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Total Request Live
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| TRL | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Music videos |
| Starring | Damien Fahey Vanessa Minnillo Susie Castillo La La Vasquez |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | MTV |
| Original run | September 14, 1998 – present |
| Links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Total Request Live (commonly known as TRL) is the flagship television series on MTV that features popular music videos. TRL is MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL features daily guests. The show is a popular promotion tool used by musicians, actors, and other celebrities to promote their newest works to the show's target teen demographic.
TRL plays the top ten most requested videos of the day, as requested by viewers who vote online for their favorite video. The countdown starts with the tenth most requested video and ends with the most requested. The show generally airs Monday through Thursday for one hour, though the scheduling and length of the show have fluctuated over the years.
Contents |
The roots of TRL go back to 1997 when MTV began producing MTV Live (originally hosted by British VJ Toby Amies) from the newly opened MTV studios 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 Much On Demand, a live show on MuchMusic, a Canadian competitor's channel, including its Good Morning America-styled format of windows displaying onlookers on a metropolitan street. Music videos were not the major focus of the program.
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MTV series |
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 prove to be one of the most watched and most interactive shows in recent MTV history, demonstrating 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 on September 14, 1998. The show has since grown to become MTV's unofficial flagship program.
The original host of TRL, Carson Daly, brought popularity to the show. The widely known acronym of TRL was adopted as the official title of the show in February 1999, after Daly and Dave Holmes began using the acronym on-air regularly. Since then, the program has rarely been referred to as its complete title, Total Request Live.
TRL spent its first year developing a cult-type following. In the fall of 1999, a live studio audience was added to the show. By spring 2000, the countdown reached its peak, becoming a very recognizable pop culture icon in its first two years of existence. 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.
Some evolutionary changes were made to TRL throughout the next couple of years. The show received a new set and on-screen graphics for the debut of the fall 2001 season. A year later, on October 23, 2002, TRL celebrated its 1,000th episode. The #1 video on that day was "Dirrty" by Christina Aguilera. Also throughout the year of 2002, original host Carson Daly would be seen gradually less and less.
In 2003, the next generation of TRL was ushered in as Carson Daly officially stepped down as host. He left the show to host his own talk show, NBC's Last Call, which premiered a year earlier. Since Daly stepped down, a revolving door of VJs have hosted TRL, including Damien Fahey, Vanessa Minnillo, Quddus, La La Vasquez, Susie Castillo, and Hilarie Burton. Some of these VJs made their debut on the show in earlier years, so they already had the opportunity to host the show on days in which Carson Daly was not present.
Some changes were made to TRL's voting process in 2005. The show previously allowed anyone to vote online multiple times, but as part of these changes, only registered members on MTV.com could vote online. Additionally, a limit of one vote per day was added. Then, on July 10, 2006, MTV announced that votes would no longer be taken by phone, ending the legacy of the phone number 1-800-DIAL-MTV, which had been in use for voting on MTV since the premiere of the countdown show Dial MTV in the early 1990s.
In September 2006, TRL reached its eighth anniversary, and it continues to be the longest-running live program that MTV has ever produced. It is also the third longest-running program of all time in the network's history, following behind the The Real World, which has aired for the past 14 years, and 120 Minutes, which aired for 17 years. Around this time, TRL began airing officially on just four days a week (Monday through Thursday), as opposed to all five weekdays.
On November 2, 2006, TRL debuted what was billed as the first ever hip-hop public service announcement on global warming. The three-minute piece, titled "Trees," warned about deforestation and the dangers of global warming. The video corresponded with MTV's social campaign, Break the Addiction, as part of think MTV.
The current hosts of TRL, as of January 2007, are Damien Fahey, Vanessa Minnillo, Susie Castillo, and La La Vasquez. Additionally, Stephen Colletti, former cast member on Laguna Beach, has appeared on TRL as host numerous times. The rest of the VJs are working on separate projects. La La Vasquez is working on what is going to be her debut rap album[citation needed], Hilarie Burton is working on episodes of One Tree Hill, and Quddus is working on a movie.
On January 14, 2007, the New York Daily News reported a rumor that TRL may soon be cancelled: "An insider says MTV could soon bring the ax down on its signature countdown show." According to an unnamed source from the article, "The ratings are at an all-time low, around 300,000 viewers. The show is going to be cancelled and rebranded." In February 2007, MTV said the rumor was unfounded and claimed TRL will continue to air for the foreseeable future.
