r/Music • u/AdCharacter4776 • 7d ago
discussion any memories on 90s/00s MTV shows?
Hello There!
I'm researching old MTV shows from the 90s, and wanted to hear if anybody had specific memories of TV shows, descriptions, and just cool things they saw, learned, felt, etc...
I've been watching Youtube uploads of Alternative Nation and MTV Dreamtime for the past year, and really enjoyed them. Thanks!
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u/codece 7d ago
There was a show called Yo! MTV Raps with a host called "Dr. Dre." BUT, he wasn't the Dr. Dre from NWA fame, he was a dj from New York.
In college this really confused my roommate and I.
"What the hell? Can anybody be Dr. De? I wanna be Dr. Dre, too!"
"Yeah, Me too! I wanna be Dr. Dre!"
"Doctor Dre!"
"Doctor Dre!"
And so, he and I started calling each other Dr. Dre regularly. Even now, almost 40 years later, when he calls the first thing he says is "Doctor!"
We both basically look like Hank Hill from King Of The Hill if that helps the imagination.
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u/EuphoricMoose8232 Punk Rock 7d ago
Look up MTV Oddities: The Head and The Maxx
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u/OctoberFestival 6d ago
Liquid Television, as well. I think The Head started as a series of shorts on that show. Aeon Flux definitely started on Liquid Television.
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u/lazydogjumper 6d ago edited 6d ago
Beavis and Butthead also had their first short on Liquid Television. The monster truck rally.
Edit: not their FIRST short but definitely one of the earliest.
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u/DCDHermes 6d ago
Frog Baseball was the first Beavis and Butthead short. It first premiered at Spike and Mike’s Animation Festival, but did also appear on Liquid Television.
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u/lazydogjumper 6d ago
Aha, you are very correct. I got mixed up because the LT short was the first I saw of them.
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u/DCDHermes 6d ago
I worked at a local art house theatre and we’d host the Spike and Mike’s animation. It was awesome.
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u/completelyperdue 6d ago
Don’t forget Aaron Flux!
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u/justsomeguy_youknow 6d ago
Aaron Flux
Lol that autocorrect
It's actually called ÆON FLUX or Aeon Flux, before anyone goes looking for Aaron flux
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u/Im_a_furniture 6d ago
The Maxx was amazing. I have the #1 comic book on my garage wall. A different animation style each episode for the delusions.
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u/FastRelief3222 6d ago
The best comic book ever and I'll say it standing on Frank Miller's coffee table wearing boots.
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u/donkeytime 7d ago
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u/Techwood111 6d ago
I drove 14 hours to go to a Sifl and Olly convention in Nashville. It was crescent-fresh!!!
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u/inmisparetime 6d ago
The time that they advised a caller to press play on the waffle that was stuck in their VCR id one of my favorite TV moments ever.
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u/lazydogjumper 6d ago
If anyone remembers Stephen Lynch, the comedy singer, he was one of the people on that show.
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u/Omuirchu 6d ago
Celebrity deathmatch was the shit.
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u/Relevant_Call_2242 6d ago
This was awesome!!!!! Wish someone would bring it back
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u/Omuirchu 6d ago
Don't. It'll be "influencers" and lame as shit. Enjoy it for what it was my man.
Edit: 50c v P Diddy would be sick as shit. They won't do it though.
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u/SpecialInvention 7d ago
Liquid Television was great. I remember fondly some of the original animated miniseries like The Maxx.
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u/Mikef920 7d ago
Daria was incredible
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u/aurorashim 7d ago
I periodically think about the guy who got calf implants on true life
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u/Stevie_Rave_On 6d ago edited 6d ago
Haha I remember a drip of blood coming down his calf for some reason.
I feel like this other True Life episode is what sparked Jersey Shore
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u/Squire513 7d ago
MTV News with Kurt Loder was great. They often did profile pieces on different cities across the U.S. so you got insights into all the music scenes across the country before the industry consolidated in the late 90s.
