Total Request Live

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Template:MTV Total Request Live (commonly known as TRL) is a television program on MTV that features popular music videos. The program plays the top ten most requested videos of the day, as requested by viewers who can vote by phone or online. The countdown starts with the tenth most requested video and ends with the most requested. The program generally airs every weekday for one hour, though the scheduling and length have occasionally fluctuated over the years.

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History

Image:DSC01026.JPG The roots of TRL go back to 1997 when MTV began producing MTV Live (originally hosted by British VJ Toby Amies) from a studio in Times Square in New York. MTV Live featured celebrity interviews, musical performances, and regular news updates. Though producers downplay the similarities, MTV Live shared several signature elements with a live show on MuchMusic, a Canadian competitor's channel, including its Good Morning America-styled windows-displaying-onlookers-on-a-metropolitan-street format. Music videos were not the major focus of the program.

During the same time period, MTV aired a countdown show simply called Total Request, hosted by Carson Daly. Total Request was far more subdued, as Daly introduced music videos from an empty, dimly lit set. As the show progressed and gained more momentum with viewers tuning in, it was soon added to the list of daytime programming during MTV's Summer Share in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. The countdown would end up being one of the most watched and most interactive shows in recent MTV history that summer, proving that it had potential to become an even larger success by combining with the element of live television.

By the fall of 1998, MTV producers decided to merge the real-time aspect of MTV Live and the fan-controlled countdown power of Total Request into Total Request Live, which made its official premiere from the MTV Studios in New York on September 14 1998. The show has since grown to become MTV's unofficial flagship program.

The widely known acronym of TRL was adopted as the official title of the show in February 1999, after former VJs Carson Daly and Dave Holmes began using it on air regularly. The program is now rarely, if ever, referred to as its original title, Total Request Live.

TRL spent its first year developing a cult-type following, by spring 2000 the countdown reached its peak, becoming a very recognizable pop culture icon in its first two years of existence; however, its influence seems to have greatly diminished since. A weekend edition of the show known as TRL Weekend, with a countdown consisting an average of the week's top 10, aired for a short time in 2000.

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Criticisms

TRL receives a significant amount of criticism. Some viewers complain of its habit of not airing complete videos. The show also allows audience members to make dedications on screen while videos are played, interrupting the song.

As a "top 10" show, TRL repeatedly plays the same videos every day with little variance (except when a new video enters the countdown), which has led critics to speculate that the show only showcases a certain, profitable, kind of music video programming and is used to promote mainstream artists and make them more popular while leaving the more serious music for MTV2. When MTV personality Tom Green created a novelty song 'The Bum Bum Song' it was vaulted into TRL's #1 spot after Green (at the height of his popularity) beseeched his audience to request it. According to Green's biography, MTV insisted he pull the song from TRL, lending credence to the idea that MTV had specific music it wanted to promote through TRL.

The general format of TRL has also drastically shifted from its originating premise of showing the day's top ten with one or two guests and an MTV News segment. In comparison to its debut, TRL has added a large amount of star promotion for upcoming movies, TV shows, and albums, entertainment-related news outside of music, and fan-oriented activities.

Another frequent criticism that TRL faces is that it only panders to the so-called teenybopper and urban brackets. Sketch comedy shows like Madtv, Nickelodeon's All That, and Saturday Night Live (SNL) have mocked TRL in the past. On SNL, Jimmy Fallon (portraying Daly) would proclaim that he was a "massive tool". On All That, they would call the show TR Yell, and parody all of the screaming fans. They would also make fun of Carson Daly's determination to be "cool."

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Notes

TRL is MTV's prime outlet for music videos nowadays as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to the music videos, TRL has daily guests as it is a popular promotion tool used by many musicians, actors, and other celebrities to promote their newest works to the show's target teen audience.

Music videos that air on TRL are subject to a general "retirement" rule, that they may only remain on the countdown for a limited amount of days, the current cap is 50 days (previously 65, this number was reduced in 2002 in order to promote more diversity and give other artists a chance to enter the top ten). Artists who do manage to hang onto the countdown and reach retirement are awarded with a plaque, commemorating their achievement.

