MTV goes retro with ‘Classic Channel’
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MTV is about to make a lot of people embark on a trip down memory lane.
The network, formerly known as Music Television, confirmed the rebranding of the VH1 Classic channel as “MTV Classic.”
In commemoration of its 35th anniversary, the Viacom-owned company will bring back classic shows that aired during the 1990s and early 2000s—including beloved programs such as “Daria,” “Beavis & Butt-head,” “Pimp My Ride” and “Jackass.”
The revamped show will make its debut on Aug. 1, 35 years after MTV first started broadcasting in 1981, an NBC News report confirmed.
To fully amplify the viewer’s nostalgia, the first episode will reportedly replicate the exact first hour of programming in MTV’s history.
Fans without cable, meanwhile, should not fret as they may also access “MTV Hour One” via Facebook Live video.
“Nostalgia has this incredible way of not only resuscitating your past, but also flushing it away,” NPR Music and Pop Culture Happy Hour’s Stephen Thompson said, noting that earlier generations’ view of MTV’s “golden age” included its willingness to air music videos.
Nostalgia, which was derived from the Greek word nostos for “return home” and algos for “pain,” is often interpreted as a case of “acute homesickness.”
“You’re nostalgic for being 11 years old; you’re nostalgic for being 21 years old. And so MTV, in launching MTV Classic, is trying to re-create that feeling as much as it’s trying to reuse old programming,” Thompson said. Khristian Ibarrola