Despite MTV's willingness to keep TRL on the air, the network chose to reduce production costs for the show as a result of a shrinking audience. The TRL production schedule was reduced to two days per week in March 2007, meaning that Tuesday and Thursday's shows are pre-recorded on Monday and Wednesday, respectively.[1]
- Further information: List of Total Request Live retired videos
Music videos that air on TRL are subject to a general "retirement" rule, which states they may only remain on the countdown for a limited number of days. The original retirement cap was 65 days. In 2002, the limit was reduced to 50 days. On the October 10, 2006 show, TRL announced that the retirement cap would be reduced to 40 days because the show would only air four days per week. All artists with videos that reach retirement on the show are awarded with a plaque that commemorated the video's achievement.
In 1999, Tom Green reached the top of the countdown with "Lonely Swedish (The Bum Bum Song)". After the video spent five days on the show, he called for it be retired, saying "it's not fair to 98 Degrees." Later, though, in his autobiography, he revealed that MTV had pressured him to retire the video in order to maintain the image that TRL was, in fact, a live request show. In reality, the next week's episodes had been pre-taped on location, and the producers of the show were completely unaware of "The Bum Bum Song" at the time, which would have created a disparity in the order of videos on the show.
TRL is widely viewed as the show that launched the careers of many teen artists from the late 1990s and early 2000s. Without the popularity and influence of TRL, the following artists may not have enjoyed the amount of success they achieved.
Even though clean-cut boy bands like The Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC reached success before TRL began in the fall of 1998, both groups only reached their commercial peaks until after their videos were seen on TRL. In 1999, the Backstreet 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 also appeared on TRL in 2000, when their second LP, No Strings Attached, topped the Backstreet Boys' first week sales. Once again, the large number of fans in attendance closed down the streets of Times Square. Throughout most of 1998, 1999, and 2000, videos by the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync would claim the #1 position on the countdown.
Pop singers like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore all made their debuts on TRL as well. Spears and Aguilera especially reached huge amounts of success after their videos became hits on the countdown. The two became regulars on the show and would often appear as guests. When the Backstreet Boys or 'N Sync did not have a current video on the countdown, a video by Aguilera or Spears would most likely take the #1 position. Simpson wouldn't enjoy the same type of success until four years later, when she starred in Newlyweds, an MTV reality show. The series helped her videos become moderate hits on TRL.
In 2003, Hilary Duff debuted her first single "Why Not" on TRL. Since then, she has become a superstar on MTV. Duff was also the first artist to have a made-for-Disney video "Why Not" debut and retire on the show. Duff has had massive success on the show, with all her videos spending at least 20 days on the countdown and most reaching the top spot. Other pop princess that have some sucess in this show is Ashlee Simpson with her first video "Pieces of Me" in 2004, she can obtain her first # 1 in the countdown, actually Simpson has 4 videos in the # 1 spot of 6 singles released, one video in close to retirement, Ashlee can obtein a # 1 first than her sister Jessica. In 2006, Aly & AJ debuted their first official single "Rush" and their single "Chemicals React" on TRL. However, other pop princesses have been less successful. Lindsay Lohan has had many videos, out of which only one surpassed the 50 day mark. Vanessa Hudgens debuted her first single "Come Back to Me" which jumped to number 3 after the fourth day but shortly fell off the countdown after 10 days.
Detroit rapper Eminem made his mainstream debut on TRL in 1999 with his video for "My Name Is." KoRn, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot and P.O.D. experienced success on the countdown during the alternative metal movement, occasionally dethroning boy bands from the top spot. In recent years, other artists have also owed commercial success to TRL. Some of these artists include Jesse McCartney and a multitude of modern rock bands such as Fall Out Boy.
- TRL has been parodied countless times on sketch comedy shows such as MADtv, Saturday Night Live, All That, and Chappelle's Show.
- More recently, the show was parodied on the MTV2 program Wonder Showzen. In the first season episode "Nature", the show was parodied as Total Racewar Live, hosted by Wonder Showzen's black supremacist character Rufus Truthfist.
