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Do you ever long for the days of MTV? I know I certainly do. While MTV’s true origins lie in the 1980s, I grew up with the channel in the 90s. By that point, the network had evolved in a major way. But in the 90s, MTV was still all about music videos. And on this very day in 1998, MTV debuted its legendary series, Total Request Live.
If you were too young (or maybe too old, no judgment) to remember Total Request Live, let me give you a primer, as someone who sat glued to the TV as a child to watch almost every episode in existence back in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Total Request Live was, in a way, an offshoot of the series MTV Live and Total Request. Total Request Live had the best of both series. TRL focused on airing music videos, along with celebrity interviews and even live performances. It was quite a lot of fun, as the show was hosted by Carson Daly and lent a sort of parasocial element to watching music videos. Previously, MTV was just an ongoing cycle of music videos airing back-to-back. With Total Request Live, there was an interactive element that made enjoying music videos even more fun.
The Legacy of MTV’s ‘Total Request Live’ Lives On
Total Request Live is probably the most legendary and fondly-looked-back-on thing that MTV ever did. The show featured so many amazing performances and fascinating peeks into the lives of celebrity musicians via interviews. Carson Daly became a legend among young viewers, and there was something so fun about seeing which of the most-requested videos would make it to the show’s airing for the day.
Around the time TRL hit the airwaves, MTV had already begun to move away from music videos to a degree. The late 90s and early 00s marked a new era for the network, eventually leading to reality TV-focused programming that still dominates the network to this day. But music videos still had a place on the network through TRL, and any musician who was lucky enough to get their MV on the program would enjoy some serious exposure and advertising.
Total Request Live would eventually come to an end in 2008. The series would be revived in a few different forms starting in 2017, but it would come to its ultimate end in 2019. And still, I can remember the debut episode like it was yesterday, complete with a Top 10 that included “I’ll Never Break Your Heart” by Backstreet Boys and “Are You That Somebody?” by Aaliyah. Ah, the nostalgia of it all!
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