Did you ever have a friend who used to be cool but went down the spaz path? That's how I feel about MTV. Music Television turns twenty-five today. MTV used to be a friend, but I won't be celebrating its birthday.

I like to think that MTV doesn't exist anymore. We didn't know it when it happened, but MTV died a long time ago. Some would claim MTV died when the network replaced their original VJs--Martha Quinn, Triple J, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Nina Blackwood--with Adam Curry and Grace Slick's daughter. Others would cite the introduction of Remote Control and other non-music shows into their lineup. Yo! MTV Raps was certainly a sign of things to come, as was The Real World, which ushered in reality television (or did Cops do that?). MTV died a thousand deaths. No one moment, but a collection of moments, did it in.

Rather than "Music Television," MTV now more closely resembles Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous for really dumb seventeen-year-olds. Whatever day the E! Channel launched, MTV should adopt that as its birthday. That's their real parentage. I want my MTV, not the celebrity worship, not fantasy shows about obtaining beautiful cars, cribs, and girls, and certainly not reality-style shows about minor celebrities that amount to advertisements for their careers.

Hell hath no fury like an MTV viewer scorned. It's hard to grasp this now, but MTV once offered something worth watching and listening to. Do they make weirdo videos like David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" anymore? How would today's MTV react to major bands offering multiple videos from the same low-budget shoot, as The Police ("Spirits in the Material World," "Demolition Man," "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic") and The Who ("You Better You Bet," "Don't Let Go the Coat," "Another Tricky Day") did back in the day? What of videos of graying rockers, such as Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind," featuring what appears to be the singer's rather average girlfriend and a bunch of his friends celebrating a faux-wedding? Think that would make it to TRL? I prefer my videos closer to cable access than Hollywood blockbuster.

Even into the '90s, MTV offered worthwhile music programming. Alternative Nation and 120 Minutes were must see TV. For the mullet crowd, there was Headbangers' Ball. MTV Unplugged aired acoustic takes on electric tunes from everyone from 10,000 Maniacs to LL Cool J. But mission creep happened, and Music Television stopped being music television. Even on the rare occasion when the station plays actual music videos, they do so with an appeal to the tacky celebrity culture that they cater to: stars whose second careers are music--JLo, Hillary Duff, Paris Hilton--get airplay.

The lyrics of The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star," MTV's first bit of programming, proved especially prescient. Video did indeed kill the radio star. But it's actually the fledgling network's second clip that gave greater insight into MTV's future. Pat Benatar's "You Better Run," a mediocre song that pales next to the profound synth prophecy that played before it, whispered to anyone paying attention: MTV goes downhill from here.

"and certainly not reality-style shows about minor celebrities that amount to advertisements for their careers."

Isn't that one VH1?

Unfortunately, the two channels seem to be morphing together Ben. I'm currently watching VH1 Classic, which is celebrating MTV's birthday by playing the videos it played on this day 25 years ago. Right now, Rod Stewart's foray into disco, "D'Ya Think I'm Sexy," is on. Now up, a video I have never seen by some strange dude named Robert Hine. Part of the video is filmed in slo-mo underwater. The other part shows him singing with half his face normal and the other half--through '80s special effects--appearing as water through a blue screen. Anyhow, I don't know if MTV will even acknowledge its past today, as it is so far from its past. I guess I don't want them to anyhow.

VH1 has some good shows. Web Junk is great, and some of the people on Best Week Ever are funny. And there are a few good comedians who do the "I love the..." shows.

And MTV aired some good, non-music shows too--The Young Ones, Liquid Television, The Tom Green Show. I guess my objection to such shows, even the ones I watched, is that they corrupted the notion of a station devoted to music. They were fairly unintrusive enough at first. But then they took over. Ditto for VH1, although that station doesn't have the history that MTV does so I'm not about to shout "unclean." I watch The Surreal Life, but why should a station called Video Hits One air it? Viacom owns many stations. Why make them all the same? I guess MTV is hardly the only specialized cable station to drift. Bravo? A&E? When The Nashville Network altered its format (for the better!), they at least had the honesty to change their name (to Spike TV). I wish MTV had done this.

Frankly, I can't think of any reason for MTV to exist anymore. Between E! and VH1, you get a combination of entertainment that MTV used to be famous for. Not that either one of those alone or in conjunction are even close to being as good as the old MTV.

