by Marissa Meleske

Created on: January 28, 2011

In 1981, Music Television was born. People could then watch videos of their favorite bands, almost every time they turned the channel to MTV. When the Total Request Live countdown wasn't on, videos were played back to back, for hours on end. Sure, there were shows that were played, but nothing like today and as a result, many people prefer VH1 to MTV these days.  

Everything is different now. It truly seemed like the end of an era, especially to people born in the mid 1980's, when it was announced that TRL would be having it's final show on November 16, 2008. Very few people saw that coming, but on the other hand, most people preferred it when Carson Daly hosted. After awhile, we didn't know who was hosting on which day anymore! The only news that can even compare to the end of "TRL" though, is earlier this month when Regis Filbin announced his retirement from his show Live!, after 30 years. What would MTV be without their most famous countdown? Things haven't gotten any better since the show ended. Now, if you turn the channel to MTV, it's almost a special occasion if a music video is actually being played. With shows like "Jersey Shore", "Made", "When I Was 17", "True Life", there leaves a lot to be desired if you're looking for actual music. Even "That 70's Show" and the movie "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" are being shown today! Where is the music television in all of this? Since so many new shows like these are coming on, why not give them their own separate channel? It seems like every time we turn around, a new show is coming on of little to no importance to music, yet it's being shown on a channel called Music Television. What's the point? They have more than enough new material to be put on their own network. MTV was at it's best with bands like Hanson, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, N'Sync, Blink 182 and even as far back as Nirvana.

Whose fault is all of this? Is it MTV's fault, for yanking the music videos, or is it the artists' and directors' fault, for not making videos worth showing? What worries most people, is the young, impressionable children who watch the channel. All they want is to see the videos of their favorite artists, yet shows like Teen Mom 2 are being shown, which if you ask a lot of adults, just makes pregnancy look all the more appealing. How do we get our old MTV back? Is it gone forever and we're just left with the memories? Let's hope not!

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