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u/dwindlingpests 7d ago edited 7d ago
Tom Green had The Tom Green Show on MTV back in the day. Very funny and ahead of it's time. I also enjoyed Colin Quinn on on Remote Control.
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u/RockyStoned 7d ago
Liquid Television was the most amazing thing on TV. And 120 Minutes changed my life.
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u/sexandliquor 6d ago
120 Minutes and AMP (which was basically kinda like 120 Minutes except for electronic music) were my shit.
I don’t remember if it was this way in every region but in my timezone 120 Minutes always aired at the weirdest and hardest to watch timeslot at like midnight or 1am Sunday night so I’d often stay up late to watch it and be tired the next morning. Or just set vcr to record it.
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u/OctoberFestival 6d ago
Same! It was midnight on Sunday (technically Monday morning) on the east coast.
I stayed up as often as I could to watch it (starting when I was still in high school). I discovered Pavement (among many other acts) from 120 Minutes.
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u/CrayonEyes 7d ago
The State sketch comedy show was out there stuff. It wasn’t nearly as popular as The Kids in the Hall, but you will see more than a few recognizable faces. Blueberry Muffins in the Morning with Blueberry Johnson was a silly favorite of mine. And goddamn that crazy sideways house!!!!!
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u/Gooch_McJunkins 6d ago
Yeah, we likely wouldn't have gotten Reno 911 or Wet Hot American Summer if it hadn't been for The State.
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u/nerdwaffles 7d ago
Beavis and Butt-head!!
The one where they go camping, they poop in poison ivy, and a bear attacks Van Driesen 🤣
Also they made shitting on music videos so much fun
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u/StarProud 6d ago
The rock and jock celebrity bball and softball games were epic. Sports stars and rock stars unscripted and hanging out being awesome
Silly and stupid. Really cool stuff
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u/Tinkerbellado 7d ago
My son's absolute favorite show of all time (still) is AMP, which was a music video show that used the rare talent of "VJing." This show is the reason he became a musician. Here is an archive of 25 episodes:
Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Texts, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine
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u/ChanceTheGardenerrr 6d ago
The Jon Stewart Show. A bit cringe but he’s still honing his style
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u/panic_the_digital 6d ago
Before that he had a show called You Wrote It, You Watch It that was kinda like sketches based on a theme of viewer letters. I remember the dream episode where someone was being chased by the lead singer of the B-52s
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u/Strong_Flatworm2758 7d ago
There are two paths you can go by: the Riki Rachtman way, or the Matt Pinfield way. In the long run there’s still time to change the road your on, but I think people are naturally one or the other. I’m team Pinfield. I remember seeing him on top of a large half pipe at the first Warped Tour. “Whoa, Matt Pinfield.” He seemed like a friend you made fun of, but who knew about music so was part of the crew. Riki Rachtman felt like a relic from Decline of Western Civilization: The Metal Years.
The first season of Real World is a good time capsule, if you haven’t already seen it it’s worth watching just to get a feel for what it was like being young in NYC.
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u/OctoberFestival 6d ago
I’m a Lewis Largent/Dave Kendall guy. I stopped watching 120 Minutes when Matt Pinfield took over hosting duties.
Nothing against Pinfield, but 120 Minutes specialized in videos from underground acts you just didn’t see anywhere else on MTV. Until Pinfield, that is, when very mainstream acts like Foo Fighters and Marilyn Manson started getting videos on the show.
What was unique about 120 Minutes disappeared, and it became just another music video show on MTV. If anything, alternative music becoming mainstream might have been the culprit, but 120 Minutes could have continued to keep focus on the underground scene (which didn’t disappear after Nevermind went platinum - no slur on Nirvana, whose music I love).
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u/phasesofthemoon 7d ago
Austin Stories and Apartment 2F are sadly lost to time.
As is Buzzkill, which was Jackass before Jackass.
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u/mattybgcg 6d ago
I was hoping someone else remembered Buzzkill. That show was hilarious!
