Results tagged “mtv”

Remember that whole Obama Fried Chicken debacle? It's back, in a sort of blurred-out-on-MTV kind of way. Brokelyn reports that the Clipse video for “Popular Demand (Popeye’s)” consists mostly of Clipse and Cam'ron and company "in front of a place with a blank yellow marquee." That is, if you see it on MTV, it will appear blank—everywhere else it's running with a fully in-focus sign, reading "Obama Fried Chicken." So whose call was it to lift the OFC sign from the final cut? Surely the artists picked that spot for a reason besides censoring it out.

Yesterday afternoon it was reported that Ken Ober, best known as the host of MTV's Remote Control, died on Sunday at the age of 52. The cause of death hasn't been announced, but his agent has come out with some details, saying: "His body was discovered in his home. The last person to have spoken to him was on Saturday morning. No foul play is suspected, no suicide, it looks like natural causes, just no one knows the exact cause yet."

All afternoon rumors have been flying around the internet with news that Ken Ober has died. We weren't about to fall for another Zach Braff-esque death scare, but sadly it has now been confirmed that the former host of MTV's Remote Control died suddenly over the weekend.

In preparation for its American adaptation of the UK's provocative television knockout Skins, MTV is holding a casting call in Brooklyn in search of 15-18 year old non-actors of all types in its hunt for "the most charismatic and actually edgy kids." They're looking for genuine alpha males, divas, and "shy-types" to portray their naturally stereotypical selves along the vein of the original series which follows adventurous teens who deal with issues like pregnancy, eating disorders, and fulfilled teacher fetishes. While the series will inevitably take place in Baltimore, casting agent Kim Madalinski tells Brokelyn that looking in Brooklyn is a "no brainer."

As we mentioned, DJ AM/Adam Goldstein's reality series, Gone Too Far, will air on MTV even though the deejay died of an overdose last month. The show's premiere will air on October 12th (10 p.m.) and aims to help struggling addicts. His family gave full consent to the network, telling them, "Adam felt strongly that by doing this series he could help other addicts who were at a crisis point to get sober. Adam was fully aware that if it were not for his own sobriety he never would have achieved the level of success and happiness he had found. Helping people in their recovery was a huge part of Adam’s life..."

Adam Goldstein, aka DJ AM, had just filmed an intervention series for MTV, called "Gone Too Far," before he died of a suspected drug overdose. After debating airing the 8 episodes the network has decided in favor of it, "apparently counting on the star’s own suspected overdose on Aug. 28 to underscore the ravages of addiction more than it emphasizes the ghoulish exploitation factor of the whole enterprise." Stay classy, Viacom.

     

Last night, the MTV Video Music Awards returned to New York City with its usual mix of spectacle and a heavy dose of nostalgia (mostly Michael Jackson-related, with a remembrance from Madonna, then a performance of Scream by Janet Jackson). However, the whole thing was upstaged by Kanye West's antics—the rapper decided to storm the stage when Taylor Swift was the surprise winner for Best Female Video with her song "You Belong With Me." He took the microphone from the 19-year-old to declare Beyonce's "Single Ladies" "one of the best videos of all time." Here's video:

Friends and fans continue to mourn the death of Adam Goldstein, aka DJ AM, who was found dead in his SoHo apartment Friday afternoon. The Daily News and Post are both reporting that police found a half-empty bag of crack underneath his chest. Initial reports mentioned a crack pipe and prescription drugs at the scene—among them the Post now says were bottles of Xanax, painkillers Vicodin and oxycodone and antacid Prilosec.

It's the end of an era. Maybe not a great era, but an era none-the-less. Around the time that MTV started shilling to the tweenaged masses, they moved into their 1515 Broadway studios in Times Square. The year was 1997, the Real World cast was in Boston, and the network was only just starting to be criticized for their lack of, you know, music videos.

Before MTV made the full switch to becoming a universe inhabited by the Spencer Pratts and Tila Tequilas of the world, there was a strange moment in the late '90s when the network appeared to be at a crossroads. After years of serving as the launching pad for models-turned-VJs, one face on the network stuck out like a sore thumb when he arrived on the scene—Matt Pinfield's. Pinfield quickly made a name for himself as the only guy on the air who appeared to be completely serious and passionate about the music he played, as he would sputter off obscure punk references while engaging bands in ways they were unaccustomed to when dealing with MTV. He went from hosting the weekly alternative video show, 120 Minutes, to appearing on-air so often at one point that the Post joked they just give him his own daily block and call it "360 Minutes."

It's being reported that Viacom has been doling out more pink slips today. A tipster told Gawker earlier: "They are cleaning house at VH1/MTV right now. Like more than half the people involved with the website and the video just got laid off. Freelancers are being called in because when they hit their 9 month point they have to leave." Our sources tell us that "A few editors are being kept around for BestWeekEver.tv and the RealWorldDailies.com [ED.: PHEW!]. Everybody else in that group is gone. Thursday is the final Best Night Ever podcast. It is a shame people are losing jobs, and I guess let's blame the economy? But the podcasts were so cheap to produce, it's all sort of surprising considering how popular the iTunes podcast was and how other video content providers like the Onion News Network have been able to put ads into their podcast without much problem." Yeah, what gives, are companies just locked in a pink slip pissing contest at this point? We get it, we're all fired! ENOUGH!

