Time's Christopher Farley: 20 years of MTV

Christopher Farley has been a member of the Time Magazine staff since 1992. He is a senior writer covering arts and entertainment, and is the magazine's chief music critic. Farley joined the CNN.com chat room to discuss MTV's 20th anniversary.

CNN: What is the effect of MTV 20 years later?

FARLEY: Well, twenty years later, it's really had an effect on reality programming. When you think about "Real World," it was sort of the godfather to other reality programming we see on TV today. Shows like "Survivor," and shows that MTV would probably not be that proud to be the godfather of, like "Fear Factor" on NBC, and "Big Brother" on CBS.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Mr. Farley, from what I understand, MTV doesn't concentrate on video's any more. Why the change in the programming?

VIDEO CNNfn's Susan Lisovicz reports on the success of Viacom's MTV (July 31) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) As MTV turns 20, its latest hot show is TRL, which draws fans to its New York studios. CNN's Michael Okwu reports (August 1) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MORE STORIES MTV: Rewinding 20 years of music revolution   MTV's Carson Daly, by 'Request'   Doug Herzog, Dan Cortese on MTV's 20th     RESOURCES Message Board: MTV at 20

FARLEY: MTV doesn't play as many videos because, apparently, pure video programming doesn't always garner good ratings. So although their image is that of a video station, mainly they play a lot of original programming, shows like "Spider Games," the "Real World," of course, "Road Rules," and a number of other shows that really aren't even worth watching.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Why did MTV kill metal videos?

FARLEY: Metal isn't dead, it's just in hibernation. Right now, teen pop and hip hop rule, but it's clear MTV would love to have some metal, hard rock, guitar based bands make a comeback. We've already seen the group Staind make a huge chart impact. Later on this year, we'll see the group Incubus probably garner a lot of press attention. So, there are plenty of bands out there with a harder sound. They may not necessarily be metal, but they're certainly tougher than, say, *NSYNC.

CNN: Did video kill the radio star?

FARLEY: Not completely. A lot of the most interesting bands around don't make videos, and don't see a need to. Though, sometimes they will delve into the medium. For example, Pearl Jam, one of the leading alternative rock bands of the '90s, is still a strong touring force, and they rarely make videos that go beyond simple shots of their live performances. Radiohead, one of the coolest art rock bands around, are making a new video for their latest album, but for their last album, "Kid A," instead of making a standard video, they released short clips that didn't really fit with MTV's format, and the band didn't seem to care. So, not every influential or interesting band feels the need to cater to MTV's rigid formats.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: How do you think that MTV has contributed to the effects of underage drinking on society stemming from years of MTV Springbreak and Block Party, etc?

FARLEY: It's hard to tell whether MTV has contributed to underage drinking or not. There's not a lot of alcohol in evidence during a lot of their spring break programming, so it might be safe to assume some of the revelers on the shows have had a sip or two. At least it would help explain how boisterous some of those audiences are.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Since MTV is now 20 years old, they have a ton of old content they never play. Do you think they will ever do like ESPN and come out with a MTV Classic Station? I think there would be demand.

FARLEY: They're already doing that, in that MTV tends to repackage old clips, old videos, into specials that celebrate MTV's history. MTV loves celebrating itself. Plus, MTV has VH1, which, to a certain extent is kind of like MTV classic, although they play a lot of older acts, they also have innumerable specials, counting down the best stuff in the past. But in general, MTV tends only to remember its own history. It's not concerned with musical history in general. To a certain extent, it's like a Blockbuster Video outlet. There are a million copies of the new Jim Carrey movie, but if you're looking for anything that stars, say, Cary Grant or Audrey Hepburn, you're out of luck. MTV focuses on the present.

CNN: MTV is often referred to as a catalyst of shorter attention spans. Is this label deserved?

FARLEY: MTV does have a short attention span, and I think if you watch as much MTV as I do, it can have an effect. What was that question again?

CHAT PARTICIPANT: What special things does MTV have planned for their anniversary?

FARLEY: Well, I'm going to be at that celebration tonight, along with my wife, and we plan to leave early, if things get out of hand. I'm not exactly certain which performers will show up, as of this second, because the roster was thrown into some turmoil by Mariah Carey's announcement that she would no longer headline the event, because of her personal problems. She clearly has a lot on the line with a new movie, a new album, and a new record label. So, maybe she'll show up, maybe she won't. But if she doesn't, MTV will have a huge hole to fill. Perhaps Whitney Houston is available!

CHAT PARTICIPANT: The MTV seems to be worshipping the Beavis and Butthead personages. Does it contribute to the dumbing down of America?

FARLEY: I think "Beavis and Butthead" were left behind by MTV in the '90s. They now celebrate a kind of teen personality that's far less anarchic and dangerous. They do have "Jackass," but that's a really dumb, dumb program. "Beavis and Butthead" were sort of dumb-smart, where you can interpret it as dumb on one level, but perhaps there were other levels going on. Those characters allowed MTV to critique itself on the air, which was interesting, to a certain extent. Now there's little self-critique going on. There's little programming with multiple layers, and all we're left with is a jiggling midriff of shallow teen pop stars, who probably couldn't take the criticism if Beavis and Butthead were to critique their videos.

CNN: What are some of the memorable moments in MTV history?

FARLEY: One memorable moment for me was the airing of the Jenny McCarthy show, "Singled Out." On one level, sure, it was another dumb dating show, but it was really interesting from a sociological level. Most dating shows, up to that point, tended to be like, you know, washing machines. You matched the whites with the whites, the people of color with people of color, and there was no talk of mixing. "Singled Out" matched men and women of different races together, matched people of the same sex together, and did it without a lot of loud announcements and press conferences and debates on "Nightline." In doing so, it was quietly revolutionary, while still remaining a really dumb show.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Why doesn't MTV try breaking new artists anymore, like it used to with "120 Minutes" and the like?

FARLEY: It's an illusion that MTV ever really broke an artist. They tend to elevate artists that are really coming on strong, or that are ready to fit into established genres. As a side note, one artist they're probably most responsible for creating is Eminem. He, of course, already fit into the established genre of gangsta rap. I think, though, Eminem is kind of like MTV's Frankenstein. In the '90s, MTV fed viewers all the stuff about how you need to respect other people, you shouldn't hate people because of their religion or sexual orientation, and suddenly, when there's money to be made from hate, America's leading homophobe becomes a signature artist. So, if that's the kind of artist MTV wants to make, I'm almost happier to see them buy their artists off the rack.

CNN: Where do we see the future of MTV?

FARLEY: The future of MTV is in following wherever audiences take it. Right now, they're settling for the sugar high of teen pop. They keep playing acts like Britney Spears, *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, folks with little talent, and folks that alienate a lot of smarter audiences. Hopefully, in the near future, we'll see the return of singer-songwriters, acts like Alicia Keys, Lauren Hill, artists with the ability to write their own songs, and with aspirations for creating music that's meaningful and lasting. I recently went to an MTV Unplugged session for Lauryn Hill, in which she played some new material accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, which she plays herself. It was one of the strongest concerts I've been to in some time, and one of the most moving MTV experiences I've had since I attended the Nirvana Unplugged session back some time in, as I remember, the late 1700's. I hope MTV has more things like Lauryn Hill Unplugged.

CNN: Thank you for joining us today.

FARLEY: Thanks for having me!

Christopher Farley joined the CNN.com chat room by telephone and CNN provided a typist. This is an edited transcript of the interview which took place on Wednesday, August 1, 2001.