'TRL' is Back, And Let's Just Say It's Not Good.

TRL is back... and I almost wish it wasn't.

By: "Producer Matt" Michaels

Disclaimer: I wasn’t going to write a review of this, but I felt so strongly about the premiere that I felt I had to to get out my strong feelings on this. 

I’d consider myself a giant fan of the old TRL — the Carson Daiy and Damien Fahay-hosted incarnation that ran from 1998 to 2008. There was something special about coming home from school everyday to see if your favorite video got to the #1 spot. Maybe a new video premiered, or one retired after 65 days. The hosts had great chemistry and the show always had the best and most relevant guests. There was a vibe and energy that was strong, but was never overbearing. Carson and Damien never had to yell or scream to get the crowd going — I think what worked so well was that they, along with other hosts like Quddus, La La, Hilarie Burton, etc., were so chill that it made it seem like they could be your friends. They were in a word, real (no pun intended). At that point in time, MTV News was still basically an actual functioning news outlet, so Kurt Loder or John Norris would pop in whenever something breaking was happening in the music world. You got your favorite NSYNC or Britney video but also some decently hard music news. It flowed. 

Now, maybe that’s just the nostalgia working its magic. I’m sure the show had its kinks that I don’t remember. But there was something magical about it — not to mention the fact that there was no YouTube or Wifi to get your videos 24/7 on your computer or phone. But I don’t think that’s it — music videos don’t air on TV anymore, but that’s not to say there isn’t a way that they could be incorporated into a 2017 version of TRL.

Flash forward to today’s premiere — I had high hopes, but was cautiously optimistic. I knew what I was getting myself into, and I knew it might not be pretty. And it wasn’t.

The show started out with an awkward intro video of the new cast of hosts in the studio, along with a few other guests and Ed Sheeran. They tried their best to put their most serious faces on and I won’t completely judge them for this segment, considering it was their very first day and I’m sure they didn’t expect something like Vegas to happen. The super awkwardness of it all occurred next when that segment flowed right into a pre-taped segment of everyone dancing in the streets to ‘Wild Thoughts’ and introducing the host and a few new cast members. DJ Khaled was also there, as he was coined the ‘Godfather of TRL’. The flow of the two segments was very disjointed — it’s premiere day and everyone’s excited, I get it, but it still just felt off. Then we had a ball in Times Square to drop and officially launch the new TRL. It was only more downhill from there.

The show then had a major technical difficulty when DJ Khaled came in with new host DC Young Fly and did a short speech about Vegas, love, acceptance. DC then took it to a separate of the studio and then blankly stared at the camera. People were talking on the microphones from the control room, then it went back to Khaled who awkwardly stared at us for a good 30 seconds from his throne that they made him, and then you could still hear people in the background and the control room. Back to DC Young Fly, and he didn’t know what was going on either. Then a “moment of silence” that was not silent, because you could STILL hear people in the background on mic. Suffice to say, yes, first day mixups happen, but this was next level and amateurish. 

DC Young Fly was also way too hype to be hosting this thing — he needed to bring it down from a 15 to like a 6. The beauty of the show was that all the hosts previously were chill. Carson sometimes acted like he was too cool for school, but it still worked. This guy was being over the top — he even scolded Ed Sheeran for not acting more excited (do you blame him?). Oh — did I also forget to mention that Migos also performed in the first segment in another pre-taped segment with 25% bleeps and censors with a crowd that acted like they had never heard of Migos before? 

The rest of the show was a mixture of still no music videos, awkward interviews with Ed Sheeran, Migos, a Riverdale cast member, and someone named Liza Koshy who trotted out in her entrance like she was an A-list star. They also tried to start a hashtag to see if people wanted her to twerk outside (she did, and no one cared). Ed Sheehan performed twice, and they had a young 6 or 7 year old girl rap Cardi B (guess they couldn’t get the actual Cardi B?). The show also awkwardly plugged a random ‘Ridiculousness’ cast member and had him talk to DC Young Fly for a few minutes, and one of the new ‘correspondents’ be a “DJ” and play some more of Wild Thoughts while the audience sort of/not really danced. The show then took another turn near the end before Ed’s last performance when again, it went from playing Wild Thoughts and trying to hype the crowd to suddenly acting somber and speaking about Vegas again. Speaking about Vegas is good, but the transitions from segment to segment were awful and disjointed. 

Then, at last, we got to 4:26pm (the show started at 3:30pm), and the show was over. There was still 4 minutes left, and despite there being ample filler segments throughout, the show still couldn’t make it to a full 60 minutes.

How many videos did they play, you ask? Zero. The show felt bare and off with no music videos (which were arguably the hallmark of the show originally, obviously, hence *TOTAL REQUEST LIVE*). I’m not even sure what this show is supposed to be — is it a music show? A lifestyle show? A talk show? What is the purpose and who is the demographic? Coming from a social background, there was not much social presence, not a Top 10 trend on Twitter. A show that could bank on using fanbases on social media didn’t seem to grasp that this was something they could easily use to hype their show. Plus, maybe you wouldn't to fill so much time if you even aired just 1 minute of a few videos. Better than *nothing*, right?

Backstreet vs NSYNC? Britney vs Christina? More like Taylor vs. Katy. Camila vs. Fifth Harmony. Selena vs. Demi. The list goes on and on of ‘feuds’ they could’ve exploited. Those fanbases would’ve freaked and went straight to that website or used a hashtag to get their artist to #1. A major failed opportunity, and I’m not sure MTV even really understands what this show is supposed to be. Why even bother bringing TRL back with no music videos? There’s still a way to do this, and yes you have to get creative, but this seemed like nothing more of a cash grab. 

It’s always hard when something nostalgic comes back and it’s just utterly terrible. There is so much potential in a TRL that exists in 2017. I mean, I wish I could say MTV would see all of this and start adding music videos tomorrow. I mean, Taylor Swift’s new video just crossed 500 million views. People still care about videos. Utilize that however you can. Maybe the next episodes will get better, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

Oh, and not to mention that the show glazed completely over the death of Rock legend Tom Petty. Sure, I get that he is not in the 'demo' for a typical TRL audience, but he's still an icon that was worth a mention. The old TRL would've made a decently big deal about something like this, especially with it breaking.

What did you think of TRL’s premiere? Judging by social media, it doesn’t seem like many even bothered watching.