# Does VH-1 even EXIST anymore?!!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 16, 2002, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117 "2002-08-16T00:55:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/1 "2002-08-16T00:55:48Z")
I know that their ratings have gone into a blazing freefall, but everytime I turn VH-1 on recently it’s either been the VH-! Top 20-10-whatever Countdown, a VH-! “Rockin’ movie” or an MTV show. That’s right an MTV show. Right now it’s Aerosmith: MTV Icon. What the fuck? Where the hell is Pop-Up-Video?? They hadn’t run that show into the ground yet. Oh yeah, as far as the VH-1 “Rockin’ Movies” go, UHF, yeah I can see that, what with “Weird Al” being the star. But 9 1/2 Weeks??? Showgirls??? I suppose I shouldn’t bitch all that much since AMC is now showing Speed somewhere on the average of 3 times a day. Is Speed an American movie? Oh my yes. Is it a classic? FUCK NO. Oh if a mod thinks this belongs in the Pit please feel free to move it and I apologize in adavnce if it was posted in the wrong place. ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/2 "2002-08-16T02:10:01Z")
VH1 hasn’t existed for years. The only reason I watch it is in the morning for music, and to watch the Behind the Music shows. That is it. ---
**Author:** ![dragongirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/3 "2002-08-16T10:37:33Z")
Oh my gosh ! You are so right. I really liked Pop- Up Video, but I haven’t seen it for quite a while. I don’t understand how they can call some of the movies, _Movies That Rock_. I even think that _Behind the Music_ is getting pretty lame, but at least VH1 is doing one on **Areosmith** I can’t wait to see that one. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/4 "2002-08-16T13:41:04Z")
Dennis Miller once suggested that a contest be held to see if anyone could remember what the _M_ stood for in MTV. I guess we’re getting to the point that we need to keep reminding ourselves what the _V_ stands for in VH-1, huh? For the record, I haven’t watched a minute of VH-1 since I got digital cable and gained access to VH-1 Classic, which is what VH-1 used to be: music videos from MTV before MTV discovered and then co-opted hip-hop. ---
**Author:** ![cmburns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@cmburns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmburns)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/5 "2002-08-16T21:35:14Z")
I still think it’s a pretty good channel, but VH-1 is definitely following MTV’s lead in deciding that music videos aren’t really necessary for a music video channel. Too bad, because some of their shows are pretty good. I still like “Behind the Music”, I thought the “Band on the Run” reality series was pretty funny, and the new one-hit wonders show is pretty good. It does seem, though, that when you turn VH-1 on the chances are pretty good you’re going to be seeing a repeat of something you didn’t care that much about the first time. Good point in the OP about their “Movies that Rock”. You’d assume the movies would have some musical connection, but most of the time they don’t. And when they do, it’s often some POS like “Blues Brothers 2000” that they play over and over and over again. ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/6 "2002-08-16T22:05:19Z")
I don’t know who does there programming. But, they should be taken to the firing wall, and shot, no blindfold, they have to watch this awful channel as they lay bleeding on the ground. The last thing they see is a Diva’s Show, or some other lame show, that has been on. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/7 "2002-08-17T01:15:50Z")
The only time to see real music videos on VH-1 is late at night, they actually play stuff that’s not on those endless countdown shows. Ryan Adams, Nora Jones, etc. Then again they play a lot of those new videos from Sheryl Crow, who I used to like, at that time of night. Last week they ran a news special about Lynyrd Skynyrd called _Uncivil War_ about the bad blood between the surviving members. It was actually pretty good, without turning into a BTM episode. It showed some of the realities of being an over-the-hill rock star who still needs to trade on their past to make a living. The movies thing is just a way to fill airtime. Hell, E! used to show really bad movies on weekend nights just to fill up time when no one was watching (except me, no one). If they want to show rock movies besides just concert films and crap, why not _Streets Of Fire, The Warriors, or Phantom Of The Paradise_? All have music or or a rock attitude to them. Since VH-1 and Nick are part of the Viacom empire, I still say they should move _Invader ZIM_ to VH-1. ZIM has a large non-kid audience, VH-1 needs one. Nick has cancelled ZIM, and treated it like a stepchild when they were still producing it. VH-1 needs all the help they can get, and I don’t believe stuff like that Liza and David show is going to do it for them. ---
**Author:** ![okielady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/fbc32d/32.png) [@okielady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/okielady)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/8 "2002-08-17T04:10:05Z")
I saw Pop-Up Video last night. Well, it was this morning - about 2:00 a.m. It was the Michael Jackson episode. I watch more VH-1 Classic than any other music channel. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/9 "2002-08-17T09:46:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by okielady \* > \*\*I watch more VH-1 Classic than any other music channel. \*\* Good channel! As for VH1, yeah, it lost me too, sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/10 "2002-08-17T10:08:30Z")
I think Rachel Perry is really hot. ---
**Author:** ![xanadu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c4cdca/32.png) [@xanadu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanadu)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/11 "2002-08-17T18:57:59Z")
My brother put it best when he said “VH1 is MTV’s bitch”.😃 Last time I tuned in they were playing a Real World Marathon. ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/12 "2002-08-17T22:50:54Z")
I have just checked to see what is on A show on “little people”, and their lives. What does this have to do with music. ---
