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TRL: Remembering an era when Destiny had four children and ‘Korn’ was spelled phonetically
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Confession: when I first heard that MTV was axing Total Request Live, tears were shed. It’s been years since I’ve actually watched the iconic music video countdown, but learning that it was finally on the homestretch sent me trippin’ down Memory Lane. TRL was my saving grace back when I so wanted to be one of those screaming girls in Times Square (pathetic, I am aware), when Carson Daly was Really. Freaking. Hot. (and engaged to Tara Reid), and when gorging on semi-inappropriate rock and powdered-sugar pop videos was my greatest escape from the reality of being a teenager in West Virginia. I so fondly remember those dull afternoons when I’d OD on N’SYNC, Blink 182, and the latest news of Britney vs. Christina, stealthily flipping the channel to CNN when mom came within view of Freak on a Leash (CLASSIC.) or—God forbid—anything Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, or Eminem.
Alas, MTV aired TRL’s final episode last night, sending it into “retirement” just as the show itself has retired hundreds of videos lasting long enough to warrant such an honor. “Total Finale Live” was kind of awesome, but the show’s age was painfully obvious: Beyonce coyly sang about putting a ring on her unadorned finger (B: the gig is up.), and Pete Wentz skipped Fall Out Boy’s performance to stay home with his uber-preggers new bride and former TRL headliner, Ashlee Simpson. Footage of N’SYNC’s first TRL performance featured a then still in-the-closet Lance Bass, not to mention Justin Timberlake’s frosted tips (one word: why?). As for Carson, late night has served him well—Still. Freaking. Hot.
Today’s TRL was not the de rigueur star destination and common denominator of cool that it was in its heyday, when a visit from the likes of the Backstreet Boys could literally shut down the Crossroads of the World; that being said, they should have put the show out of its misery shortly after I stopped watching. Besides the fact that it obviously lost its number one viewer (ha), TRL had also lost its purpose. Total Request Live has become totally not about what’s requested—you know, those rare relics called music videos? And let’s be honest: does anyone still watch MTV live? The sight and earsplitting sound of salivating JoBros fans outside 1515 Broadway just does not have the same watching-a-train-wreck effect when you’re seeing it on your laptop, five hours after the fact, with a streaming news-feed of the bros’ even more-recent Manhattan whereabouts. “Live” is no longer what’s happening in Times Square on three-second delay: it’s what’s happening five minutes from now downtown, uptown, and out of town, and even that will be old news the instant Perez blasts it back to us from the West Coast.
I would have liked to see TRL go out on top instead of past its prime on a lame Sunday night, spliced with commercials for Paris Hilton’s: My New BFF, The Hills/The City/The Pointless, and whatever tragic version of Real World/Road Rules is airing nowadays. It’s the clichéd end of an era, kids, but I much prefer to acknowledge that I’m a member of the older MTV cohort then of the new guard: I wanted my MTV, they want their celeb-reality, and they want it five minutes ago. Still, the beauty of last night’s finale was all about the real MTV generation’s favorite artists: Kid Rock, Diddy, JT, and Ludacris were among the celebs who stopped by to say farewell, while X-tina and Travis Barker gave shout-outs via satellite. Nelly’s performance had me reminiscing about my first concert back in high school, while Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot” took me back to sophomore year in da club (ha). “New guard” Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus were siphoned to mere background roles for the night (Thank. God.).
TRL: a show which took seemingly Larger Than Life stars, and with every crazed fan, made them exponentially larger. This crazed fan finally made it to Times Square—a decade after watching Ms. Spears premiere “Baby One More Time,” she even got lucky enough to blog about it. Saying a final Bye, Bye, Bye to TRL makes this a very Blue Monday, but let’s be honest: we were missing it like Candy long before this morning.
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