MTV's TRL is about to call it quits — at least for a while — after 10 years on the air. A decade! Just think of it: Ten years ago, the airwaves were filled with boy bands like Backstreet Boys version 1.0, Britney Spears's "Baby One More Time" wasn't even on the radio yet, and I couldn't have picked original TRL host Carson Daly out of a lineup.
The show, which will end with a two-hour special on a Saturday sometime in November, has brought us many memorable moments over the years, from teenyboppers screaming in Times Square to celebrity highs and, uh, lows (three words: Mariah Carey, Popsicles). I was never the most devoted viewer of TRL, but it definitely had a place in my late-high school, early-college years, alongside Dawson's Creek and Blind Date.
As the show winds down, I'm wondering about your memories of TRL. Were you a frequent viewer, or did you tune in only when you were interested in the guests? Do any TRL moments stand out in your mind? And did you ever (totally) request anything live?
Armani Jeans
Chevignon
LK Bennett
The year TRL started I was 15yrs old and I had mono and got to do home school for one semester and I watched TRL everyday (making me very cool bc my school friends were at school when it came on) and it was entertaining at the time bc it was new. My memories are of Backstreet Boys and Nsync and Britney, I remember when they had to "retire" the videos bc they were on the countdown for so long. I quit watching it by the time I was 16/17 though.
1I have a memory - they actually used to play videos! Like, the whole thing, not just little snippets. Imagine that. Also, Carson Daly, no matter what he does, will always be the host of TRL to me.
2Jesse Camp and the Naked Cowboy come to mind.
3Sorry I Have no memories of TRL, I was too old to be watching it. or rather it was too childish for me.
4Staceygirl Jesse Camp was totally the first thing that came to mind!! And, Hilary Burton, who was just a fan outside one day and the next thing you know she became a VJ, and has been on OTH for years now.
5omg i loved trl in highschool. i stood outside in the cold for bsb for about 10 hours and brought my sister back when nsync was on. I paid my way into the studio to see Jessica Simpson and was picked on my 18th bday to announce Beyonce's number one video on the countdown. Since 2003 my interest has gone down and I have not tuned in since. I hope they bring back all the TRL greats including BSB, Carson, and more!
most memorable trl moment: da brats nipple slip
6Oh, the old days when I was in high school. Back when "Baby One More Time" came out and Britney was so young and fresh. And NSYNC was the bee's knees.
7I used to watch it from time to time when it first started, but my real only memory of the show was when I was going to school in NY and happened to get stuck in Times Square during the time that show was on. It was PACKED...so annoying
8Jesse Camp...what ever happened to him anyways? He was from a totally different planet.
9When BSB and N*Sync would battle who would be the number one spot!
The girl who had her locker next to mine would come in crying each time BSB was bumped out of number one....
THOSE were some memories....
10I remember watching after school esp. the Monday before 9/11. After that since the studio was in NYC everything changed.
11mariah's wasas most memorable
12Jesse Camp was the first thing that popped into my head too. I'm sure he is in rehab somewhere. It was so entertaining when it was new and I was 14.
13I was interested back in the '90s and when it turned into the New Millenium, but I stopped watching by the time I hit my teen years. I don't have any specific memories of it that I can think of.
14Too many memories for me!!
15I remember when I was younger, it came to San Diego one summer. So, my brother took me to watch it. I remember yelling to Carson and waving to him. I also remember my brother saying something nasty to him and Carson turned around and asked my brother if he wanted to fight. TRL was so much better when Carson Daily hosted and they actually played videos.
16My favorite memory was when I was on it and I won an autographed TRL notebook =)
17I started watching TRL at the perfect time. It was 1998 and I was 13 or 14 years old. I watched everyday up until Carson left. I watched part of an episode a couple months ago because I wanted to see Blake Lewis' new video, but the show was completely different and weird.
My favorite memory was when BSB were on the show and they shut down time square so much that MTV had to close the covers on the windows with the hope that people would go home.
Another of my favorite memories is when Hanson was on and when Carson introduced them, Zac ran out and jumped on to Carson (who was sitting down). It was like Carson was just hit with a ton of bricks.
I also like the way they used to do spring break. Seaside Hights NJ and SoCal were the best. Now the spring break week is crap.
For the 2-hour finale I'd like to see old guests (BSB, Britney, etc.) do like a top 100 videos from all of TRL, kinda thing.
18I will always remember TRL like this:
HI THIS IS JESSIE FROM PORTLAND AND I JUST WANT TO GIVE A SHOUTOUT TO EVERYONE AT USC AND-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *SCREAMS UNCONTROLLABLY *
19I used to watch this all the time with my cousin, and we hated the whole boy band movement. We'd yell at the TV as if it were a sporting event and make fun of all the teenyboppers. It was a good time, even if it was kind of mean and pointless : )
20i use to watch it the first few years it came out then i was 'privileged' enough to be on TRL in 2006 a few times(like 5)... it was really fun i adore live TV and got to see some celebs in action and be DIVAs off camera... either way, it was only cool the first like 4 years... and yes i see many Jesse Camp references, he BETTER show up to the 'last' episode... he was sooooooo cooooool hahahahahaha...