**Author:** ![DougAB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@DougAB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougAB)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/13 "2002-08-18T01:45:18Z")
Oh, yes, VH-1 is the scourge of my talking picture box. The red-headed stepchild. How many countdowns does one station need? The last thing I recall seeing on VH-1 is William Shatner hosting a One-Hit Wonders countdown! C’mon, man! Give me a break! They have B-rate starts counting down B-rate moments. They really need a **bustifizoo.** ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/14 "2002-08-18T10:49:07Z")
Yeah, VH-1 still exists in the wee hours of the morning, but that’s about it, save a few odd hours in the mid-morning/afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/15 "2002-08-18T12:48:29Z")
Well I remeber when vh1 showed infomercials from midnight til about 5 or 6 am and it used to be a second rate mtv But tell me is viacom screwing up all its networks ? Mtv has been crap for well a few years Vh1 used ot be good but is turning into mtv Tnn is a 3rd rate tnt And nick is more fo a train wreck than ever Only good networks it seems to have anymore is tv land and its m2 and vh1classics … ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/16 "2002-08-18T13:05:27Z")
All of those last stations you mentioned, night, are unavailable except in “premium” cable packages…at least in my area. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/17 "2002-08-19T03:30:04Z")
A friend of mine sent me a news story about VH-1’s upcoming season. As he put it, The Onion couldn’t have done much better. > [@](#): > > = “Rock the House”: a weekly half-hour series in which a music fan gets a surprise visit from a fave rock star who, a la TLC’s “Trading Spaces,” redecorates the fan’s house or room. It is set to bow in October. As if the stuff they come up with on “Trading Spaces” isn’t occasionally dreadful enough, and there are professional designers at work there. I’m a huge Phish fan, but that doesn’t mean I’d want Jon Fishman redecorating my house. > [@](#): > > = “Music Behind Bars”: the documentary reality series will explore the lives and crimes of jailhouse rockers by focusing on a different prison band each week. It is set to bow Nov. 1. This actually sounds like a very interesting hour, maybe even two. A whole series? > [@](#): > > = “Liza & David”: Minnelli and new hubby Gest pitched the idea for this show themselves, according to Graden, and will serve as exec producers of the project, which will begin airing as a weekly series in October. VH1 has ordered 10 episodes. > > While the tonal similarity to MTV’s monster hit “The Osbournes” is > unmistakable, Norman said “Liza & David” will differ by focusing on one event each week: A dinner party hosted by Minnelli and Gest in their Manhattan penthouse. > > Each episode will follow the duo as they prepare for the party; > include highlights from what are expected to be star-studded but > intimate meals; and then feature the hosts serving up dish about their celeb guests afterward. OK, “The Osbournes” works for three reasons–it’s genuinely funny, people like Ozzy, and there’s a lot of irony in a family show about the Prince of Fucking Darkness. I’ve always thought of Liza as a snooty New York socialte, and in this series, she’s going to be a snooty New York socialite. Even worse, though–I have to suspect that I’m creeping up on the demographic that VH-1 is aiming at, and I do not give, have never given, and strongly suspect that I will never give a flying rat’s ass about Liza Minelli. I can’t see many people of my vintage feeling all that differently. > [@](#): > > = “Camp Chaos”: the weekly half-hour animated comedy, based on the Web site of the same name, will spoof pop music culture via a series of themed sketches. It’s expected to premiere sometime this fall or winter. They’ve done some funny stuff, so I’ll reserve judgement here until I see it. > [@](#): > > = “I Love the '80s”: Based on the BBC format, each hourlong episode will review the seminal pop culture events of a given year from the 1980s. VH1 has ordered 10 episodes of the project, which will air as part of an '80s-themed week of programming Dec. 9-13. “VH-1–doing everything we can to make sure you can’t forget the '80s, no matter how hard you try!” > [@](#): > > As for theatricals, in addition to 20th Century Fox’s “Moulin Rouge,” VH1 will have the exclusive broadcast windows for the Mariah Carey-toplined “Glitter” and the Mark Wahlberg starrer “Rock Star.” Hear that? Exclusive! If you are, in fact, one of the twelve people on the face of the Earth who would devote two hours of your precious lifespan to either of these pieces of drek, it’s VH-1 or nothing! I’m sure they spent a pretty penny for those rights! > [@](#): > > Specials slated for fall and winter include…three five-hour miniseries: the TV Guide-produced “100 Moments that Rocked the Tube”; “The 100 Greatest Love Songs,” narrated by Barry White; and “The 100 Sexiest Artists.” Note that they’ve already had “100 Greatest Music Moments on TV”, and I could swear they’ve already had a “sexiest artists” countdown. VH-1, we hardly knew ye. Dr. J ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/18 "2002-08-19T03:44:06Z")
Actually I quit watching vh1 when they ran through johnny rottens show ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/19 "2002-08-19T04:09:41Z")
Rotten TV was the last time VH-1 showed any sign of creativity. No wonder they buried the show in shitty timeslots with little promotion. I saw him in an interview while the show was still “in limbo”, he said VH-1 probably stands for “Very Horrible One”. Unless that “Liza & David” show has her reuniting with her childhood playmate Loudon Wainwright or getting in a catfight with Lorna Luft I doubt I’ll watch. I don’t have digital cable, but I don’t remember VH-1 Classic or some of the other “digital only channels” being available locally. We had MTV2 (from 6am-10pm) for about a year, and it was great, but the cable company pulled it with no explaination and no replacement. But hey, they gave us The Outdoor Channel (_NOT_ the Outdoor Life Channel) right next to where MTV2 was on the dial. Bowhunting, fishing, and blackpowder hunting shows mixed in with lots of infomercials for bowhunting, fishing, and blackpowder hunting equipment. ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117/20 "2002-08-19T17:22:10Z")
I checked last night, VH1 was showing a reality show on Cheerleading. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vh-1-even-exist-anymore/124117.md?page=2)