Total Request Live (1998–2019)
I Remember When this Show was Total Request
20 October 2005
I was home today and started channel surfing and Total Request Live was on. Man, this show brings back memories. I was a big fan of this show as an an teen in 98' (I cringe lol) and I have not seen this show since 2001. That's when an already quirky show just became boring to me after so many changes.

A lot of people may not remember but Total Request Live started out not being live in 98'. It was called Total Request with Carson Daly and it first played at night. There was no live audience just Carson Daly sitting down by a TV. The show was 30 minutes long and counted down the top videos of the day. I remember Hanson being #1 all the time with their video "Weird".

Then some thing happened in the later part of 98'. The show moved to afternoons. It went from 30 to 90 minutes long. It got an live audience inside and out. The birth of TRL was born. As a teen this show was fun to come home too. Even though the countdown was shallow and more of an popularity contest and not many good music videos made it but they had a lot of guests and music and it was just fun and cool at the time to us teens. This show believe it or not made pop acts like Nsync and BSB even more popular than they already were. They owned the countdown seriously. If BSB was not #1 than Nsync was and vice versa. But TRL also made grunge metal bands like Korn, Limp Bizket popular too. People who were into pop were introduced to rock and vice versa from the countdown.

Carson Daly became an overnight sensation and was so popular as an DJ they even started an be an MTV DJ contest. I remember when Jesse Camp won the contest. Oh, man watching him was hilarious...he was great.

Then 2001 rolls in and the show just changed. They added a whole lot of DJ's that I could give a crap about. Carson was hardly featured then he finally left. The videos were cut short or never really showed. I guess music just changed in general. I always thought BSB and Britney Spears were horrible acts to be always topping the countdown but I watch today and you have Ashlee Simpson, Hilary Duff, Ryan Cabrera all in the countdown and wow, Nsync, Britney and BSB don't look so bad.

I guess my most reason for stop watching TRL is that I am a teen no more. I just grew up. Whatever it was I will always remember this show at once being really fun to watch as a teen.
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