Screens big and small have not been kind to Staten Island. Their latest spokeswoman is yet another tanned up, curse-word spewin' young lady from the borough called Rosemarie, a contestant on MTV's "A Double Shot at Love with the Ikki Twins."

While we all wait for This Old House's first ever New York City project to air (being filmed in Brooklyn right now), we'll have to focus in on another house. The MTV Real World Brooklyn house is in Red Hook (as you already know, like it or not); this is their 3rd time filming the series in New York, but the first in the borough. While filming has ended, much of the cast (none of whom are New Yorkers) have decided to stay. Here's the first episode, which aired last night, in its entirety.

It seems like just yesterday MTV was searching for a home for their Real World Brooklyn cast, and now the show is ready to air! How fast these reality programs grow up. You've already met the cast, seen their home in Red Hook, and read all about our very own Billy Parker sending the show's first transgender into a blogging tizzy...so what's next? We've seen the first episode, which will air tomorrow, and here are a few "spoilers." First up: you'll know you're in Brooklyn when they start playing rap music and showing graffiti. Soon after that, Mormon roommate Chet refers to the borough as a place where you "don't want to end up" and worries about getting shot there (another spoiler alert: he doesn't). Later on the roommates will get some slices at L&B Spumoni Gardens, and ever further into the show there's some bonding over dinner at Elmo in Manhattan. Other than that, you'll hear things like how they like to sit out and look at the ocean from their Red Hook digs. By which they mean Buttermilk Channel or the Hudson Bay, of course. The NY Post has another look inside their temporary home, and the Daily News has a preview.

Say goodbye to the Colbert Report, Spongebob Squarepants and yes, even The City (we hardly knew ye), Gawker is reporting that "From New York to Los Angeles, Viacom channels like Comedy Central are set to flicker off cable systems in the first minute of 2009." The two companies have been not-so-publicly negotiating for some time, and now the network is holding their channels hostage.

If you've had basic cable access over the past few decades, you know the voice and face of John Norris. The MTV News anchor has been a staple at the network--delivering up-to-the-minute music news, interviewing every bold-faced name in the book, and even helping to bring politics into the mix (Choose or Lose, anyone?). Being one of the only familiar faces left there, rumors of his lay-off from MTV served as another death rattle for the network, maybe even the final nail in the coffin. Norris has continued to keep up with the music scene, and has often been spotted at McCarren Pool, Todd P shows, and talking to the up-and-comers of a new generation of music. This week he told us a little bit about what his life has been like up to now.

Stop trying to act all cool and not excited when we all know that The City premieres on MTV tonight! If you do choose to tune in, you'll find Whitney Port (pictured at the 2006 VMAs) leaving sunny California for New York City in order to work for Diane von Furstenberg, but the NY Post has it that "She doesn't really work. She is hardly ever in the office." Shocking! The show is a spin-off of The Hills, which is a spin-off of Laguna Beach, which was a spin-off of real life. Just like its predecessors, the series is taking heat for being a scripted reality show, but it's also being called out for being a little bit too L.A. and not enough NYC. However, Whitney insists she is "living in either midtown or the Gramercy area--I don't really know, to be perfectly honest. I'm in a tall building, way up high." NYMag has a lot more in a sprawling 4-page article on the series.

Incase you have any respect left for Viacom, prepare to surrender it! Gawker has been investigating the curious case of the missing paychecks over at the network. The site says many are out of luck trying to attain their hard-earned money this holiday season, "Including people MTV got charity money to support. The Knight Foundation, a philanthropic journalism nonprofit, gave MTV $700,000 to 'make possible' a 'Street Team' of 51 'citizen journalists' to cover the 2008 election. We've already heard from three of them. They aren't getting paid!" Welcome to journalism, citizens! But talk about getting Scrooged, some of these folks are out thousands of dollars so far and have noted that checks "got cut later and later as 2008 wore on" even though "contracts stipulated payment every four weeks." Is it time to make more LOLCat picket signs yet?

Is a sequel to True Life: I'm a Staten Island Girl in the making? A miniseries, perhaps? Maybe Christmas wishes do come true, because the SI Live blog is reporting that MTV is holding a casting call during the busy holiday season at the Staten Island Mall this weekend (more specifically the GUESS store from 2 to 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday). The network is looking to find "everyday kids [18 to 20 years old] that are fun, cute and lead interesting lives" for a new 20-episode show that begins taping next month. The site also notes that MTV is keeping quiet for now, but "it's safe to say viewers can expect it to be along the lines of the de-funked TRL," as it will feature both pre-filmed and live segments. Staten Island: where MTV shows go when they die? Oh, and Manhattanites, you need not apply—the casting agent specified they don't want your kind. It's like opposite day!