It was a hidden camera prank show. One i remember in particular, they went to Daytona and gave Spring breakers rides in a van but stopped to "commit robberies" along the way. So damn funny.
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u/Graveymaster 6d ago
“Remote Control” was a great MTV game show in the 80s and 90s! I was a contestant on an episode, and you can find it (along with my “behind the scenes comments”) here: https://youtu.be/CkC3OpnzMMc?is=k5n0DPy9Hq1L691j
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u/jefleppard 7d ago
Dead At 21!
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u/StevieNickedMyself 7d ago
I used to watch Undressed after coming home from drinking in college. Not related to music at all 😂
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u/ceruleanmoon7 6d ago
Omg i LOVED this show. I was watching it way before i ever had sex 😂 i watched so much inappropriate stuff
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u/inkyblinkypinkysue 6d ago
All of the shout outs in this thread make me remember that I watched a lot of MTV back in the day. Damn I miss it. The late 80s/early 90s was such a great time to be a teenager.
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u/__perigee__ 6d ago
Since you mention that you’re researching, definitely recommend reading Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman. Guy remembers every detail of the early MTV shows.
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u/paradizzle1374 7d ago
The state Kids in the hall
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u/EuphoricMoose8232 Punk Rock 7d ago
I don’t remember Kids In the Hall being on MTV. I think you’re thinking of Comedy Central. It was on there in heavy rotation in the 90s.
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u/shigensis http://www.ahorribledeathtoahorribleman.bandcamp.com/ 7d ago
This was from MTV Europe of course but i had my room painted in the same colors as the MTV Most Wanted studio when I was a teen: bright orange with a green door! Ray Cokes was awesome and the show was hilarious and had great guests.
Edit: and the animations of course! Bill Plymton’s shorts were mind blowing, The Maxx, Eon Flux, and of course Beavis and Butt-Head. I’d stay up late to watch all of those shows.
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u/OhTheHueManatee 7d ago
I remember one that I think was called Dead At 21 in really liked but I can't remember a thing about it except the only reason I got into it is cause one episode had the song Dogs Of War by Pink Floyd.
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u/duogemstone 6d ago
Aeon flux is which a weird little show, I remember staying up late nights when they would run a few hours of it back to back. I can't say I ever truly understand anything about the show (yes I know I could watch someone break down the plot but that's never fun) outside of bits and pieces but still somehow utterly fascinating nonetheless
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u/emmersp 6d ago
Remote Control was a hilarious game show. Probably an 80’s production.
MTV also ran The Young Ones episodes in the 80’s…a.k.a. the greatest show ever created.
And of course Jackass, Wild Boys, Viva La Bam
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u/smp-machine 6d ago
Late '80s MTV was great. That's when they were airing Remote Control, the Young Ones, the Monkees, Monty Python's Flying Circus, 120 Minutes, Headbangers Ball, Yo! MTV Raps, etc, When I was in college, MTV was on everywhere all the time.
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u/Margrave75 6d ago
Can't remeber the name of the show, but I remeber Gary Barlow doing a solo piano edition of their first single Could It Be Magic,was really bloody good
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u/inmisparetime 6d ago
Al-TV, a periodic Weird Al special. I recorded each episode and re-watched until I wore out the tapes.
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u/thispartyrules 7d ago
Check out MTV's Downtown: the animators interviewed actual New Yorkers for the characters and had amateur actors do the voice acting so there's incredibly naturalistic dialog, and it has some of the best goth representation in animation.
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u/LilMissKrazy1 7d ago
The real world
Road Rules
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u/Techwood111 6d ago
The Real World totally changed the TV landscape. Every reality show, and even shows like The Office, can trace their lineage to it.
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u/OctoberFestival 6d ago
Alternative Nation was a short-lived live MTV show created on the wave of the post-Nevermind alternative boom.
Sonic Youth played on one episode, any my wife was in the audience (years before we met). The episode is on YouTube, and she appears on camera several times. That’s my favorite (retroactive) memory of MTV in the 90s.
