Remember when that rascally governor of Arkansas told a MTV audience that he didn't inhale marijuana smoke? Probably not because in 1992 many of us were still sucking Ecto-Cooler and slamming Pogs. But future-president Clinton admitted the faux pas in the first incarnation of MTV's Choose or Lose, the network's slogan for all things political, until now. Behold, the "Power of 12." MTV President Stephen Friedman explains the change to Brian Stelter as coming out of the burgeoning cynicism amongst 18-29 year olds following Obama's election. “They were so passionate, and then they hit this wall of the economy.” more ›

Is Occupy Wall Street getting too much of the wrong kind of attention? Just earlier today we heard that Christopher Nolan wanted to film scenes for The Dark Knight Rises at Zuccotti Park, and now Viacom may be the next group to be profiting from the 99%. Dance monkeys! more ›

Hoorah! For those of you who end up watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report online or who send links of amusing clips (WYNGZ, anyone) to pals, you no longer need to submit to the Comedy Central video player, because the two political satire shows are back on Hulu as of last night! more ›

The kids of Jersey Shore are all being sued by a woman who says their security guards scarred her for life. According to court papers a woman known as J.P. had a run-in with Snooki (the same night this went down), and now she's got a gash on her chin thanks to four security guards who threw her to the ground during the altercation. So, it's payback time. J.P. is suing Viacom, 495 Productions, and the cast for assault and racketeering; "The lawsuit claims these companies are engaged in criminality as they are profiting from the criminal behavior of the show's stars," according to the Daily News. When the cast was served, Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola allegedly refused the papers, leaving them on the ground (you're still getting sued, though, Sweetheart). more ›

Shouldn't the cast of Jersey Shore just be happy enough with the fact that they are making a living off fist pumping and posturing for cameras? Snooki & Co. will be back on the small screen with season 2 at the end of the month, but now TMZ reports that they've gone on strike just as they're set to film spots for season 3 (yes, season 3). more ›

Last summer MTV was being criticized for using the word "guido" as they promoted their new show Jersey Shore... and their critics lost, big time. The cast members proudly embraced the word, and the show was so wildly popular that it's now back for a second season. The original cast, who will all be returning this summer, are now household names: The Situation, Snooki, J-Woww, Pauly D... and those other ones. more ›

Viacom and YouTube are amidst a battle over copyrighted material, and the two media giants are currently going head-to-head in the courtroom. The network claims the online site posted their content without permission; their $1 billion lawsuit was filed in 2007, and the Post reports that some damning emails were revealed in court this week. more ›

In case you haven't heard, both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report will no longer be available to view on Hulu. Comedy Central pulled the plug and those shows will go black on the site as of March 9th. more ›

Don't these protesters know that the more they protest MTV's Jersey Shore, the more press it's going to get? There is no chance that the network will pull the series, which is like watching a darkly tanned train wreck dripping with hair gel week after week. Currently the protesters have set up shop outside of Viacom HQ in Times Square, with messages written on pizza boxes and declaring breakout star Snooki is "the dark lord"! FourFour reports from the scene — and good news everyone: America is no longer in debt! more ›

Recently some offended folks spoke up about the promos for MTV's new reality show, Jersey Shore. In one corner, you have UNICO, allegedly the largest Italian-American service organization in the U.S.; in the other corner you have MTV, a network promoting a reality show in which the cast members refer to themselves as "guidos" and "guidettes." UNICO is aiming to stop the show from airing, after seeing the promos that tout: "the hottest, tannest, craziest Guidos" that "keep their hair high, their muscles juiced and their fists pumping all summer long!" more ›

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. more ›

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! more ›

Folks on Time Warner Cable, don't worry: You'll be able to see Double Shot of Love—and any other program on a Viacom channel like Comedy Central, MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon—in 2009. After the possibility that Viacom would yank its programming from TWC today, over a dispute over subscriber fees (Viacom wanted a 12% annual fee increase—$39 million/year—but TWC said the economy wouldn't allow it), the two companies agreed to a deal to make sure they didn't piss off cable subscribers... or viewers. more ›

