Who else stayed up to rot their brains on late-night MTV?

Stayed up? Nah. Being up that late was my natural sleep cycle. And now I'm cursed. 43 year old who sleeps like a teenager. Thankfully, it hasn't impacted my career. But holy shit, I thought it would be different by now.

Love these shows, BTW.

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Smolshy@reddit

Ah yes…. Sitting in front of the big wooden TV late at night and having to get up to turn the dial to another channel when mom walked in.

Aeon Flux wast favorite and one of the many (so so many) missed clues to me not being hetero.

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Tough_Friendship9469@reddit

The Maxx is one of the greatest things created.

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Shigglyboo@reddit

It’s always stuck with me. His dream world vs reality. The crazy artwork. I loved how you’d see lightning strike and get a glimpse of other worlds lurking beneath the surface. Was he crazy or was there really a surreal world where he had to protect Julie? I need to rewatch.

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Tough_Friendship9469@reddit

Agreed. A rewatch is always needed.

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halfcabheartattack@reddit

Agreed. I loved that show, I was around 12 years old and it colored my expectation of what animation and media in general could be for the rest of my life. I've rewatched it multiple times over the years.

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Hey_I_Aint_Eddy@reddit

I was the biggest Max fan. I had two letters printed in the comic and pursued a career in comics largely because of it.

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Tough_Friendship9469@reddit

Brilliant!!🤩 I hope you found success and didn’t run into too many izzes!!

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thisismycoolname1@reddit

Aon was a lot of people's introduction to adult anime (if you don't count Voltron)

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PhranklyScarlett@reddit

Plymptoons ruled.

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i-steal-forks@reddit

Dear mum, received a hot piece of information…

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Psychological-Bee702@reddit

The Head was a great show!

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thebarbalag@reddit

Pretty definitive of my taste for my whole life.

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Dry_Butterfly6252@reddit

Holy shit when I mention The Maxx to anyone I get nothing but blank stares.

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TheSentientSnail@reddit

The Maxx is the reason I started sleeping on the pullout couch in the basement instead of my room. Fantastic show.

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burnafter3ading@reddit

Loved Aeon and Maxx!

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stations-creation@reddit

I loved it when it was just on Liquid Television with no dialog. This is my most “back in my day” flex I think I’ve ever commented on anything haha.

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PFRforLIFE@reddit

me too but to be honest, to this day i have no idea what the heck aeon flux was even about (other than futuristic sexy spy lady doing futuristic sexy spy stuff)

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burnafter3ading@reddit

I see a lot of parallels to things like the WWII French resistance. There are heavy themes of anti-authoritarianism. Also, elements of post-WWII divided Berlin. However, the sexual attraction between Aeon and Goodchild adds complexity. I think my favorite episode was the one where the woman lost a piece of her spine. Aeon manipulates her boyfriend while Goodchild engages in a relationship with the woman where her medical needs create a severe power imbalance. I'd loved to re-watch the series today as more of an adult.

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Scissorsguadalupe@reddit

Is that the one where she tries to jump the fence but gets caught and has her legs amputated?

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burnafter3ading@reddit

yup

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Scissorsguadalupe@reddit

That's the only episode I clearly remember because at the two kids are play fight as a another kid is clapping simulating the sound of the punches then at the end the kids are really hitting eachother because the 3rd kid had his arms amputated

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PFRforLIFE@reddit

i feel like i’d get more out of it haha

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burnafter3ading@reddit

"Thanatophobia" (Fear of Death) is apparently the title of the episode. I'm gonna see if I can stream it on YouTube or something

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halfcabheartattack@reddit

https://archive.org/details/aeonfluxfullseries

https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/aeon-flux/

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B_Reele@reddit

It's on Paramount +

Recently did a rewatch of the series

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ThaneduFife@reddit

The plot and setting of Aeon Fluxx changed substantially episode-to-episode. The only constants were the two main characters. As I remember it, the series was basically exploring their relationship by putting them in different settings.

