Waving good-bye to MTV’s TRL, part of our youth

I was surprised to read last week that MTV’s afternoon staple – Total Request Live – came to an end with a three-hour finale last Sunday. Perhaps coinciding with the seemingly-impending death of music videos, the show’s end truly marks the end of an era for myself and millions others that grew up watching it.

Actually, ‘grew up’ might be a little much as the show debuted in September of 1998 while I was entering my junior year of college. Still, it was a staple of my 20s (god, I feel old saying that) and provided a look into the world of pop music for more than 10 years, better or worse.

Carson Daly owes his career to TRL and now has a late-night talk show on NBC. Eminem and Kid Rock really came to form on TRL, as did a bunch of boy bands and their spinoffs, Britney, Christina and others. It was a proving ground for how well a band was marketed, what was hot and was the perfect ‘This is what we are’ show for MTV and the teen audience they pulled in. But after 2,247 episodes and a decade on air, TRL is now done.

About Last Night: What Obama’s Win Means For All Of Us

Publicly supporting a presidential candidate in such a polarizing campaign like this can be tough. If you’re

Barack Obama: the next President.

discussing who you like with someone that agrees, it’s a lot easier conversation than with someone that doesn’t…and man, this was a very difficult time to choose one way or another.