MTV's new scripted series Underemployed will be filmed in Chicago this spring. more ›

Thirty years ago today a little channel named MTV debuted that would end up changing the way the world experienced music. Music videos weren't new -- there were weekly programs that featured these promos before MTV came along -- but the idea of a channel devoting itself wholly to music was something new. We stumbled across VH1 Classic's programming of highlights over the past 30 years and were struck by how, well, sharp and playful the channel once was. There's an entire generation that knows the station primarily as a generator of countless reality shows and we think that's kind of sad. heck, back in the early days MTV's original reality program The Real World was actually something of a social experiment. Now it appears as if that programs primary purpose is to provide 20-something with a hot tub and plenty of booze. more ›

MTV is looking for high school dropouts for a reality show this afternoon in Waukegan. more ›

Over the weekend, Change.org, an "online activism platform for social change" that allows its users to create online petitions the site then hosts, announced on its blog that MTV said it would "not air in its current form" Kanye West's video for "Monster,"because of one of their petitions. There's just one problem: MTV doesn't play videos in the first place. MTV, in a statement released to Hip-Hop DX and other media sites, says the video has not been banned. BUM BUM BUUMMMMMM. more ›

When we first read this headline, we wondered, "What in the blue hell is a 'Twitter jockey'?" Apparently, it's essentially an MTV VJ but since MTV doesn't show music videos anymore, it's a TJ, a position that will update MTV fans and viewers via every conceivable social media platform. And it turns out that the very first TJ is a Chicagoan, specifically Gabi Gregg, 23, pictured right, who won the position after a recent nationwide vote. We wish Gabi good luck and know that no matter what scheme MTV comes up with, nothing will ever top (or, uh, bottom out?) Jesse Camp. We hope. more ›

Some kids reenact a scene from MTV's "The Hills" and we find it far more riveting than the real thing. more ›

Amidst public outcry from both angered Italian Americans and rabid anti-fans of reality television, MTV's Jersey Shore continues to fistpump along, winning hearts and keeping our Thursday nights booked for the foreseeable future. Now they're on a publicity tour which includes a stop right here in Chicago but for the uninitiated, who are these kids? Under inches of hair gel, the dark tans and enough Ed Hardy to open a flagship store, lie a group of individuals not that different from us and those we call our families and friends. more ›

By now, you've already seen and heard all about Kanye's antics during Taylor Swift's speech at last night's MTV Video Music Awards. A few thoughts: more ›

What's it like to ride a skateboard from Chicago to New York? "Sometimes you get the finger." [Pioneer Pres] more ›

Chicago-based Pitchfork, ye olde guardian of all things indie rock and general critical force to be reckoned with, is launching Pitchfork.tv on April 7. When we first saw the press release hit our inbox, we admit our initial reaction was one of great skeptical cynicism. Recently Pitchfork gave a rather naked endorsement to a video game that they just happened to choose the soundtrack for, so the move in to territory dangerously similar to MTV-land seemed like another step towards the ramp at the edge of the shark tank. more ›

Shake-ups and oustings continue at the Trib. The latest casualty: Tribune Interactive President Tim Landon. [Trib] more ›

Waaaay back when we were still aspiring animators, just getting over our Disney / WB phase and into our Fleischer Studios / Ralph Bakshi / Nelvana phase, Bill Plympton's early MTV cartoon shorts made a really big impact on us. We specifically remember "How to Kiss" and "25 Ways to Quit Smoking," two cartoons filled with dark whimsy and a loose line style allowing a freedom of movement, and a realistic mimicry of the absurd... more ›

Treaty Of Paris is one of those bands that doesn't get a lot of critical acclaim, despite the fact that they've been plugging away at the local scene for a number of years, under a couple different guises. We suppose one reason for this is the band's chosen genre, which we would say falls somewhere on the FUSE-friendly emo-pop-punk radar. What we're trying to figure out is when exactly that sort of thing became a reason to ignore a band that obviously has built up a pretty loyal fan base through a combination of hard work -- the band is literally on tour through the end of this year -- and well constructed pop songs. more ›

One of our favorite rock albums of the last year was created by two guys who don’t play a single conventional instrument. To add insult to injury, the gentlemen in question also come from a nation that despises the phrase “freedom fries.” Worse yet? They threw one of our own fair city’s preeminent hip-hop celebrity missionaries into a tizzy when they snatched an MTV Europe award from his hands last year, spiraling said local celeb... more ›