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burnafter3ading@reddit

Goodchild always reminded me of Jareth from Labyrinth. He wanted Aeon to submit to his will, and he was willing to make major concessions to make it happen. It was about control but there was also an element of obsession.

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PFRforLIFE@reddit

explains why i couldn’t follow it. i thought perhaps i missed some episodes that tied things together haha

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RadTimeWizard@reddit

Aeon Flux was so rad.

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spderweb@reddit

The head,! Man I totally forgot about that one.

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Fruscione@reddit

Aeon flux was my gateway into anime

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WolvesandTigers45@reddit

They ever put the Maxx and The Head on DVD that looked better than being ripped from vhs?

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spilt_milk@reddit

The Maxx and Aeon Flux are far from brain rot, man. The Head, ehh...

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Dr_Stef@reddit

The Brothers Grunt

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Treadingresin@reddit

Late night MTV was amazing! The first time I ever heard Pearl Jam was in 1990, I was in 8th grade, after they played Alive at like 2am. I could not stop talking about it for the next week and nobody else had any idea WTH I was talking about. About a month or two later Smells Like Teen Spirit hit and the whole musical landscape changed.

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CertifiedBA@reddit

91

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Treadingresin@reddit

Whatever

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CertifiedBA@reddit

Best music year ever.

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znavy264@reddit

So you were born in 1977 huh? I guess that counts as Xennial. I was 7 in 1990.

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Treadingresin@reddit

1978

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TheDnBDawl@reddit

DOOOOG BOOOOY!!!

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American_Greed@reddit

Liquid TV? Hell yes.

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DmtTraveler@reddit

I could never get into them. I was all about OG adult swim though

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VisibleCoat995@reddit

Why are animators not doing acid and making shows anymore??

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khatpewp@reddit

Liquid Television was the best

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IgorRenfield@reddit

Yes. Best television ever. I still miss it.

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nailhead13@reddit

No joke, i loved liquid television

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NukeTheEwoks@reddit

I was just talking about how I was raised watching Ren and Stimpy and Liquid Television, and I turned out.....well, I'm alive.

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Azuras_Star8@reddit

We talk about how stupid 6 7 is. I showed him ren and stimpy and how stupid shot kids quote is nothing new.

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Procrasturbating@reddit

I am The Great Cornholio! I need TP for my bunghole. Are you threatening me?

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adorabledork@reddit

You can't argue the pure poetry there.

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zombie_overlord@reddit

The entire series is on YT

Link

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Shigglyboo@reddit

Holy shit thank you. I know what I’m watching tonight!!

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Badesign@reddit

❤️❤️❤️

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thejamhole@reddit

Roy was my favorite.

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CeraKatherine@reddit

Liquid Television

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Remowilliams84@reddit

I preferred Undergrads, but I liked Aeon Flux too.

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RetroGamerKev@reddit

Sweet memories seeing this. I loved The Head.

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secretsnowdream@reddit

I watched Liquid Television while waiting for my Old Man to get home from work. Ut was kind of my introduction to anime and different ideas and perspectives

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DJMagicHandz@reddit

Rot??? You mean expand my horizons...

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zealot_ratio@reddit

The Maxx was a really faithful adaptation of the comic for the most part. Really well done

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HornHeadHippo@reddit

I’ve mentioned The Head to some of my friends and they swear it’s a fever dream of mine. Alien living in a guys head making it gigantic, never happened.

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72scott72@reddit

I have all 3 on dvd and still watch them.

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sabby55@reddit

Seeing this picture reminded me of how uncomfortable that fucking The Head guy show made me - I HATED that giant head it grossed me out hahaha

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kimmbot@reddit

All I want out of the internet is all this stuff streaming somewhere.

