The shocking, untimely death of Prince suddenly made MTV a music channel again. Since the tragic news broke, the network which built itself on playing music videos and featuring popular pop and rock artists (as well as the occasionally niche or obscure) has filled its airtime with constant videos and performance footage of Prince, reminding us of the music, theatricality, bravado and artistry that made him an important, legendary musician and cultural icon.
It’s unfortunate that it took Prince dying to put the “M” back in MTV again, even if it was only for approximately 24 hours. (That run included an embarrassing mishap in which a video for the wrong prince, as in Will Smith’s Fresh Prince, played.) For those who might not know — which would be understandable, since the channel lost its identity in reality TV during the past 20 to 25 years — MTV once stood for “Music Television”! But six years ago, MTV couldn’t even kid itself anymore, removing the words “Music Television” from the bottom of its logo.
Maybe that’s just how badly Prince wanted to see music back on a network that made pop artists bigger stars than ever, putting faces and images to their songs, showing performances and telling stories visually. Is it all possible that he sacrificed himself so that MTV would bring music to the masses once again?
That would be a great narrative to spin, something to add to the already rich mythology surrounding Prince as an artist and enigmatic, oddball personality. As appealing as that storyline would be, the truth is that MTV was already moving back in that direction, returning to its days of being radio on television.
During its upfront presentation this week to advertisers and media, in which networks unveil their fall schedules and future plans, MTV president Sean Atkins presented a new lineup that will feature music.
No, the network isn’t going back to the days of 24-hour programming of music videos, interviews and news. But you already knew that, right? Those days have long been over, so you can’t be too disappointed. I mean, do you even listen to the radio anymore? And when is the last time you watched a music video — a new one, that is, not a nostalgia trip on YouTube?
But there will be some music-related programming. Like the return of Unplugged, which featured bands performing their work with acoustic instruments. During its recurring 20-year run, the series featured a diverse collection of musicians — including Nirvana, R.E.M., LL Cool J, Pearl Jam, Duran Duran and Kiss, among many others — to play stripped-down versions of their songbooks.
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Additionally, MTV is developing a music competition show, produced by Mark Burnett, who has created popular reality TV competitions such as Survivor, Shark Tank and The Voice. How did the channel whose identity was based in music let the broadcast networks occupy that space with the likes of American Idol, America’s Got Talent and The Voice anyway?
If music competitions aren’t your preference (and I’m there with you), the network is also producing a music documentary series called Year One that will examine the breakthrough year in a music star’s career and include archival footage of the featured artist. Wonderland will be a live-performance series featuring music acts and comedians that will take place “in a multi-room location.” Could different performances be going on simultaneously? OK, probably not.
Hopefully, those two shows dig into deeper catalogs of artists, but will surely have to cater to popular tastes. And the reality is that most of us who grew up on MTV are far outside the network’s preferred demographic now.
“MTV always resonates when it speaks with the voice of a 21-year-old,” Atkins told The Hollywood Reporter‘s Lesley Goldberg. “Just finished college, first apartment, first everything — they’ve blossomed into adulthood.”
But indulging in some nostalgia wouldn’t be a bad thing for MTV either, even if just occasionally so. Our culture loves to make the old new again.
Look at how many TV shows, such as The X-Files and Full House, are being revived. Was there a bigger revival than Star Wars coming back last December? We’re getting a Ghostbusters reboot this summer. And many of the cinematic universes that have become so popular, like the Marvel films and upcoming movies based on Hasbro toys like Transformers and G.I. Joe, are based on comic books, cartoons and films previous generations grew up on. We’re still consuming that and passing that love onto successive generations.
That could apply to MTV itself. Film studio A24, which has produced movies such as Ex Machina, The Witch, A Most Violent Year and Room in recent years, is developing a projected based on the 2011 oral history of the music channel, titled I Want My MTV. The book explored the founding of the network and its first 10 years on the air. As reported by The Wrap’s Jeff Sneider, the film will be directed by James Ponsoldt, who’s made The End of The Tour and The Spectacular Now for the studio.
Since launching in 1981, MTV was once arguably the most important innovation in pop culture. The channel seemed to lose its identity over the past 25 years, though still had some relevance with reality programming like The Real World, The Hills, Jersey Shore, Catfish and Teen Mom. Some of that programming even dipped into the scripted TV space with Teen Wolf and The Shannara Chronicles.
But music was always a fundamental part of MTV’s identity. It was literally the basis for one of the three letters in its name. The M was for Music. Getting back to that, even if it’s in some small way, is potentially exciting for those of us who grew up living and breathing MTV. Is that hoping for too much? It sure was fun, albeit very bittersweet fun, to see nothing but music again on the channel for at least one day.