I miss my MTV.

"Cruel To Be Kind" is a great song; I'd forgotten about the video. Ha! Remember when Rowdy Roddy Piper smashed Cindy Lauper's gold record over Capt. Lou Albano's head? Another classic MTV moment.

I'd say I miss the MTV of old, but I stopped caring about videos about the same time they did.

Dan Flynn, criticizing MTV for running non music shows? May I remind you a little show known as Beavis and Butthead???

Actually, that was a music video show of sorts, and a pretty cool way to work in other programming while showing videos.

And for the record, I actually liked Remote Control.

MTV should bring back "Yo! MTV Raps." I miss that show. I used to watch it after school.

Why would they need to bring back "Yo! MTV Raps"? The only videos they seem to play are rap videos. Very few rock band get any airplay at all (unless their members are dating someone in the know). It seems every time I flip by, I see some guy with a "grill" in a video being bleeped out every other sentence.

As for their "reality TV", I am a sucker for the Real World/Road Rules Challenges. It's brain-dead TV for sure, but there's nothing like a 6 hour marathon on a rainy Sunday afternoon (non-football season of course).

Anything and Everything Mtv stands for sucks! Another tragic tale of wasted youth, and they are morally corrupting our society with filth. The FCC fines Howard Stern for cussing on air, but Mtv gets away with some of the crap they pull?? Slight of hands exchanging big money in the dark. Thats all i'll say about that.

The rap they do play is downright awful. Well, most mainstream rap is.

Rap is Crap. Misnomer calling it "music".

Mainstream rap generally is, yes. The rap I am referring to when I say "good rap" is not on mainstream label production.

AAAAH !! 120 minutes, i'd forgotten that.

THE absolutely best music on t.v. at the time. don't know how much "new music and new bands" that show gave rise to.

stuff like new order and the like was the about the ONLY place you were going to see that type of music.

haven't watched any MTV now for about 10 years maybe more. and as for reality shows and people's lives ? mine is so boring if it wasn't for the Effexor i would no doubt jump off of the top of my telly. i definitely don't need to know how R-Kelly lives.

:O(

R.I.P. MTV.

would they really play Dire Straits vidoe now ? at least it once had the balls to parody itself.

Don't forget the apparent new mision of MTV to get every single teenager laid as often as possible w/ all those dating shows. And the homosexual dating shows they run are the worst of the worst.

MTV was NEVER cool! Music isn’t made to watch, it’s made to listen to. When we started delegating the imagery to the half-wit video producers and stopped letting our imaginations do the work for us is when we started down the path of least resistance, which is seldom the way to create and enjoy art.

RIP MTV! They never anything more than a festering boil on the buttocks of the music industry anyway. They did sell a lot of Clearasil and Starburst, though.

I honestly never liked it, because as a little kid I did not like music and by the time I came to like it, MTV was lame. If it was ever cool, I cannot attest to it.

Even if you didn't like the music, I can't imagine that the video antics and creativity of certain bands couldn't be considered even a little bit interesting and attention getting.

Each to their own I suppose, but I always thought that MTV was just fun and entertainment at it's best. Not something to be studied or @n@lyzed and often times something where it was necessary to separate good video from mediocre music. Or, vice versa.

I particularly liked it in the morning with my Cheerios before going out to work and in the evening whilst winding down from the day.

I was growing up in the age of Nirvana. Videos were sitting around looking depressed.

Ah. Understood. The 80's were the best.

Today they're just awful. I saw the new video for the terrible band Panic! At the Disco's song "I write sins not tragedies" on VH1 yesterday. It was horrifying.

Mtv is horrible. I watched TRL on Aug 1st and they barely mentioned it's birthday. I watched VH1 classic to see the good MTV. I wasn't even around when MTV first aired, (I was born in 91) but I like the old on better from what I watched on VH1. I remember MTV from the 90s. It was bad. It's even worse now. It's just stupid dating shows, bratty girls saying their princesses and they want a perfect birthday (nobody wants to watch a party on tv) and you can look in famous persons house. Wow! What fun that is! I don't even watch MTV anymore. I don't even listen to music from now. I like 80s music WAY better.I can't name more than two singers from now. When MTV does play a video (Which is a shocking) they just play rap songs filled with guys saying their pimps and girl humping them wearing barely nothing. I'll pass on that.