On Music Television
MTV, home to a show called “Date My Mom,” as well as the most annoying reality program of them all, “The Hills,” has for years been subject to the complaint that it doesn’t really show music videos anymore, a charge that is essentially true. But MTV now also airs a show called “FNMTV.” On the one hand they featured the premiere of the video for the worst song (to my knowledge) that LL Cool J has ever made. On the other hand, on the the same episode, they premiered the video for that quite lovely She & Him song, “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” (She & Him is, of course, the all-star tag-team of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward). On the one hand the Jonas Brothers appeared on the show a few weeks ago and Miley Cyrus is slated to appear next week (both of whom, unlike “Crank That Soulja Boy” I totally get why the kids like, but still). On the other hand, on this past weeks show they had segments focusing on Chromeo and Tokyo Police Club. And though I missed it, they’ve also featured, according to the website, my new favorite band, No Age and your favorite new band, Vampire Weekend. (A quick note: after you watch the video for No Age’s “Eraser” [a video that will, unless you are one of those people who cleverly insist that LA is “fake,” make you want to move to LA] please watch the video of Lil Wayne performing “A Milli,” a song you are by now probably sick of, but that is even more relentless and amazing live). On the one hand the show is hosted by Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz of “guy-liner” fame, which, one would think would fully push the show in the direction of the bad…But Wentz is actually a pretty capable host, enthusiastic about most of the right things and as natural as one would expect a member of an band hosting a show in a room full of screaming teenagers to be.
“FNMTV” also happens to have, what I have heard, is the worst time slot for a television show, primetime Friday night. Which probably means that they are still shoring up most of their hopes and dreams in “Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods” and “The X Effect”–a show where, I kid you not, two exes meet up and stay at a resort to see if they still have feelings for each other while their current partners watch via hidden camera from another room…
Tags: guy-liner
August 8th, 2008 at 10:22 am
…so now MTV has blown up the Portland scene, thrilling little outfitted.urbans everywhere, (http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1590936&vid=257679) and I lived there but skipped most of the rainy season, so I guess that’s why I wasn’t in a band. Note the preponderance of silly glasses in the video, and the general hype. Note the bangs. I’m sure folks will flock en mass or at least have rainy day wet dreams from this video, but it’s not what I miss.