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market... more ›

You’ve got to hand it to the University of Chicago for releasing the findings of a study that calls out the City of Chicago for not nurturing its hometown music scene, right on the heels of the most lucrative 3 days on the city’s annual music calendar. The study examined the economic impact of the music industry on the 50 most populous metro areas of America, pulling together data like number of jobs related to... more ›

Ever wanted to be in the movies? Well here’s your chance. Fresh Films, a national filmmaking project for teens, is holding a casting call this Sunday for a short film. Needed are males and females in their early twenties; a total of five roles are up for grabs. More info here but it says that previous experience is not required. A casting director as well as the teen filmmakers themselves will be present. The completed films will be judged by a jury of professionals, including industry heavyweights such as actor John Lithgow and Katherine Brooks of MTV’s “The Real World.” The experimental short film being made here in Chicago is described as a comedy about Lucifer’s son. more ›

Happy Father's Day! For those of you who have dads, are dads, or know dads, this one's for you, from all of us at the Gothamist network." It was a week of bizarre, embarassing headlines at DCist. The trial of the local administrative law judge who sued his cleaners for $54 million over a pair of missing pants left everyone shaking their heads. Then the capital city was nearly brought to its knees, twice, by... more ›

If Monday’s holiday has you cramming five days of work into a four-day week and the headlines are only aggravating you further, you need to put the laptop away and get yourself to a comedy show this weekend. The Blerds, a cabal of mostly Chicago-based comics and a film producer, are celebrating their Paper Anniversary Saturday night at The Spot. Drink specials have been promised. The good people at The Bastion are totally crushing on... more ›

Chicagoist isn’t afraid of riding coattails. In fact, we have a lot of friends that we’re just waiting to get famous so we can ride their tails all the way to L.A. It’s not that we don’t think we can make it ourselves. Of course we can — Chicagoist is very resourceful — but wouldn’t it be so much easier for someone else to make it so we can hang out? more ›

We don't know about where you are, but it seems like spring can't decide whether or not to happen. Some days are warm, some days are cold, and sometimes you aren't sure which. Baseball may have started up (and soccer/football winding down) but it still seems cold out there. Unless it's not. Anyways, onto the -ists.
Austinist happily anticipated fall's Austin City Limits, even though they're not fully recovered from South By Southwest. In other music news, a Texas country legend got in hot water after shooting a stranger in the face and a young singer songwriter prepared to embark on another zany tour. Some downtown pranksters pulled off a funny April Fools joke, but Austinist wasn't laughing when '04 Democratic hopeful John Kerry flip-flopped on his Texas appearance.
As Bostonist handed out tips on how not to be "that guy" they watched as the city looked for a few good men as the murder count kept climbing and they mayor tried to put on a happy face. But crime won't get them down, it's Spring and the Boys of Summer are in full force and coming home to Fenway next week. In the meantime they'll be happy not to see any bloody socks and very happy that the butt-load of money spent in the off season seems to have gotten a 10k return.
DCist was feeling confrontational this week. First they told San Diego, and their supposedly superior panda sperm, to get bent. Next they jumped into the fray of the American University students vs. Karl Rove showdown, and then got testy about Inside Edition's Rat Patrol's visit to D.C.. Finally they wrapped up by challenging Metro to make their Knight Rider-style bus upgrades the real deal. Chicagoist saw their top cop resign after police officers were caught on tape in beer brawls on multiple occasions. They also appeared as guest on Chicago Access Network Television's "Talkin' Funny" and got excited about Theatre Seven of Chicago's new show "Is Chicago."
Houstonist was all about conflict this week: a man vs. his prized cockatoo, a woman vs. a really sucky carjacker, the suburbs vs. enormous presidential busts, classic architecture vs. the wrecking ball and a neighborhood vs. a herd of cows.
Phillyist had Phestival Phever, err, Festival Fever, what with both music and movie festivals hitting the city. When they weren’t out using their press passes to have fun, Phillyist staffers were trying not to get stuck in public restrooms, photographing big, tall buildings, getting upset about repackaging, watching their beloved hometeam, and gettin' excited for some unibrow action.
LAist crashed the red carpet premiere of Year of the Dog before heading to the 2007 US Sumo Open and watching the female matches. An Angels baseball player refused to take part in a Jackie Robinson tribute, so they visited the best drive-in movie theatre around - one that happens to be in a suburb called City of Industry (eek!). They tried e-mailing City Council, but the e-mails bounced, so they rocked out on Broadway with Mars Volta.
Gothamist got into the swing of April with the opening of Coney Island, where the famous Astroland amusements may be open for the last time. The Big Apple blog chatted with the guys behind Human Giant, the new MTV show, contemplated NYU's minority magazine with its Yellow Fever cover, and visited the Auto Show where really young girls shilled and activists protested against gas guzzlers. And a warning to folks visiting Chinatown just to buy fakes: You may be locked in a basement for hours during police raids.
Londonist Londonist feared for its health after learning that their city is a more unhealthy place to live than the environs of Chernobyl. But we still love this city, where a simple photoshopped image of St Paul's can land us with a TV slot Meanwhile, a white London councillor who blacked up to look like Nelson Mandela got support from the former South African president.
SFist was stuck in the middle of a lot of things. Like the great battle between cars and bicyclists after a driver either ran over a biker or was assaulted by a wild pack of bikers. Then they got themselves in the middle of the debate over the release from prison of video blogger Josh Wolf. Luckily, to lighten things up, their Mayor did something stupid again.
Torontoist got stylish as they checked out some "street furniture," suggested healthy Easter alternatives, and pondered whether they really are a "capital of style." Elsewhere, somebody posted fake street signs and somebody else responded to them.
Photo by Gothamist's Tien Mao Written by SFist's Jon Shurkin more ›