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shetalkstoangels_@reddit

I never see anyone mention The Head & whenever I’ve asked someone about it they think I’m insane

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p4rc0pr3s1s@reddit

Imagine this artwork being considered brain rot. Our parents had no idea what was to come LOL. I'd let my kids watch this a thousand times over the AI slop and bullshit on Tik Tok and Instagram.

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Shigglyboo@reddit

For real. Not to mention a lot of it required paying attention. The stories had long and thought provoking arcs. It wasn’t random clips made my people simply trying to monetize and profit off clicks.

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PDXBishop@reddit

Anyone here remember Oddville MTV, the late-night variety/chat show that originated as a NYC cable access show? They'd have the weirdest assortment on there. "Here's a guy that can write the Lord's Prayer on a grain of rice. And now here's Wyclef Jean!"

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themuck@reddit

Aeon Flux absolutely blew my mind.

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agentmkultra666@reddit

I have a VHS that has a handful of Aeon Flux episodes and they still hold up. The weird-ass animation style is just so good

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Shigglyboo@reddit

I’d argue this was not brain rot. It was well written with compelling characters and artwork that stimulates the imagination. The Maxx is an incredible piece with a lot to say about life.

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DLS4BZ@reddit

rot their brains

these shows actually had some substance

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frinkhutz@reddit

I remember liking the Head but I don't remember anything about it. I LOVED the Maxx. Aeon Flux was fine.

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cptsears@reddit

Speaking of rot, I got more mental stimulation (ok not all mental) from one episode of Aeon Flux than ... everything on Toonami's original run. I go back to rewatch it, now that I have a better understanding of its themes.

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no-im-moochy@reddit

You forgot the brothers grunt

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trashboatfourtwenty@reddit

I always stayed up late to rot my brain, but not often on MTV. They weren't my favorite of the available animation around but they were good when I was in the mood.

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StargasmSargasm@reddit

Dogboy!

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Onthemightof@reddit

Oddities was peak MTV

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halfcabheartattack@reddit

gif

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themox78@reddit

The Head!!!

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theoneandonlyturo@reddit

The Maxx is one of the greatest achievements in animation.

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NoBoss8479@reddit

I rewatched The Maxx as an adult, still like it but realized I was probably a little young for some of those themes 😵‍💫😄

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OptionQuirky6756@reddit

That bunny episode kinda messed me up when I was little.

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NoBoss8479@reddit

Right 😄 I wasn't unaffected even watching as an adult, TBH.

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greggerypeccary@reddit

MST3K at midnight on Comedy Central, then switch over to MTV at 2am, it was glorious

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LtDrebinNh@reddit

I love that the free live TV services have a dedicated channel for mst3k

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GoblinPunch20xx@reddit

Me! Me! Me! It absolutely rotted my brain in the best way possible!

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PlagueDrWily@reddit

Oh yeah, summer of 1996 I was all about these shows. I think they had all ended by then but I was still catching up. The Maxx was my favourite, the storyline was just so weird to me that I couldnt help being intrigued.

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Moliza3891@reddit

After I was born, my mom spent those late nights up with me watching MTV (she was 23 when she had me). Aeon Flux was one of those shows she mentioned watching. She would reference those times to me throughout my life, pointing out the songs that she saw the music videos for— songs that had come out during my birth year. So while I don’t recall what was on at that time, I have her stories. Rest In Peace, Mom.

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SweetCosmicPope@reddit

Aw yeah!

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CaptianBrasiliano@reddit

When I was like 15 and too young to drive, I'd come home at like 2:00am from my job at a pizza place, smoke a joint in the back yard and come in and watch MTV AMPed witch was like EDM, what we called Techno Music back then. Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Apex Twin... you know, all that.

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Quackoverride@reddit

I had the AMPed CD compilation they released. Such good music.

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Trick-Research-3953@reddit

Saaaaame. I’d record AMPed on VHS

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Wild-Drag1930@reddit

I watched Beavis and Butthead even though I was a little too young for it. The Maxx and The Head were just too wierd for me when they first aired.

