MTV (Music Television) is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched in 1981, the original purpose of the channel was to show music videos, as well as other music news and events. Today, MTV broadcasts a variety of music, pop culture, youth culture, and reality television shows aimed at adolescents and young adults.

Appearances

• 2002 — MTV aired the "Keep Fishin'" music video; the making-of special, Weezer and the Muppets Go Fishin', subsequently aired on MTV2.

• September 19, 2005 — Miss Piggy appeared on the British MTV channel in an episode of TRL UK.

• December 8, 2006 — Kermit the Frog appeared in an MTV News interview promoting Before You Leap and commenting on current entertainment news.

• September 13, 2009 — Kermit appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards with Lady Gaga as his date.

• September 7, 2011 — Jason Segel was interviewed for MTV News' Fall Movie Preview to promote The Muppets.

• March 14, 2012 — Kermit and Walter were interviewed on MTV News to discuss their favorite band picks for MTV's March Madness event. Kermit selects Green Day, and Walter suggests that the frontman for Mumford and Sons was formerly known as the Amazing Mumford. They also suggest a write-in campaign for Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.

• August 6, 2014 — Kermit and Pepe were interviewed by MTV News in promotion of the Muppets Most Wanted video release.

• June 8, 2015 — Kermit and Piggy discuss feminism and being catcalled. (YouTube)

References

• The channel was spoofed as NTV on Sesame Street, where Nora Nicks introduced the music video of "The Letter N" by Nick Normal and the Nickmatics.

• The network was spoofed multiple times in Muppet Magazine with the Muppets' own version, MMTV.

• The Summer 1985 issue of Muppet Magazine featured an interview with MTV VJs Martha Quinn and Alan Hunter.

• On Muppet Babies, the episode "I Want My Muppet T.V." spoofs MTV's popular slogan from the 1980s. Baby Rowlf mentions the line during the episode at one point.

• Sesame Street has spoofed the channel as "Sesame (Street) Music Video" in "Wet Paint", as seen in an introduction given by a Muppet VJ that was included in three airings of the segment, and in the 1988 video release Count it Higher, where the Count hosts a music video countdown show. Additionally, in the latter, MTV-style captions appear at the beginning and end of every featured song.

• Sesame Street also lampooned the channel as "Mac TV", where Old MacDonald introduced "A New Way to Walk" by The Oinker Sisters.

• The songs used in the Sesame Street home videos Monster Hits! and Rock & Roll! have lower third graphics using the typeface Kabel, the same font used for music videos on MTV for many years.

• In the Muppet Babies episode "Transcontinental Whoo-Whoo", Baby Gonzo, on board his team's locomotive, yells for the buffalo blocking their way to "bust a move", mentioning he heard it on MTV.

• This channel was also spoofed on Dinosaurs as "DTV".

• Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman, dressed in worm costumes, host a "Worm TV" television station, devoted to worm music, in the 1994 special Stars and Street Forever.

• The Muppets spoofed the channel's The Real World reality show with "The Real World Muppets" on Muppets Tonight.

• John Crichton tries to explain who Dire Straits are to Aeryn in the novel Farscape: Dark Side of the Sun, singing the lyric "I want my MTV" from the song "Money for Nothing." Aeryn is confused and asks why he would want a Modular Terraforming Vehicle.

Connections

• Downtown Julie Brown hosted Club MTV
• Peter Chung created Æon Flux
• Carson Daly hosted TRL
• Carmen Electra co-hosted Singled Out
• Jenny McCarthy co-hosted Singled Out
• Stephanie Pratt starred in The Hills
• Jon Stewart hosted The Jon Stewart Show

See also

• MTV Europe
• VH1