Hang On, MTV Is Still Around?

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of MTV, which stood for "Music Television."

I point this out because if you wanted to watch something music-related on MTV, you had to go to another network to do so -- MTV stopped showing music programs long ago.

I remember when MTV debuted, though I didn't originally get it for something like a year, since our cable system didn't initially carry it. When we did finally get it, it was mostly whatever the popular pop-style music there was at the time -- Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson, etc.

It wasn't exactly cutting edge stuff. While music videos did improve over the decade, launching the careers of several major directors, for me, MTV never really stepped up as the trendsetter it could have been in music. Instead, it always seemed to react to pop trends rather than create them.

That doesn't mean there wasn't some worthwhile stuff. "Unplugged" was a terrific series, with big-name artists performing acoustic versions of their greatest hits in front of a small studio audience. "Remote Control," starring the late Ken Ober, was a helluva lot of fun. MTV also broadcast the 1990 Knebworth concert in the UK, which featured a lineup that included Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Genesis and others.

But those seem the rare highlights, at least for me. In the '90s, MTV started the shift into so-called reality TV, with series like "The Real World" and "Road Rules," neither of which I spent any time watching. Gradually, with shows like "The Osbornes," etc., MTV started to get out of the music broadcasting business.

Now, the network broadcasts original TV series. Some have been pretty decent, such as "Teen Wolf" (MTV, 10 p.m.), while other series have bombed, such as the US version of the UK hit "Skins."

These days, it's mostly responsible for inflicting the likes of "Jersey Shore" on society.

There's nothing wrong with MTV trying to branch out over the last three decades, but it seems that a network named MTV should have something related to music. But, like SyFy airing pro wrestling or Animal Planet launching a new series with Heidi Fleiss, it's another example of a cable network getting rid of its original mission rather than trying to make it better.

MONDAY'S BEST BETS: Tonight, "The Bachelorette" (ABC, 8 p.m.) hands out her final rose, leading to what I'm sure will be another long-lasting and successful relationship that usually comes out of these series.

SyFy has its one new night of original sci-fi programming with "Eureka," "Warehouse 13" and "Alphas" from 8-11 p.m.

TNT has new episodes of "The Closer" and "Rizzoli & Isles" from 9-11 p.m.

Finally, Showtime has new episodes of "Weeds" and "The Big C" from 10-11 p.m.

This story was originally published August 1, 2011 at 12:16 PM with the headline "Hang On, MTV Is Still Around?."