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Moliza3891@reddit

I was born in ‘83 and during those late nights up with me, my mom watched Aeon Flux (she was 23 when she had me). She would reference those times to me. She also watched music videos on there, and throughout my life would point out the songs that were out during my birth year. So while I don’t recall what was on at that time, I have her stories. Rest In Peace, Mom.

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GenericDave65@reddit

I loved these shows. The Maxx are fantastic and very dark.

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Tony_Tanna78@reddit

Liquid Television was more my cup of tea. I know that it gets a lot of love for introducing the world to Beavis and Butthead and Aeon Flux, but we can't forget about Winter Steele. It befuddles me that MTV didn't do more with Winter Steele, because it had a lot of potential.

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RadioWavesHello@reddit

the stiffle and Ollie show

https://i.redd.it/5deb3fz3pgzf1.gif

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Global-Jury8810@reddit

My brother liked Aeon Flux, but we both watched The Head and The Mac

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RadioWavesHello@reddit

We need a THE MAXX movie like Aeon Flux. I think it would be a good horror/hero movie

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This_Fkn_Guy_@reddit

The Maxx was great

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YogurtclosetDull2380@reddit

Online poker and late night mtv2. Killer combo

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tr1mble@reddit

Just re watched the maxx a few months ago, and was reminded how great of a quick 1 season show it was

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Magpie_Coin@reddit

I loved weird late night cartoons. Spawn was a particular stand out!

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throwback842@reddit (OP)

HBO's Spawn animated series was PEAK! Keith David as the voice of Spawn?! Talk about perfect casting, god I used to be OBSESSED with McFarlane's creation. I collected the comics, toys, and show VHS. All of it was top-tier products, the toys especially were disgustingly gorgeous.

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Aggravating-Try1222@reddit

I loved all of these shows. Does anyone else remember "Dead at 21?"

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artsybrigadier@reddit

I sincerely thought I hallucinated The Head! That giant head is the only thing I remember!

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Bulky_Goat_9624@reddit

Hell yes!! MTV was on fire in the early 90s

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Evening_Ad_1099@reddit

The Maxx really messed with me. The subject natter , abstractness and the super hero angle was truly a 90s fever dream master piece .

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ratbear@reddit

I have incredibly vivid memories of cooking my first meal (Kraft Mac and Cheese) while watching Aeon Flux.

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Capital-Coconut-9389@reddit

i remember aeon flux vividly...what a weird show

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Alice_600@reddit

Ah the Maxx the best thing ever.

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Negative-Break3333@reddit

This wasn’t brain rot, it was CULTURE 🤌🏽

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Ok-Brush5346@reddit

And then The Brothers Grunt happened and we collectively snapped out of it *

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CosmicMamaBear@reddit

I could afford college instead of drugs thanks to Liquid Television. 😁🤪

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JBean85@reddit

I was like 8- 10 and definitely should not have been watching that shit.

I don't think I stayed up late as much as woke up early. I think they'd play through the night before the weekend countdowns began.

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WildBorneos@reddit

I loved MTV when it was all the rage nothing like it

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CubesFan@reddit

TL/DR: These were amazing shows, but they may have marked the beginning of the end.

These were amazing and I did watch them, but I have mixed feelings now as this was sort of the beginning of the slippery slope for MTV. They started with amazing shows like this, but as they did it, they started to move away from music videos. I think there is a balance where we could have had these things AND music videos, but the corporate people took the wrong lessons from these shows. They thought it was an indication that we wanted more shows, but actually, we just liked good entertainment. It was art, like the videos were art, but they didn't understand and decided to just flood the network with shows that were as cheap as possible and got rid of the music.

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Nancy-Drew-Who@reddit

I was a little too young for what was airing on Liquid TV, but watched it anyway because my parents didn’t really police our tv time, and I always felt like such a grown up because I knew those shows were for the older kids.

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