The M in MTV now stands for Miscellaneous. In addition to announcing new reality programs not unlike their biggest hits, the “new and diversified” cable station also greenlit a scripted series: Hard Times, a single-camera comedy from David Katzenberg, about a teenage social pariah. They’re also developing a series based on the Michael J. Fox movie Teen Wolf, and an animated show from SNL‘s Seth Meyers about a superhero who battles the paparazzi. Throw in concrete plans for another Ashton Kutcher-produced reality show (American Idiots) and Rob Hoffman’s oddball variety show best described by this clip, as well as a proposed Jamie Foxx sketch show, and there’s something for everyone (under the age of 29). Not bad.
Wouldn’t it be great if MTV found its Weeds or Mad Men, a successful, original show that redefines our perception of a network? MTV will always aim young, and shows like The Hills are its lifeblood. But I get the feeling the network craves some respect, too.
What MTV shows are you currently watching? What would you like to see more of? And which upcoming series seems most promising? Poll after the jump.
Photo credit: Foxx: Chris Hatcher/PR Photos; Meyers: Sylvain Gaboury/PR Photos
Does anyone remember the days when MTV was about the music? Showing videos? The Top 20 Video Countdown?
Yeah… I miss videos.
Me too. And when Real World didn’t suck.
There’s this amazing thing called the Internet where you can watch all the videos you want whenever you want. Would you really sit in front of a television for two hours hoping videos you care about come on, when you can just go online and see what you want, when you want?
yeah, we can watch whatever we want when we want on the internet. but i also enjoy tuning in to mtv and seeing a video i haven’t seen in a while, or being pleasantly surprised by what’s currently playing (or at least i used to, when mtv actually played music and not lame “reality” shows).
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it’s like listening to the radio. you can always download the songs you want off the internet, but i still like the experience of not knowing what will be playing when i turn on the radio.
Amen and hallejuah ! I don’t care if it “makes me old”. I gave up on MTV a long time ago. I genuinely miss what it used to be and hate that this generation has nothing truly similar. MTV lost it’s true self years ago.
I remember and those days are long gone:(
The only thing I watch on MTV is America’s Best Dance Crew. And sometimes their awards shows. There’s no point lamenting about how they don’t play videos anymore, as they haven’t for years, and I feel like a broken record. But I will say that for a period in the early 00s they had some mildly entertaining light reality TV (Punk’d, Jackass, Next, etc) Kinda miss that stuff.
MTV was so close with Daria… those were the days!
I’m ashamed to say I still tune in to MTV for America’s Best Dance crew, that’s it. I loved Daria too, but everything thing else on that station makes me cringe…
all of this sound like garbage. Am i to old. I haven’t even turned thirty yet and watching MTV is really so 1998
I occasionally check in on ABDC, but other than that…not so much. I still think back fondly to shows like Daria and the older seasons of Real World (Boston was the first season I ever watched and will always be my favorite).
I remember, and truly miss, when MTV centered around videos and vjs…
mtv was great, when it was all about the music. even reality shows about music. now its just random crap. mtv has been garbage for years. i remember rushing home to watch trl after school. that was their last good program as far as i am concerned.
I haven’t watched MTV since Daria went off the air. By then, I thought it had become irrelevant without its animated heroine, her forebears Beavis and Butthead, and of course actual music videos. I have never seen The Hills, and I never cared for The Real World. Where MTV and VH1 were once cool, they are now trash heaps of “celebreality.”
Clone High?! Anyone?!
Oh, and videos.
This was a good show WessLLEEYY.
LOVED Clone High! G-spot rocks the G-spot!
True Life is a reputable show. Mostly, I miss music videos and don’t watch any of their other programming.
Oh and their former “I want my MTV”? Can they put out a new campaign saying, “I want my MTV BACK!”?
I am 14, have watched MTV a couple times (when I have been with my friends and I know they will probably have a mental breakdown if they don’t get their “Hills, “ABDC,” or, dare I say it, “Tila Tequila,” fix), and I do not see ANY appeal in the channel or its shows. It is just raunchy trash. I would much rather spend my time in front of the TV watching quality programming. And quality MTV is not.
I want music videos! Isn’t it Music Television wheres the music? Please MTV bring them back. You can still show your crappy reality tv though just show us some music
“Wouldn’t it be great if MTV found its Weeds or Mad Men, a successful, original show that redefines our perception of a network?”
Wouldn’t it be great if MTV actually showed music videos and had programs oriented towards music just like its moniker suggests? Why does it need redefining?
It pains me to say that True Life is the only show on that channel worth watching, and only if it’s not a stupid episode like “I’m a Staten Island girl.”
lols @ “I’m a Staten Island Girl”
is that the one with the extremely tanned, spiky haired dudes?
Made is pretty good too.
WE just were talking about old MTV shows. Remember Aeon Flux that fly in the eye always freaked me out. lol and bring back the videos.