- Fictional episodes of TRL, shot at the actual TRL studio in Times Square, were featured in the 2001 films Josie and the Pussycats, Joe Dirt, and On The Line, as well as a 2002 episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch ("Total Sabrina Live").
- The show was referenced in the song "White America" by Eminem: "I go to TRL, look how many hugs I get."
- In "Drake and Josh Go Hollywood" Damien Fahey introduces Drake Parker and his band before they play the song "Hollywood Girl" in Hollywood
- The first version of TRL outside the U.S. was in Italy. Started on MTV Italy on November 2, 1999, it was hosted by Marco Maccarini and Giorgia Surina, followed by Federico Russo and Carolina Di Domenico. Since the 2005-06 season, Surina returned to TRL with a new co-host, Alessandro Cattelan. Currently, TRL Italy airs live daily from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. from Piazza del duomo in Milan. Throughout its 8 seasons, TRL was broadcast from Milan, Rome, Venice, Naples, Genova and Turin. TRL Italy is the longest-running show on MTV Italy. On December 23, 2004, a special two-hour event, "TRL #1000," was aired to celebrate the series' 1000th episode.
- The British version, known as TRL UK, was hosted by Dave Berry, Alex Zane, Jo Good, and Maxine Akhtar. It was broadcast live from Leicester Square in London. Following the first series' broadcast from Leicester Square, the top 10 countdown was removed from the show. The second series finished at the end of 2005. The show never returned to air, and its studios are currently being used for a weekly talk show fronted by Russell Brand, which also airs on MTV UK). Although TRL UK has finished its run, MTV UK still airs the American version weekday mornings at 10:00 a.m.
- The German version of TRL is also very successful throughout Europe, and it is known as Total Request Live Germany. TRL Germany has the highest television ratings of all the TRL versions in Europe. The show is hosted by Joko and Mirjam Weichselbraun or Patrice Bouédibéla throughout the week from 4:20 to 5:20 p.m. TRL Germany is set in Berlin.
- The Australian version of TRL began as a weekend show, but then began aired live Monday through Friday. It is hosted by Maz Compton, Lyndsey Rodrigues, Nathan Sapsford, and Jason Robert Dundas. In early 2006, it returned to airing only on Friday evenings.
- In Latin America, a version of TRL called Los 10+ Pedidos (The 10 Most Requested) airs daily. The show is hosted by "Gabo" in the Northern and Central regions. It is hosted by Cecilia in the Southern region. A spin-off of the show, Los 10+ Rock, is also shown every day. It focuses on the 10 most requested rock videos, based on the overall voting for Los 10+ Pedidos. Two more spin-offs have recently appeared: Los 10+ Pop in the Southern region, and Los 10+ Metal in the Central region.
- In Brazil, MTV airs a show similar to TRL known as Disk MTV. This program was created before TRL, existing since the launch of MTV Brazil in 1990, and has never changed its format as a top ten request show over the years. It airs weekdays from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. On December 29, 2006, MTV Brazil aired the last Disk MTV, it had a week long special about the best videos of its 16 year run, the last video shown in the program was Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." The show was cut due to the decision of network of not airing music videos on its 2007 schedule, claiming that videos are something that can be viewed online on their Overdrive website.
- After a Polish version of TRL was unsuccessful, MTV Poland decided to launch a new chart show based on TRL's structure. Its name is The Interactive Chart and it is aired from Monday to Saturday at 4 p.m. on MTV Poland.
- In Canada, MTV Canada airs MTV Live, a talk show comparable in many ways to TRL, but with very limited musical content, because MTV Canada is licensed as a talk channel, not a music channel. MuchMusic's Countdown and MuchOnDemand are closer in format to TRL.
- MTV Tr3s, a U.S. channel targeted to bilingual Hispanic people, launched Mi TRL in September 2006. The show carries the same format and graphics as the English version of TRL. Mi TRL was initially anchored by Carlos Santos and Susie Castillo. Since then, Castillo has been with another VJ, Denise Ramerez. MTV News segments on the show are delivered from Los Angeles by correspondent Liz Hernandez.
- MTV Romania launched TRL România on 23 January 2006, aired from an Orange concept store on Calea Victoriei (a major commercial avenue in the center of Bucharest). The show airs two times a week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, while the international version is still shown on other weekdays. The graphic is similar to the Italian version.