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. more ›

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? more ›

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. more ›

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. more ›

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. more ›

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? more ›

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. more ›

From a source who was over at the Pier 41 building in Red Hook earlier today, where the latest Real World cast is rumored to be moving, word of "progress" on the cast's living space comes in: "They're building them a cabana, and a sand pit right now." They also tell us that "somebody also did a short film shoot the other day down the block from the Pier 41 building, permitted/blocked off streets, possibly for MTV." Developing! more ›

Carroll Gardens, you totally got Punk'd...the seven newest Real World strangers won't be moving to your quaint little neighborhood after all, instead they'll be moving to Red Hook. So says the latest rumor, which claims "construction of a make-shift apartment has begun on the upstairs end of Pier-41 (204 Van Dyke Street) as of last week. The space had most recently been used a few years ago when it was built-out as a bar/night club for the Will Smith movie, Hitch." Does this mean they're gonna have to hack IKEA's water taxi service in order to get anywhere? more ›

Has MTV's The Real World faked out Brooklyn? First they're all but confirmed to move into Downtown Brooklyn's BellTell Lofts, with rumors of a Carroll Gardens residence quickly disappearing, but now an intern says the show "may not even film there because they were having some issues with the BellTel Lofts building with the location at 116 Third Place in Carroll Gardens as the backup." Residents beware! The Real Deal all but confirms the Carroll Gardens locale, saying that "equipment that will be used for the show's filming has been transported from BellTel to the new location." Curbed warns of the inevitable protests, message board madness, and dare we say riots that the show will be met with in the neighborhood. It's gonna be so real. more ›

A judge ruled Google must turn over the logins and IP address of everyone who has ever watched anything on Youtube to Viacom, which is suing Google over copyrighted clips appearing on YouTube. Privacy advocates are criticizing the decision, but Viacom claims it will only use the information for its case, "It will be handled subject to a court protective order and in a highly confidential manner." Google's lawyer said, "We are pleased the court put some limits on discovery, including refusing to allow Viacom to access users' private videos and our search technology...We will ask Viacom to respect users' privacy and allow us to anonymize the logs before producing them under the court's order." It is believed by some that "virtually every Internet user has visited YouTube." more ›

As we mentioned yesterday, the writers' strike may be coming to an end. Michael Eisner leaked that we'd be hearing news of it this weekend, and the former Disney CEO was right. Today Variety reports that "the WGA has finalized its tentative agreement with the majors and will present details of the pact to members today in meetings in Los Angeles and New York." more ›

MTV is getting all old school and reporting on relevant music! The channel traveled all the way to Brooklyn for a piece on bands closely associated with the Todd P scene. Best of all, they declare Manhattan's LES dead! Not a great way to promote their new vLES, we suppose. more ›

Last night Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert returned to their fake news desks, with picket lines outside of their studios and no strike beards in sight (however, a strike unibrow did appear). They were supportive as ever of the WGA though, in fact Stewart spent all 30 minutes discussing the strike, with only a lone joke or two about the primaries ("Cold white people have had their say"). He made it clear that "From now on, until the end of the strike, we'll be doing 'A Daily Show with Jon Stewart.' But not 'THE Daily Show.'" more ›

As The Daily Show and Colbert Report are just moments away from filming their first shows in quite some time, picket lines are standing strong outside of their studios. WGA spokeswoman Sherry Goldman tells us, "These pickets will be against the media conglomerates – NBC and Viacom - and not the specific hosts who we understand were forced to return to the air without their writers who remain on the picket lines." Just because the hosts have returned, however, doesn't mean they'll have any luck filling their guest seats. more ›

In some good news, the bigwigs at Viacom have heard the angry cries of their permanent freelancing employees, and today announced they were ready to concede. Just over one week ago the company Scrooged over a large portion of their workforce when they announced permalancers insurance benefits and their 401K plans would soon be a ghost of Christmas Past. Demanding equal treatment with full time employees (which the permalancers basically are), the group took... more ›

MTV network freelancers took their beef to the streets yesterday in protest of changes to their benefits plan; about two hundred of the workers spent the afternoon picketing outside the Times Square headquarters of MTV's parent company Viacom. According to Gawker, an initial chant of “What the fuck?!” was revised into the catchier “We care about our 401(k)s!” after a reportedly winsome young rabble-rouser climbed atop a garbage can and helped brainstorm new chant... more ›