Description
Book SynopsisDrawing on interviews with industry workers from MTV programs such as
The Real World and
Teen Mom, Amanda Ann Klein examines the historical, cultural, and industrial factors leading to MTV's shift away from music videos to reality programming in the early 2000s and 2010s.
Trade Review“Amanda Ann Klein's extended interviews with both participants and producers of MTV programming as well as her inspired and enjoyable writing make this book an important, compelling, and lively contribution to the study of media and culture.” -- Brenda R. Weber, author of * Latter-day Screens: Gender, Sexuality, and Mediated Mormonism *
“Amanda Ann Klein's engaging book analyzes a specific phenomenon: MTV's twenty-first-century reality television programming. But her detailed and thoughtful account reveals so much about the history of a transformative television genre, the evolution of an iconic cable channel, and the construction of identity for an entire generation, making it essential reading to understand contemporary American media and culture.” -- Jason Mittell, author of * Television and American Culture *
"My mother used to tell me that
Jersey Shore would rot my brain; with
Millennials Killed the Video Star, Amanda Ann Klein would seem to agree. In this release, the East Carolina University film professor helps make sense of the noise, walking readers through MTV’s evolution from music videos to scripted reality TV—maximizing stereotypes about race, gender, and class along the way, and shaping how an entire generation would come to understand identity." -- Emma Kenfield * IndyWeek *
“[
Millennials Killed the Video Star] is a fascinating analysis of media construction and presentation of identities, and how audiences respond to or reject those identities.... Klein’s writing is thoughtful and crisp.... Her writing blends an academic perspective and a fan perspective to produce a thoroughly entertaining analysis.” -- Fiona McQuarrie * PopMatters *
"Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals." -- C. A. Nadon * Choice *
“Through her insightful and engaging writing, Klein successfully weaves together industry studies, media and cultural analysis, interviews, and an entertaining retelling of her own personal encounter with Jersey Shore’s DJ Pauly D. The author successfully crafts a book that would appeal to multiple audiences across disciplines.” -- Abshi Iftin * Journal of Popular Culture *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii
Introduction. What Killed the Video Star? 1
1. "It's Videos, Fool": A Targeted History of MTV (1981–2004) 24
2. "This Is the True Story . . .":
The Real World and MTV's Turn to Identity (1992–) 57
3. "She's Gonna Always Be Known at the Girl Who Didn't Go to Paris": Can-Do and At-Risk White Girls on MTV (2004–2013) 89
4. "If You Don't Tan, You're Pale": The Regional and Ethnic Other on MTV (2009–2013) 124
5. "That Moment Is Here, Whether I Like It or Not": When MTV's Programming Fails (2013–2014) 153
Conclusion.
Catfish and the Future of MTV's Reality Programming (2012–) 173
Appendix A. MTV Reality Series since 1981 189
Appendix B. Other Television Series Discussed in This Book 193
Notes 197
References 213
Index 233