                           

While 850 Viacom employees got laid off this morning, we were taking our first look inside the Red Hook house of the Real World Brooklyn cast! MTV gave big ups to the borough by adding a cast member this season for a total of eight good-looking 18 to 24-year-olds. There isn't one New Yorker in the bunch--but this season features the first transgender (and the token Mormon, Iraq vet and gay dolphin trainer, naturally). If you'd like to meet the cast up close and personal yourself, they'll be joining the producers of the show tomorrow night at The Paley Center for Media.

Kids, it's a cruel world out there. First they take away your TRL, and now this. Word is that Viacom has begun a "company-wide restructuring plan," which was announced via an email memo (after the jump) at 8:30 this morning, and means they're cutting down staff in all divisions. By the end of the corporate massacre, about 850 positions will have been eliminated. This shouldn't be too shocking considering the memos that led up to it and the fact that last year employees got royally scrooged when it came to holiday bonuses, and had to fight for their rights to insurance. But you're on notice, Redstone: Make any cuts to The City and we will cut you.

First, there was Laguna Beach, then came The Hills, and now spin-off numéro trois: The City. That's right, Manhattan is getting it's very own MTV scripted "reality" show, complete with Hills alum Whitney Port and some dude who says he's a "downtown hipster, i wear a fedora." A blurb about the series paints the picture of "a whole new world" for the 20-something, "as she packs up and moves to the bright lights of Manhattan...taking a huge chance at a brand new life." (Doesn't this just make you want to listen to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" at max volume?!) The network also divulges that she'll be working at Diane Von Furstenberg's design house, and her sidekicks will include "a best friend from her past and a guy she's head-over-heels for." Take a look at the trailer, which will surely make you long for the days of Sex and the City.

     

While the death rattle has been audible for quite some time, Viacom only officially announced Total Request Live's retirement in September, and yesterday they officially faded to black.

The Real World Brooklyn teaser trailer has been released, and while it's probably best presented without comment, we will say that they're really making this one seem dramatic! Each cast member is like a fortune cookie, with their own little special cliché sayings inside. Take a gander (but as Curbed notes, don't expect too many scenic Red Hook shots).

For his Steely Dan-sampled "Champion" video, Kanye West turned himself into a Muppet (video), and now The Daily News reports that West could be developing a Muppet-like television show. MTV's Doug Herzog told the paper "We're working on a pilot with Kanye. It's going to be a black version of 'The Muppets.'" Maybe Bert & Ernie could make a cameo and work on their rap game...or perhaps Roosevelt Franklin can make be resurrected! In real Muppets news, the NY Times checked out the show's comeback, which includes a Christmas special to be aired on NBC this December (being filmed in Brooklyn).

MTV is finally canceling their TRL (Total Request Live) series, after rumors have been circulating about its demise for over a year. Variety reports that the show, which has had a long shelf life as is—lasting over a decade—"will depart in mid-November with a two-hour Saturday-afternoon special. Its departure will coincide with the return of another music vid-themed show, Feedback New MTV (FNMTV)." The screams in Times Square have been slowly fading since the show's beginning, but will they now be muted forever?

Rent, the rock-musical that did more to force LES hipster culture into that mainstream than anybody would care to admit, will take its final bows this weekend on Broadway. The once acclaimed show, which has been on the stage since 1996, will leave as the 7th longest Broadway run ever, and has built up a devoted following of longtime fans. And, just in case you were dying to get one last fix, but missed out on tickets to this final show, it will be captured on film and brought to theatres nationwide at the end of the month. That said, the show is closing after a down couple of years, and it's pretty clear that its time, and its brand of hipster stereotype, has finally passed on.

Looks like The Real World's latest cast has finally settled in to their Red Hook digs. NewYorkology spotted the seven strangers as they left their new residence at Pier 41, "they were heading toward Sunny’s, but instead made the turn, map, toward Van Brunt, with the Ikea straight ahead down Beard Street." They can have their IKEA; just stay away from Sunny's! Anyway, this could very well be their first Friday night in town...you've all been warned.

While MTV is keeping mum on the whereabouts of the upcoming Real World Brooklyn location, the borough is all wise to the fact that they're setting up camp in Red Hook (after not moving to Carroll Gardens or Downtown's BellTel Lofts). The Brooklyn Paper asked some residents how they felt about their new future neighbors, who will reside at Pier 41 at 204 Van Dyke Street.

“I’d rather have another Ikea,” said John Varonian, who has lived in Red Hook for two years, and would prefer that MTV reopen and run the Laundromat down the street.

Continue reading "Red Hook Talks Real World"

MTV has once again invaded Brooklyn; earlier this year the network dissected the Todd P scene, and last night they were right back at it, filming at the Market Hotel (or Harket Motel, which it has more recently been called). Reports say that a sign greeted show-goers last night saying, in short, that "MTV is filming and can use your likeness in all media that exists, or may exist in the future, and by being there you agree to be filmed, if you don’t agree, leave." The BushwickBK blogger worries that "the scene will implode (like poor grunge!)" and when he inquired about the network's presence, was suspicious of the answer: "they were just filming the bands to put up on mtv.com." Maybe one of the new Real World Brooklyn castmates is Todd P! Bands on the bill last night included Mae Shi and Ponytail; after MTV's appearance they were promptly moved into the "so over" column on indie-snob scorecards.