461 months.
That’s how old I was when I finally outgrew MTV. Or maybe I should say that’s how old I was when then last show I watched on MTV reached a level of suckness I could no longer tolerate.
Yes, I’m old enough to remember when MTV still played videos. In fact, I can remember when 120 minutes was essential viewing because there wasn’t a radio station here in Houston that played good music out of the mainstream. What? Oh well, I guess some things haven’t changed.
Anyway, for the past decade my last bastion of MTV refuge has been The Real World/Road Rules Challenges. Let’s be clear, I love this show. Especially in the beginning when it was people close to my own age and not what you’d call world-class athletes competing in crazy events to earn money. The show also benefited from the fact that the contestants were all former cast members of the RW or RR. I was in the prime target demographic when RW premiered in 1992. Twenty years old and addicted to television.
In my opinion the challenges had more than a couple legs up on similar shows like Survivor and Big Brother. The winners actually had to compete to win. Where as it seems like at least half the time Survivor is won by the person that pisses the fewest people off because they didn’t actually do anything. The challenges were made up of a whole cast of young attractive individuals that didn’t whither away from a lack of food. The challenges also could boast some of the best train wrecks on television. Tanya Cooley anyone? Lastly, it was pretty obvious all the guys were on steroids and you know what? No one cared, it only made the competition and train wrecks better. There’s a lesson there MLB and NFL.
At some point in the past decade, the people in charge of casting for RW decided they were only going to draw from the cesspool of douche bags and douche hags. Ultimately, this has killed the challenges for me. The endless parade of the most reprehensible individuals you can imagine and a black hole of contestants worth rooting for has finally taken its toll. Someone should point out to the casting directors that there’s a reason car wrecks are much more exciting at a NASCAR event than they are at a destruction derby.
So, I’ve lost a good friend this year and it won’t be easy to replace them. Hey maybe the Astros will get on a hot strea….ahh there I go talking about train wrecks again.
On a related note, I also gave up on the last VH1 show I watch, Celebrity Fit Club. I like watching celebrities struggle and I’m fat so I really like fat celebs. However, the producers seem unaware that the show doesn’t work if a) the contestants aren't celebrities or b) they’re not fat. I’m almost certain that Bobby Brown was actually cast to be on Celebrity Rehab but somehow wandered onto the wrong set.
New Music
The Black Keys – Brothers
Recent Netflix
44 inch Chest - ★★★
Mean Streets - ★★★★
Good Hair - ★★★
Up in the Air - ★★★★
Crazy Heart - ★★★★
Zombieland - ★★★★
Herb & Dorothy – ★★★★
The Machinist - ★★★
Netflix at Home
Coming up next time, a review of this past season of TV.
What's an MTV?! You lasted longer than most with the challenges and Celebrity Fit Club.
ReplyDeleteLoved The Machinist. Christian Bale's weight loss was disgusting, but damn talk about going all out for a role.
I liked the Machinist would have liked it more but I felt like it kind of fell apart towards the end. Before I watched it I had only heard about his weight loss and seen pictures. Going into it I seriously thought it was going to be about the holocaust because of the way Bale looked.
ReplyDelete