We live in a time where crappy reality television has taken over three of the networks that were once originally dedicated to music videos, artist interviews and delivering current events from the younger generation's perspective. With all the flack that MTV (Music Television) gets about not really having a single thing to do with music anymore, the network is always trying to come up with something new and different to satisfy the critics.
This year, MTV plans to bring back its classic animated show Beavis and Butt-Head, and VH1 has already put its famed Pop-Up Video back on the air, with skyrocketing ratings, to accompany its many reality shows. BET has one long-running show that focuses on music, 106 & Park, to go along with all those horribly edited-for-TV movies. We've compiled a list of eight shows MTV, VH1 and BET should put back in rotation.
8. Best Week Ever: This VH1 show was a hilarious alternative for those of us who fall asleep while watching E! News. Comedians gave their views on current events in pop culture, with clips and comical reactions determining which celebrity had the best week ever. The show aired from 2004-10.
7. Lyricist Lounge: MTV's Lyricist Lounge was a hip-hop version of Saturday Night Live, a sketch comedy show with rappers and comedians expressing themselves lyrically. This show was also where Tracee Ellis Ross (Diana Ross' daughter and star the sitcom Girlfriends) got her start, and Mos Def was also a regular. Lyricist Lounge featured weekly special guests such as Common, Rah Digga and Cee-Lo.
6. Diary: This show was the most honest an intimate of reality shows on MTV. Cameras followed a famous person around for a few days just to give people an inside look at celebrities' day to day. Tears are shed and confessions are made. We all remember Diary for the line "You think you know but you have no idea."
5. Total Request Live: If you ever needed to be in the know about who was selling the most albums all you had to do was check out MTV's Total Request Live with Carson Daly. Even though the show only played 10-second clips of the most requested videos, the interviews and crazed teary-eyed fans in the audience let you know who was big in pop music at the moment.