Lake Michigan Structures? more ›

We beg Flannery O’Connor’s forgiveness from the great beyond for that headline, but a few tidbits we stumbled across recently just go to show that, in the weird world of TV, all paths eventually cross. You just can’t make this stuff up: Tonya Cooley of MTV’s “Real World Chicago” has gone soft-core, appearing in the Cinemax opus The Erotic Traveler 02: Lost in Ecstasy. (We would argue that “Real World” is itself soft-core, but what... more ›

About an hour after our post on Chicago theater coping with the theater of the gridiron, we discovered the Tribune’s list of Super Sunday alternatives. We won’t even pretend that any of these events are more momentous or worth your time than the biggest Bears game since MTV was cool. But we still think they’re better than hearing yet another story about South Beach “sabor.” more ›

As the world holds its breath, teetering precariously on the cusp of the Super Bowl (well, at least in America), the wheels of the -ists keep on turning. Austinist was in a musical frame of mind as they listened to the new Shins album, updated the SXSW band listings and got called "punk rock" for their efforts by MTV. And an ice storm swept through the area. Bostonist said goodbye to John Kerry's plans... more ›

Just like Christmastime, each year Oscar season seems to start a little bit earlier. Some people were even making predictions way back in November, but we've done our best to hold our tongues. Why? Well, the Oscars are much less like a horse race and much more like just a good excuse to throw a party. If you're a film lover, it's better for your own sanity to care less about winners and losers and... more ›

In a perplexing marketing move, some of the cast of The Real World Denver will be at Crobar on Friday for a “Premiere and Holiday Party.” Now, we’re not here to make fun of the higher-ups at MTV for having a premiere party three weeks after the actual premiere. We’re not even here to poke fun at Colie for making out with Alex and thinking they were actually going “steady.” And we’re still not here... more ›

It's easy to watch a lot of crappy comedy on TV. "The Daily Show" is always reliable for some laughs, and "30 Rock" and SNL have their moments. But by and large contemporary TV comedy is a wasteland of retreads, anemia and laughless vulgarity. We're becoming increasingly convinced that the future of television isn't television at all. It's the internet. Because there's plenty of really funny stuff online, and most of it is even free. more ›

The Sun-Times is reporting that Oprah is moving out of her Water Tower Place condo to a new apartment a couple of blocks away on East Lakeshore Drive. Sale price: $6.2 million. A couple of thoughts: 1. First of all, we thought that Oprah lived at that curvy tower across from Navy Pier. The fact that she lived at Water Tower Place was news to us. A quick search for "oprah lives" on Flickr doesn't... more ›

It used to be our fantasy — being a VJ on MTV. We could meet every band. We could go to all the parties, not to mention getting into every concert for free with backstage passes. Sure we’d have to talk to Kurt Loder, but every job has its not-so-glorious aspects. The undying adulation from Bono about our insightful comments regarding the latest U2 album would be enough to get us through those dark times.... more ›