See also: List of Total Request Live retired videos

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Career Benefits

Many view this show as the show that launched the careers of many teen artists from the late 1990s/early 2000s. Even though boy bands the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync were out before TRL made it on air in mid 1998, both groups didn't reach their commercial peaks until after their videos were seen on TRL. In 1999, the Backsteet Boys second LP 'Millennium' achieved the highest first week sales ever from an LP, thanks in part to the many TRL fans who closed down the streets of times square in order to see the group live on the show. 'N Sync did the same thing in 2000 when their second LP, 'No Strings Attatched' topped the BSBs' first week sales, and fans closed down the streets of times square once again. For the most part of 1998, 1999 and 2000, BSB and 'N Sync would always fight over the #1 position on the countdown.

Pop princesses Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore all made their debuts on TRL as well. Britney and Christina specifically became huge after their videos became hits on the countdown. The two princesses became regulars on the show and would appear on the show live often. If BSB or 'N Sync did not have any videos out, then it would usually be Aguilera and Spears who would flip-flop for the #1 position. Simpson wouldn't see the same type of success until 5 years later, when she finally made it big on her MTV reality show Newlyweds which helped her videos become hits on TRL.

On October 23, 2002, TRL celebrated its 1,000th episode (With the #1 video being none other than Christina Aguileras Dirrty). The show reached its seventh anniversary in September 2005, maintaining its stake as MTV's longest-running live program, and second longest in the network's entire history with The Real World continuing to claim ultimate superiority.

In 2003, Carson Daly stepped down as the host of TRL in order to host NBC's Last Call. The show is currently hosted by a revolving door of VJs including Damien Fahey, Vanessa Minnillo, Quddus, La La Vasquez, Susie Castillo, and Hilarie Burton.

As of 2006, only registered users of MTV.com may vote online for TRL videos. This is to prevent one person from voting for the video more than once. They may only vote one video per day.

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Recent Live Performances

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See also

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Recent Top 10 Countdown

Updated: April 19, 2006

Currently Artist Title Yesterday Peak Days on TRL Album
#10 Shakira "Hips Don't Lie"
#-
<center>#1 (1x) <center>21 Oral Fixation Vol. 2
#9 Red Hot Chili Peppers "Dani California" <center>#6 <center>#6 <center>6 Stadium Arcadium
#8 Fort Minor "Where'd You Go" <center>#8 <center>#9 <center>3 The Rising Tied
#7 T.I. "What You Know" <center>#4 <center>#4 <center>9 King
#6 Ashley Parker Angel "Let U Go" <center>#2 <center>#1 (6X) <center>19 Soundtrack to Your Life
#5 Sean Paul "Temperature" <center>#3 <center>#2 <center>24 The Trinity
#4 Fall Out Boy "A Little Less Sixteen Candles" <center>#8 <center>#2 <center>23 From Under The Cork Tree
#3 Rihanna "S.O.S. (Rescue Me)" <center>#5 <center>#1 (1X) <center>14 A Girl Like Me
#2 Kelly Clarkson "Walk Away" <center>#1 <center>#1 (12X) <center>24 Breakaway
#1 Mariah Carey "Say Somethin'" <center>#2 <center>#1 (1X) <center>4 The Emancipation Of Mimi
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Los 10 + Pedidos (Mexico): Most Recent List of Videos

Updated: April 14, 2006

Currently Artist Title Yesterday Peak Days on TRL Album
#10 Shakira "Día de Enero" <center>— <center>#10 <center>3 Fijación Oral Vol. 1
#9 Ashlee Simpson "L.O.V.E." <center>#9 <center>#9 <center>14 I Am Me
#8 Belanova "Por Ti" <center>#7 <center>#5 <center>28 Dulce Beat
#7 Motel "Dime Ven" <center>#8 <center>#6 <center>24 Motel
#6 Panda "Disculpa los Malos Pensamientos" <center>#6 <center>#6 <center>11 Para Ti Con Desprecio
#5 Green Day "Jesus of Suburbia" <center>#5 <center>#4 <center>43 American Idiot
#4 t.A.T.u. "Friend or Foe" <center>#3 <center>#3 <center>49 Dangerous and Moving
#3 The Rasmus "Sail Away" <center>#2 <center>#1 (8X) <center>55 Hide from the Sun
#2 Hilary Duff "Beat of My Heart" <center>#1 <center>#1 (11X) <center>46 Most Wanted
#1 Simple Plan "Crazy" <center>#4<center>#1 (7X) <center>50 Still Not Getting Any...
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External links

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