a “break…” it was predictable and pretty lame; I used to hate it when they would play a song you were waiting for but then cut to commercial 12 seconds later :/ MTV had a habit for things like that.
FNMTV is pretty cool, very lively and interesting to watch. Good luck to those guys.
What is ironic is that many here that state they miss the ~ 2000 MTV, TRL, etc…. and the music on MTV… back in 2000, many of us missed the ~1990 MTV, back when the had videos. And in 1990, …
And very few probably pick up on the “internet killed the video star” irony either.
As soon as I read this I thought “Yay! One less reason for annoying tourists to overcrowd the streets of Times Square.” But that’s just the bitter New Yorker in me talking. I look back fondly on the BSB/Nsync wars of ‘99-’01.