The Fifth Incarnation Of VH1

After giving virtually every unemployed actor on Earth their own reality show and/or bus full of free skanks, VH1 has finally, shockingly, exhausted themselves. I never thought they’d get tired of it, either. I just thought they’d keep going until every show they had featured a former contestant from a reality show starring a former contestant from a reality show starring a former contestant from a reality show starring a former contestant from a reality show. But no! They actually found that people get tired of that short of thing. And thus, the entire channel is in upheaval. From Deadline.com:

VH1 today announced a record 44 original series in 2010 and a change of focus -- moving away from its celebrity reality series and towards young adults' real life stories. To understand the “core of its core” audience, the network said it did an extensive study focusing on what VH1 calls “Gen Mix” – the young adults who make up the tail-end of Generation X and the very beginning of Gen Y or the Millennials, covering the ages between 25 and 34.

There’s no doubt this change at VH1 is being spurred on by the success of MTV’s reality shows like “Jersey Shore” and “16 And Pregnant.” The list of new shows the channel has on its docket are similar to those (both serious and cheesy), only featuring slightly older people. Which makes sense, given that VH1 has always been the spiritual older sibling of MTV.

But don’t go thinking VH1 has gotten all mature on you. A quick scan of the proposed shows leaves open ample opportunity for the network to again aim low.

My Big Friggin Wedding (working title)

“My Big Friggin Wedding” is a new VH1 docu-series that follows the high drama of five couples as they plan and execute the wildest weddings anyone has ever seen. Their budgets may not be the biggest, but their mouths sure are.

You’re Cut Off! – Premieres Monday, June 14 at 9 PM ET/PT

What happens when you take nine spoiled young women and completely cut them off from shopping, mani-pedis and bottle service?

Wedding Wars (working title)

Diary of a Hip Hop Girlfriend

Estranged with Dr. Drew

You get the idea. It’s replacing contrived celebrity reality shows with contrived regular people reality shows. It’s making new reality stars rather than recycling them, which is cheaper and often more effective.

I grew up the same time both MTV and VH1 did, and so I have an encyclopedic knowledge of both channels’ respective histories, as do most folks in my generation. I remember when VH1 started, it was just like MTV. Only, instead of Poison videos, they played Michael Bolton and Kenny G videos. That was the first incarnation of VH1, and it was horrible.

After that, the network started the whole “Behind the Music” era, and it became the official network of old boomer music and VH1 Divas. Then they produced “I Love the 80’s” and the entire network became the “I Love the 80’s” channel, every hour of programming featuring Michael Ian Black making pithy comments about something people did ten years ago. WASN’T IT SILLY THAT PEOPLE DID THAT? Then “Flavor of Love” hit and the whole Celebreality thing became VH1’s reason for being. Now that’s tired and they’re going this new route. It’s the channel’s fifth life, and it most certainly won’t be the last.

But whatever form the channel takes next, I’m sure Dr. Drew will still get his own show. He’s crafty like that.

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