4d ago

Make MTV relevant again

82 comments

Last episode in the series is just DMs from executives, congressmen, and anyone in a position of power
- I nominate Pete Hegseth's mom.

wait, this is actually sick as fuck, someone needs to turn this into a reality show, because i would probably unironically watch this.

Am I the only one who doesn't find awkwardness entertaining?
- It’s not just you. Second hand embarrassment is just as bad as first hand embarrassment for me.
  It’s a wildly unpopular take, but it’s the reason I can’t watch most of Steve Carell’s stuff, including the office.
  
  Agreed. I like a few Office episodes, but I never really got into it. I'm also not a fan of self-deprecating humor, despite making a lot of self-deprecating jokes myself.
  We exist, but I think we're in the minority.
  
  Second hand embarrassment is just as bad as first hand embarrassment for me.
  That's what makes it so great!
  
  I think I just found my tribe.
  
  I watched all of The Office, but I had to keep actively reminding myself that those situations aren't real and that they're paid actors who are expecting everything that's happening, in order not to wince my face inside out.
  
  Seconded, second-hand embarrasment makes me want to jump at the TV
  
  Fremdscham
- I don't like it, either. And I'm not a fan of the "obsessed with sex while shaming other people for being obsessed with sex" vibe of shit like this.
  
  Shaming scumbags for harassing people is always OK.
- It's called Empathy and seems to be in short supply among TV execs.
- I agree, but this wouldn't be about awkward -- it would be vengeance. Just rewards. Assholes getting their due.
- Call me overly optimistic, but I would hope that such a program would stop men from doing such creepy behaviour.
  
  Call me overly pessimistic, but I would think that such a program would encourage men to make dms even creepier.
- Nah, i feel ya. I actually get empathetic physical reactions to seeing on-screen awkwardness
  
  It's not art if you don't feel anything
- Not the only one, this is why I find sitcoms especially more or less completely unwatchable
  
  Yup, haven't watched a sitcom in many years.
  I used to love sitcoms (Seinfeld, King of Queens, IT Crowd, etc), but I guess it's just not what I'm looking for anymore. If I want comedy, I usually go with stand-up these days.
- Awkwardness is incredibly cheap to film and turn around into content. Less that you find it entertaining and more that you'll fixate on it as a clip in a long line of similar looking content. HBO / Discovery Channel love this kind of low-rent reality TV, because it gets people into watching the first episode purely on shock value. Also great for getting the name recognition of the show up among the critically lucrative "I'm too mature for cartoons but not mature enough to watch normal TV" 13-21 demographic.
  Literally the only thing that matters is whether your cursor hovers over it or your scroll pauses for a second as you pass over it. The Algorithm will flag this as "We have your attention" and feed you an increasing quantity of the slop until you give in or you stop using whatever media service is delivering it.
- empathy
- I find it more entertaining if it's fake, like with the office. I dislike real-world awkwardness if it was at the level those shows take it.
  Random awkwardness can be fine, but like the example OP gave would be so cringey I couldn't watch lol.
  Reality TV gets to that point, so I never watch lol
  
  This right here.
  "Real" awkwardness is usually coming at someone's expense. I don't enjoy that. The same way true sadness is usually at someone's expense.
  But if it's part of a story, fine. I'll watch a sad movie or a show that has awkward moments. Those very real feelings explored in a fun way that hurts no one can be a good time. Just like no one really enjoys being genuinely scared, but a scary movie can trigger that emotion in a safe and fun way.
  
  I watched the first episode of The Office (UK), and the awkwardness was too much for me. I'll probably give it a second shot eventually though.
- I am the same way. My husband loves I Think You Should Leave. I cannot stand how horrible and awkward it is. Like its not just not funny it's actively uncomfortable to watch. Which makes it even funnier to him >.>
- Nope, I hate it too.
  Also, this premise kind of sucks as a 'game'. Unless mom has experience with being hit on by her son, how would she have any inkling to identify which of the messages is his? 'Oh, that's my boy, I know he's into the massive tits', lol.
  This is just 'let's make fun of men for being thirsty' thinly-veiled misandry, plenty of women have sent plenty of cringe DMs to men they've lusted after, too.
- I can't stand it.
  I like to think it's because I'm empathetic.
  
