"I love the New Millennium" is the title of a new series on vh1; it wins the "WHAT THE FUCK AWARD" for 2008. I realize that we are only halfway into the year, but I feel it is appropriate to acknowledge one of the more ridiculous things going on in pop culture, thus far. When I first started this blog, I began with a letter to Beyonce Knowles. Similarly, I feel the ever increasing urgency to make yet another plea of sorts to vh1, too. Now, I must state the fact that VH-1 is one of my favorite music network stations;so this criticism truly comes from the heart. I think they try, or at least tried to strike a fair balance between music and reality television programs. Nonetheless, this new installment of "I love" series has proven to be one of the most blatant and overt series of pop culture guilty pleasures, which ultimately leave this pop culture junkie questioning one of his favorite past times, watching television. Now, don't get me wrong; I loved "I love the 80s, 90s, and 70s. And take note, I did not list them in the correct descending order because I am such the fan. I know how each series aired. Unfortunately, I will not watch the new installments of "I love the new Millennium" for two very basic reasons. First, in order for these shows to be successful they need an air of nostalgia behind them. For example, when you think about the 80s, those of us that are old enough to remember the decade at least, you might think about movies such as The Garbage Pail Kids, Short Circuit, or Goonies. You think about songs such as Thriller, We are the World,Girls Just Wanna have Fun, Like a Virgin and Purple Rain. You think about commercials such as, Wendy's 'Where's the Beef,' 'Life cereal's Mikey,' or Brooke Shields advertising Calvin Klein jeans. The point here is that you are able to reminisce and actually get a little feeling of joy in the pit of your stomach as you re-call some memories about your favorite, movies, songs, and commercials. You associate an array of emotions with those memories because they have had time to fester and you have had time romanticize them. Secondly, a decade is 10 years; I am no math genius; but, I believe that means we have 2 years left. Therefore any shows detailing the the end of it seem sort of pointless. To the producers at vh1, pull "I love the New Millennium" ASAP. What's next a show about things that happened 6months ago? I know these type of irrelevant and meaningless programs give your array quasi/semi-gossip columnists and celebrities a chance to dish and make jokes about,say 2004's Superbowl Wardrobe Malfunction. But, do we [the audience] really care what they think? If you are having trouble with programing; here's a thought; show more videos. You know the kind of thing your title suggests.
