MTV was in a period of transition in 1986. Original VJ's Nina Blackwood, JJ Jackson (both in June), and Martha Quinn (December) were let go, and America was introduced to the phrase, "Wubba, wubba, wubba", courtesy of British-Jamaican import "Downtown" Julie Brown. The network was experimenting with third-party reruns (i.e. The Monkees, Best of Saturday Night Live) in order to diversify their programming, infuriating viewers with the non-music programming (i.e. The Young Ones) in the mix.
But, then, with hair metal a growing thing, metalheads dominated the phone lines of the channel's weeknight request series, Dial MTV, which aired at 6 (ET), opposite your local evening news. It was kind of hard for pop-rock to gain a foothold. Even with a change in the rules for video eligibility in mid-stream, not much changed, and Dial MTV was history by the end of the decade.
That particular era of MTV did do one thing that was pretty good; it exposed my teenage self to The Young Ones for the first time. This, along with The Black Adder (which was airing on A&E at the time) is what initially got me interested in British comedy.
MTV gained cable rights to Monty Python around that time as well, and you can go to YouTube to check out shows like Get Some In and Father, Dear Father, which made their American debuts in the 70's as part of a promotion between Thames and WOR of NY.
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That particular era of MTV did do one thing that was pretty good; it exposed my teenage self to The Young Ones for the first time. This, along with The Black Adder (which was airing on A&E at the time) is what initially got me interested in British comedy.
MTV gained cable rights to Monty Python around that time as well, and you can go to YouTube to check out shows like Get Some In and Father, Dear Father, which made their American debuts in the 70's as part of a promotion between Thames and WOR of NY.
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