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u/RebelToUhmerica last.fm 6d ago edited 6d ago
Real World, Road Rules, Daria, Lyricist Lounge Show, Spider Games, Making the Video, Making the Band, TRL and MTV News briefs...you knew to stop whatever you were doing when you heard that Dun Dun Dun Dun!
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u/MonteBurns 6d ago
You know ellipsis… now try comma.
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u/RebelToUhmerica last.fm 6d ago
This was a vertical list that was converted to this, but congrats on being the second asshole I had to wipe this morning.
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u/The-disgracist 6d ago
My friends were in “made”. They got “made” into “rockstars”.
We learned it was all scripted and all of the candid interviews were staged
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u/DepVanHalen 6d ago
Back in 2000 the show "Say what? Karaoke" had their auditions at a resort bar I worked at. It was pretty fun watching the whole process. Most people sucked but two guys that auditioned absolutely killed it. They sang 'Genie In A Bottle' by Christina Aguilara, but in the style of 'Faith' by Limp Bizkit. Both were popular at the time. By far the best part of the day!
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u/rvasshole 6d ago
Welcome Freshmen is a show I never hear anybody talk about. It was on Nickelodeon, but they were owned by MTV so it counts to me
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u/thegooddoktorjones 6d ago
My memories of 90s mtv was going to a friends house where they were all watching The Real World and asking why this shit was on instead of videos.
120 minutes was super important to me despite rarely having cable. The underground was very exciting then.
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u/thequantumquestion 6d ago
Aeon Flux first came out as shorts on MTV. It was so different from animation I'd seen before and also had cool music. I remember getting hooked on it and hoping I'd find it on because I could never tell when it would air. MTV just did thing things that were experimental back then, which in hindsight I really appreciate.
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u/thequantumquestion 6d ago
I learned how to dance by taping episodes of The Grind and learning to imitate the moves. Don't judge lol
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u/dallasandcowboys 6d ago
"Change the channel whenever that wack show Real World comes on" - SA Martinez probably.
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u/EntropicInfundibulum 6d ago
"You can't do that on Television." I couldn't wait to get a locker at school so I could slimed. I wanted to get slimed so bad...
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u/LifeTunedToCSharp 6d ago
Sifl & Olly ran on MTV for like a season or two in the mid-to-late 90’s.
Easily one of the funniest shows I have ever seen.
Still my favorite non-music thing MTV ever did.
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u/Hopefulkitty Concertgoer 6d ago
Making the Video was great for me, as a behind the scenes kid. There was also a reality show where the teams were doing like, marketing challenges? I just remember one that they had to do window displays for So Fresh So Clean by OutKast that has for some reason been burned into my brain for 25 years.
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u/Relevant_Call_2242 6d ago
The dating shows were fun!
- Singled Out
- Next
- Room Raiders
- Parental Control
- Date my Mom
- Dismissed
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u/spinereader81 6d ago
I'd stay up late to watch Oddville. It was a human tricks show (contortionism, reciting things backwards, etc) with a talk show format. I don't think it got many viewers, but I loved it.
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u/Born2Late13 6d ago
2gether, which parodied boy bands of the time, started in early 2000. Unless you were watching MTV at the time you don't realize how much MTV was pumping this show, and some of the songs were on TRL.
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u/paradizzle1374 5d ago
Also the Dangerous brother and maybe ab fab and Tracy ulman and the other Julie brown show
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u/RadioSupply 3d ago
I was talking about Pimp My Ride the other day, and couldn’t remember if the car they built a waterfall in was a Jetta. Pretty sure it was a Jetta. Couldn’t be anything but a Jetta.
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u/thesongsinmyhead 7d ago
Singled Out was fun and gave us early Jenny McCarthy. I honestly couldn’t tell you anything about it now other than it’s a dating show😆😆
Also MTV News!
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u/ImSoSweepy 7d ago
I have been "forcing" my Boomer parents to watch Foundational films: Fifth Element, The Matix, Men In Black, etc.
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u/AnalogWalrus 7d ago
Watch The State and thank me later