No Picture
Animation

Mike Judge talks about the return of “Beavis & Butt-Head”

When it premiered in early 1993, there wasn’t much indication that Beavis & Butt-Head would be much more than a time passer for the MTV crowd. With purposely moronic leads watching unintentionally hilarious music videos, the animated series seemed destined to be a fad — albeit a notorious one that prompted a slew of decency groups to start clutching their pearls. But Beavis & Butt-Head became a phenomenon, overtaking pop culture with appearances on Letterman, countless video games, a music album and a 1996 feature film, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America. When the show did go off the air in […]

No Picture
Animation

MTV’s “Good Vibes” has a lot to feel good about

By Ryan Berenz Follow @ChannelGuideRAB Amid the fanfare of the triumphant return of Beavis and Butt-Head to the MTV schedule, there’s a new animated comedy that the network is pairing with B&B on Thursday nights, and it’s definitely worth checking out. Good Vibes premieres Oct. 27 at 10:30pm ET/PT, and features the voices of Josh Gad, Adam Brody, Debi Mazar, Alan Tudyk, Jake Busey and Danny McBride. Teenager Mondo Brando (Gad) and his hot mom move from New Jersey to a California beach community. Mondo is short, fat and a little awkward, which doesn’t make him a big hit with […]

No Picture
Comedy

The kids these days: MTV gets “Awkward.” in new comedy series

Get More: MTV Shows On Tuesday, July 19, at 11pm ET/PT, MTV premieres the new scripted comedy Awkward., which follows 15-year-old Jenna Hamilton (Ashley Rickards) and her life on the social fringes in high school. It’s an irreverent teen comedy targeted for more mature audiences:  The series opens with Jenna losing her V-card in a closet at summer camp, then having a clumsy accident mistaken for a suicide attempt. You can watch the entire first episode is available above. As someone who was in the bull’s-eye of MTV’s target audience 20 years ago, I still enjoyed Awkward. The show’s creator […]

No Picture
Commentary

When does a niche network give up its niche?

It’s hard to overestimate the influence that niche networks have had on us in recent decades. Thinking back to when cable TV was in its infancy and the concept was still pretty new, one might recall thinking, “How could you fill x number of hours of programming a day with _________?” (Remember — not all networks were 24 hours a day back then. That’s right, kids — television used to sign off at night!) But somewhere out there, someone had the idea to take a boatload of existing programming content, run it on the air and see what sort of […]

No Picture
Drama

Not your father’s “Teen Wolf”: MTV’s new series rebels against its ’80s inspiration

By Ryan A. Berenz Follow @ChannelGuideRAB The 1985 comedy Teen Wolf, made famous by Michael J. Fox (and to a lesser degree, Jason Bateman in the sequel Teen Wolf Too), was the story of a teenage werewolf who went from social dud to uber-popular basketball-star stud thanks to his family’s lupine lineage. This month, MTV’s new Teen Wolf series resurrects the concept, but its connection to the films is in name only. The series cuts out the camp completely, instead taking a decidedly darker, Twilight-y tone, and develops its own mythology.

No Picture
Reality TV

“If You Really Knew Me…” on MTV is inspiring

If You Really Knew Me – MTV Shows By Emily Mitchell “She doesn’t even go here!” This may be one of the funniest quotes from 2004’s Mean Girls. It comes from the part of the movie where all the girls of North Shore High School are gathered in the gymnasium to have a venting session about all the gossip and wrongdoing of high school cliques. If you enjoy this scene as much as I do, then you should tune in to MTV’s newest unscripted show, If You Really Knew Me… But don’t expect to be laughing much when watching this […]

No Picture
TV News & Program Updates

Networks launch apps for iPad

The buzz and excitement continues to build over Apple’s launch of its new iPad tomorrow. Several networks are already touting the apps that they are making available for this latest must-have device. ABC, Disney & ESPN * ABC will have an ABC Player app that enables users to watch full episodes of ABC programming on their iPad. The app will also allow iPad users to purchase downloads of episodes from iTunes. The ABC.com site has also been optimized for the iPad, complete with full functionality for all of its features. For more details and a demo of the ABC Player […]

No Picture
Reality TV

The Real World Cancun: Episode 4

By Emily Mitchell This show was filled with new love interests for four of the housemates. (Maybe we should re-define the term “love” as sex.) The courting was quite entertaining. And there was also a family death for one of the cast mates.

No Picture
Reality TV

The Real World Cancun: Episode Three

By Emily Mitchell This episode, titled “I Kissed A Girl And I Liked It (At First),” featured the first hook-up between housemates. And yes, it was between two girls. As more and more episodes pass, the housemates begin to open up about their personal lives, and one mentions they have had an abortion. But before we get to those things, we have to discuss the ever-dividing relationship between the guys and the girls. Jonna does not click with the girls in the house, and is accepted more among the boys. At the beginning of the episode, it is obvious that […]