come with the comment

This was going to just be a comment to my friend's blog where he laments the total dearth of videos on MTV (this should come as news to no one) but it got out of hand so I decided to just post it.

I have also noticed that if you want to see videos (and frankly who doesn't?), you can not rely on our friends at MTV. So, it's come to my attention that in order to see actual music videos (instead of some of the worst stuff on television - Boiling Points, anyone?), you must watch BET.

Best on BET: Celebrity's (mostly rappers) Choice Top 25 Countdown on Saturday afternoons, Midnight Love (slow jams) at midnight on weekdays, BET UnCut (explicit videos) late nights, 106 & Park (the former and original home of BET in the city) afternoons on weekdays and Rap City: The Bassment (although this is pretty hit or miss) afternoons.

Granted those are all (or primarily) rap videos, and that may not be what you're in the mood to see. For a wider variety of videos you need to have to have one of those alternative VH1 (VH1Classic, VH1Soul) channels or Fuse (which is awesome - the newly renamed MuchMusic) or the alternative MTV (MTV2 (which sucks - too much programming now - sound familiar?), MTVJams (basically a VH1Soul ripoff and it sucks because it mostly just plays the shit that'd get regular MTV play if they still played videos) or MTVHits (which is all the stuff that doesn't qualify as a "Jam" but would have been on MTV (or more recently MTV2 before they started running programming all the time too - this also sucks). So BET (for everyone with regular cable only) and Fuse and VH1Soul (my FAVORITE) and VH1Classic (the 80's blocks are the best followed closely by Two-Play Tuesdays).

I recently dumped my all-the-channels cable primarily due to the fact that I hate Adelphia but also because those evil people still do not offer DVR (or In-Demand television, for that matter) and have no plans to in the near future. So, for the time being, I'm living with basic cable (networks, plus regular cable networks (USA, FX, TNT, the Weather Channel, ESPN, NESN, Cartoon Network, etc.) but no HBO or Starz! or Turner Classic Movies or Outdoor Life Network or the vaunted alternative VH1 channels) and running three VCR's to keep up with my television watching.

This is what I'm taping (and watching) these days:


there are sometimes some that don't make the cut due to lack of vcrs (or no TiVo or DVR depending on how you look at it)...

Sunday:

American Dreams (NBC)
Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Arrested Development (FOX)
Jack & Bobby (WB)
The Mountain (WB)
Wild Card (Lifetime)

Monday:

One on One (UPN)
Half and Half (UPN)
Second Time Around (UPN)
Las Vegas (NBC)
LAX (NBC) (canceled)
Everwood (WB)
Still Standing (CBS)
Two and A Half Men (CBS)

Tuesdays:

All of Us (UPN)
Eve (UPN)
Veronica Mars (UPN)
Scrubs (NBC)
According to Jim (ABC)
Rodney (ABC)
House (FOX)
Gilmore Girls (WB)
One Tree Hill (WB)
NCIS (CBS)
Clubhouse (CBS) (canceled)
High School Reunion (UPN)

Wednesdays:

Kevin Hill (UPN)
That 70's Show (FOX)
Quintuplets (FOX)
Hawaii (NBC) (hiatus)
Lost (ABC)
Smallville (WB)
The Mountain (WB)
King of Queens (CBS)

Thursdays:

Joey (NBC)
ER (NBC)
The O.C. (FOX)
North Shore (FOX)
life as we know it (ABC)

Fridays:

8 Simple Rules (ABC)
Complete Savages (ABC)
What I Like About You (WB)
Grounded For Life (WB)
Reba (WB)
Joan of Arcadia (CBS)
Third Watch (NBC)
Monk (USA)

Saturdays:
Spider-Man (ABCFam)
The Batman (WB)

also:
Nip/Tuck (FX)
Rescue Me (FX)
Surreal Life (VH1)
Made (MTV)
Things I Hate About You (Bravo)
Crossroads (CMT)
Every made-for-TV movie on ABC Family

Reruns
Dharma & Greg (FOX)
Boy Meets World (Disney)
Angel (WB & TNT)
Buffy (WB & FX)
Dawson's Creek (ABCFam)
PowerPuff Girls (Cartoon)