  I hate cringe comedy because it makes me feel awkward... But I'm very much not an empathetic person (for whatever reason, I don't really 'do' affective empathy).
- So not a fan of “To catch a predator” either?
- You're not alone, but I don't think in the majority. How do you feel about the show The Office?
  
  I'm not OP, but I thought it was mediocre at best. I've watched maybe a dozen episodes, always with other people, and I honestly don't like it when watching on my own.
  To each their own I guess.

Feels like we're edging into TLC territory. Can the contestants be very obviously disabled or made up to look particularly grotesque in any particular way? The show needs an extra "ick" factor to properly sell it.
"Trail Trash Texts" or "DMs from My
<Insert Series of Synonyms to Slurs Here>
"
Then it can be a hot topic of daytime news media. Maybe see if you can even get it sued or censored or find someone who was fired for watching it on the job. The show will do huge numbers.
- Sounds like channel 4 in the UK although they would probably call it something like Horny Benefits Scrounges.
- DMs from my unique son, every week an individual with an obvious fault becomes the villain of the show

MTV should play music videos (gasp)
- No one who currently watches MTV has ever known it to play music videos. It's been this kind of garbage their entire lives
  
  So they changed the M from music to manure?
- In addition to music vidoes, I liked Beavis and Butthead, Daria, TRL, and Celebrity Deathmatch. Shows about bands, artists, and music.

Old but gold. I wouldn't watch it, but I would watch the highlight reels on YouTube

"No that's not my son... David always writes the whole thing when he is texting me, never shortens it to 'WAP'."
- YOU NEED TO PRESS THE RESET BUTTON ON THE WIRELESS ACCESS POINT MOM. ITS THE GLOWING BUTTON NEXT TO THE....
  nevermind, I'll come over after work.
  
  Honestly, just tell her to unplug it, go make coffee or something (say it needs to "cool off" or whatever), and plug it back in. Letting the capacitors discharge is usually enough to fix 90% of problems, which is why phone techs tell you to turn it off, check some BS cables for about 30 seconds or so, and then turn it back on. It's not about the cables, it's about the capacitors.
  
  The trick is to plug the whole network thing (router, modem, wifi) on one powerstrip with a switch and then just have her turn the entire thing off and on direct at the source.
  Saved me so many trips.
- Wireless Access Point?
- ... Web Access Protocol?
  
  No, Wireless Application Protocol.

Honestly, I don't even think it'd get through to them. So many people have zero capability to feel shame and would just be excited to be "famous".
- Yeah! I'd worry about directly incentivizng men to sexually harass women, conversely: providing harassers the cover of "fame seeking" to obscure genuine harassment.

Japanese gameshow?

What about the dick pics?
- Nah, could make it too easy.
  
  Only if he's broken his arms recently.
- The mothers are told if the message included a dick pic but they are not allowed to see it.

I wouldn't subject the young women to it. Why make the target of the messages have to be involved. Pay someone who knows what they are getting into and can quit whenever they feel like it.
- Pay someone who knows what they are getting into and can quit whenever they feel like it.
  How do you think these young women would appear on the show? This may come as a surprise, but despite the 3 letter name, MTV lacks widespread intelligence gathering capacity and definitely can’t read your text messages without your consent.
  I’m fairly confident that anybody appearing on this show would have sent in an application to the company, and signed a non-indentured contract.
- The better approach would be to have an actor read the messages and the reality show contestants are the mothers (and sons).
  That being said, I'm still not watching it.
- I could see it from influencer types and onlyfans, I'm sure they get plenty of awkward messages and also know how to handle it.

Closest things I've seen are Creepy Text Theatre and I can't remember what they called it but Radio 1 in the UK used to have a phone number women could give out to guys who were creeping them out and they'd play the voicemail messages on the air.