21i don't know if there really are any moments that stand out to me - but what i do remember is tryign to walk to work from my lunch break everyday and getting stuck in the massive amounts of teens waiting outside the studio since my office was a block or 2 up from the MTV studio.
i also remember seeing hilary the girl from One Tree Hill get her start as a host on TRL..
22Sunday Green... that has to be what stick outs in my mind too. I really did love it when they actually played music as well.
23i liked it when UK MTV showed the american TRL years ago and eminem was on alot messing around doing silly impressions of liam gallagher, and he had his own special show once when he ran around pretending to be Tom Green, ahh i enjoyed those days
24Backstreet Boys, Backstreet Boys, Backstreet Boys.
It's all I lived and breathed for at the time
25God, I used to love this show (and Carson Daly, I'll confess). I actually also loved the British guy who used to be on there sometimes--Toby Amies? Had the biggest crush on him. I don't know if I have any specific memory, since I watched it all the time, but I do remember when the wee NSYNC boys were on during that VJ contest, and no one knew who they were. I also just loved seeing the studio and NYC, since I love that city so much.
26I loved just the whole overall show! Everyday was some new amazing video and tons of celeb guests. BSB, NSYNC, Christina, and of course Britney videos fighting over number 1. The "new artists" that were gonna be huge and I dont remember their names now. lol
Loved the search for the next VJ's too! Jessie Camp! lol
27i remember when they used to play entire videos on TRL and on MTV's regular programming. i miss that, i want my (old school) mtv (back).
28i miss pop-up-videos too.
According to Wikipedia, Jesse Camp now raises money over the phone for nonprofit organizations. Random.
29I remember the battle for the top spot!! And when they had to retire video's after 65 or so times on the countdown! Oh Carson... And when "I Want It That Way" debuted. And when it was on at 3 or 4 so people who went to school could actually watch it. AND how they played practically the whole video.
Also, I miss Singled Out. It was on later at night & I'd sneak my television on so I could watch it.
30I was a freshman and college and was pissed that they played the same damn videos everyday...crappy videos at that.
31I have ALWAYS hated Carson Daily. TOOL.
I'm obviously not in the MTV demographic anymore, but I'm actually glad it's cancelled.
Bring back Carson Daly as host. I miss the videos and actual interviews....! too much reality tv now... I might be the only person who thinks watching "The Hills" is actually lowering my IQ...
32"Singled Out"!!! Good call - such a good show. Jenny McCarthy rocked it!
33I loved the original TRL with Carson as the host. The "newer" version of TRL I really can't stand. As far as a memory goes..one episode NSYNC called in and sang Happy Birthday to this girl. It was really cute.
34On my 16th birthday, my high school communications class happened to be taking a field trip to NYC to visit an advertising agency and we also had tickets for that day's trl show. It being my birthday, they pretty much begged me to do a "shout out" and I was forced to do the silly scream afterwards.
After my shout out, they asked if I would be interested in answering a trivia question for a chance to win an MTV/TRL gift pack. I did, and I won! I then spent the rest of the day carrying around this huge bag of goodies. It was a perfect birthday for a silly 16 year old.
35Wow! TRL was THE definitive show to watch as it started when I was 15 y.o. My favorite memory was on my 20th bithday (I was being nostalgic!) and it was my first time in NYC. We were going to pass by outside but we ended up in the studio! I got to meet Hillary (she was a little snotty), Damien (super nice), and Quudus (sp? nice as well!). Cuba Gooding Jr. was the guest and gave me a big birthday hug (best smelling man ALIVE)! To top it off I made a fool of myself when the "commercial cam" got a clip of my doing the running man ... embarassment for life! It's on celluloid!
36I have the best TRL memory ever! When I was a sophomore in High School in '97, me and my friend Jenny had the BIGGEST crush on Toby the british guy who used to host with Carson. We went to TRL right after school still in our catholic school uniforms and took a sheet of notebook paper and wrote WE LOVE TOBY in sharpie on it. My friends father videotaped TRL that day cause he knew we were going to be down there. When we watched the show later on that day, Carson was up in the studio and as the camera panned to me and my friend, he commented on the fact that we had a sign. He was like, "Oh Wow, those girls actually made a sign!" It was on notebook paper. I like to think of myself as paving the way for future sign holders who in later years would go much further with the sign making than me and my girl did back in 97.
37i rememeber No Doubt singing in the new year 1999/2000!!
my best memory from that day, the rest of the new year celebrations did not live up to the hype
Love gwen stefani!
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