I don't want my MTV!
Written: Mar 27 '01 (Updated Mar 27 '01)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Programming Quality: |
 |
|
| Program Cycle: |
|
|
| Commercial Interruption: |
|
|
|
Pros: Occasional amusement.
Cons: Carson Daly, "Teck Money", videos cut short, too many commercials
The Bottom Line: Don't even bother. You'll find more entertainment in scrubbing the bathroom floor.
|
|
|
| luvmysoldier's Full Review: MTV |
I remember back in the early 90s when MTV actually played music videos. Sure, there were some shows thrown into the mix, such as Beavis and Butt-head and The Grind, but the main focus was music videos. Nowadays it seems as though MTV consists primarily of poorly written trash.
Let's get a rundown of some of the shows currently airing on MTV:
Total Request Live This, in my opinion, is one of the worst shows on MTV, for one simple reason: Carson Daly. He has got to be the most annoying television personality of 2001. He's rude, annoyingly sarcastic, and so full of himself that it's a miracle his head hasn't exploded yet. He brings people up to the TRL studio only to tease them and make them look like complete idiots on national TV. But it's not just Carson that makes TRL such an awful show. The show's purpose is to play the country's top 10 most requested videos. And they do play them...well, parts of them. Usually the number 9 and 10 videos are ten second clips, so maybe we get to hear the chorus of a song. Songs 1 through 8 aren't much better. We get to see about 30-45 seconds of each video. For the remaining time, Carson yaps about stuff no one cares about, makes stupid jokes, and hosts celebrity guests who want nothing more from TRL than to plug their latest movie.
Fear Okay, forget everything I said about TRL being the worst show on MTV. I think Fear takes the cake for that one. Fear brings together six "teenagers" (most of whom are already in their early 20s), takes them somewhere "haunted", and they have to complete "missions" in the big scary haunted buildings so they can win the prize of $3000. Each participant is given a camera of their own to wear on the missions (read: Blair Witch Project ripoff). They each have to complete a mission alone, which usually involves traipsing off to some dank, dark corner of the rundown building (a mental hospital, an old military academy, abandoned prison, etc, etc, etc...) where they sit for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, usually while mumbling "I'm so scared" and sniffling. If they are brave enough to endure the time alone in the big scary haunted place, they return to the "control room" and are greeted with many hugs and "You did great!"s from their teammates. This show can actually be quite amusing at times, such as when a young man named Mike ran screaming like a little girl through the dark hallways of an old prison. Other than that, the show is way too dramatic and staged for my tastes.
Jackass This show is actually pretty amusing. A bunch of guys get together and do incredibly dumb stunts (jump off a ladder into a pile of elephant poop, sit in a Port-a-Potty while it is turned upside down, a guy dressed in a devil suit who stood on the corner and insisted that the devil invented circumcision, and many, many more) for the amusement of us, the home viewers. Some stunts are downright gross, such as the time Johnny Knoxville put dog poop into his entree at a Chinese restaurant and then tried his hardest to convince the poor owners that it had been served to him like that. An episode of Jackass is never complete unless there is a midget in at least one of the pranks. I'd much rather watch this show than TRL or Fear.
The Real World This is another show that I really like, even though it's somewhat embarassing to admit that. Seven strangers are picked to live in a house (more like a mansion) together for six months and have their lives taped for our viewing pleasure. MTV usually makes sure they pick seven people whose lifestyles will surely clash with one another, such as the Abercrombie-wearing homosexual, the ghetto thug, and the churchgoing Mormon. I don't know why this show is so appealing. I don't find it very real. I mean, come on. In the real world, we are not given a humungous, deliciously furnished house to live in (rent free, of course) and six months' worth of food and beverages. In the real world, people must work to get money to pay for these kinds of things. But even though it isn't very realistic, I am hopelessly addicted to The Real World.
Direct Effect Also referred to as DFX. Hosted by "Teck Money", the incredibly annoying Real World Hawaii veteran. He worked my nerves while we was on The Real World, and then MTV has to bring him back and give him his own show? WHY? All he does is stand in the middle of a dance floor, surrounded by scantily clad females, and interview various rappers and R&B singers. Don't get me wrong - I like rap and R&B, I just hate Teck. He is to DFX what Carson Daly is to TRL. Annoying and disgustingly full of himself. DFX is the rap/R&B sister to TRL, but with a little twist: viewers are given 3 videos at a time to select from, and they have to call in and vote (or vote online at MTV's website) for which video they want to see. DFX does a slightly better job than TRL at playing videos; with DFX we actually get to see about 3/4 of the video.
Spring Break Oh. My. Gosh. I don't even want to get started on this mess of a show, because I don't think I'll ever be able to quit. But I shall try. Spring Break is when MTV hauls all their camera crew and VJs down to some tropical spot (this year it was in Cancun, Mexico). Then, thousands of college coeds flock down to aforementioned tropical spot to have sex and binge drink. Sound like fun? MTV milks this one to the absolute fullest. In one episode, there was a wet t-shirt contest. Things got a bit rowdy, and faster than I could blink, three quarters of the girls had ripped their tops off. One girl went so far as to take everything off and was laying on the stage, spread eagle, showing all her goods. I hope her mother wasn't watching.
Another reason that MTV's Spring Break irks me so much is that they only show the "fun" side. Never mind that fact that abortion clinics experience a surge in "customers" in the 2-3 months following spring break. Never mind the girl that tests positive for chlamydia three months later, a result of sleeping with five guys she barely knew in a one week span. Never mind the guy who is rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, a result of doing twenty shots in a two hour span. Why would MTV want to show these kinds of things?? That would be silly. That would be reality, and that isn't what MTV is all about.
I could go down the line and list every one of MTV's shows, and tell you the reasons I despise most of them, but I think these six shows just about sum it up. MTV is not about the music anymore. If they were, they would have more than two regular shows "devoted" (and I use that term very loosely) to playing videos. If you're looking for a channel that actually shows videos in the entirety, and isn't just about boobs, sex, egotistical VJs, and bad jokes, then I would click the remote control to VH1. You're more apt to find something worthwhile there.
Recommended:
No
Average Program Rating: TV MA -- mature audiences only
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
luvmysoldier
|
|
Member: Erika Kelly
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 17 members
About Me:
I'm a 19 y/o stay at home mom and Army wife.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.