Potentially horrible (and deffo, at the least, worrisome) news for fans of the amazing UK teen series Skins … news today is that MTV has bought the rights to adapt the series for US television which should strike fear and loathing in anyone who has ever watched a single ep of the original UK version. Like it or not, it’s coming to America … in MTV style:

MTV has landed the rights to develop a U.S. version of the award-winning U.K. phenomenon “Skins,” it was announced today by Liz Gateley, Senior Vice President, MTV Series Development. Created by father and son team, Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain, the E4 and Channel 4 series is about a group of British teenagers who are trying to grow up and find love and happiness. Bryan Elsley will be writing and executive producing the U.S. version. In an effort to maintain the original production’s successful model wherein all the stories were written by a group of British teenagers, MTV will similarly join together unknown teenagers to write and star in the series. The producers intend to set the show in Baltimore, Maryland. “‘Skins’ is one of those rare shows that cuts through to its core audience with unusually authentic stories due to the unique writing and casting process that Bryan pioneered. Having personally pursued the U.K. project for almost two years, I am beyond thrilled to bring it to MTV in the U.S. We intend to preserve the authenticity of the British version and are excited to collaborate with the original team to develop stories that will speak to American youth,” said Liz Gateley, Senior Vice President, MTV Series Development. “We are delighted to be making ‘Skins’ for the U.S. and in particular, for MTV who have embraced the show and its ambitions and unusual production process. We are looking forward to talking to teenagers across the U.S. and making a show that reflects their lives in every aspect,” said Charlie Pattinson, CEO, Company Pictures. “Skins” instantly became a critical and commercial hit in the U.K. especially among young adults as it was the third highest-rated show of the year on E4 reaching 1.2 million P2+ viewers and achieved a massive 61% of 16-34 year olds. The series won a 2009 BAFTA Audience Award, which was voted on by the public, and Best Drama Series at the 2008 Broadcast Awards. “Skins” will be produced by Company Pictures, a division of ALL3MEDIA, and Stormdog, the same companies that produce the Channel 4 series in the U.K. Bryan Elsley, of Stormdog, will Executive Produce and write the U.S. version, along with Executive Producers Charlie Pattinson and George Faber, both of Company Pictures.

No, I’m sorry … but I cannot believe that MTV or any other US basic cable network, to be quite honest, will be able to do justice to this show. The thought of a watered-down version just irritates the hell out of me. I look at what NBC did to the brilliant Aussie comedy series Kath & Kim and I wince … I am really dreading a US version of Skins. I hoped and prayed that the show wouldn’t gain the attention of the US market and, well, here we have it. No offense to MTV but their brand of programming will not even come close to the spirit of the original. Only a pay cable network like HBO or Showtime would have the freedom to really do it justice and then, well, I’d still not have much hope. Besides, BBC America already airs a censored version of the original here in the US, there is NO NEED for an entirely new MTV version. This is crappy news. So, to offset, I’m happy to pass along that the 4th season of the original version of Skins has been picked up and will air in the UK next year. Ugh … why can’t MTV leave somethings alone?

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Birthday Lurve goes out to Music Television today as the once all-music channel celebrates its 28th year in existence. At 12:00 AM on August 1, 1981 MTV was born … and 28 years later, you can barely recognize it as the same cable music channel that revolutionized the world. In June, MTV lost one of its biggest stars — Michael Jackson — and in tribute to his death, MTV is airing a series of MJ tribute shows all day long today as part of its birthday celebration:

Saturday is MTV’s 28th birthday, but Michael Jackson fans are getting the presents. All day long, MTV will be honoring the late King of Pop with special programming. The party starts at noon with the world premiere of Michael Jackson’s Human Nature, a half-hour special featuring candid stories from Michael Jackson’s friends. Next up, a top 10 countdown show of MJ’s most popular videos. Artists like Justin Timberlake and Usher will also share stories of how Jackson influenced their careers. It’s all followed by a special edition of America’s Best Dance Crew, featuring the music of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Truth be told, I still have much love for MTV and everything about it (I really do, deep down) … but I cannot and will not forget how much more truly EPIC it was back in the 80’s when all it did was air music videos 24 hours a day. Now that YouTube.com has killed the video star, MTV has been putting all of its eggs in the basket of reality TV … which will prolly bear fruit for many years to come. But watching the newest ep of The Real World (arguable the world’s first reality TV show ever) last week and seeing what it has become (a banal piece of garbage where making fun of the practice of cutting was the ep plot point), I’ve really come to mourn the loss of what was once great about the channel. To be honest, I listen to 80’s on 8 on SiriusXM almost daily and hear the original MTV VJs (Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn — now DJs again) do their radio shows and kinda pretend that it’s like listening to MTV back in the day (which, I now realize, is kinda sad now that I think about it). In any event, it’s MTV’s birthday and far be it for me to rain on their parade … still, as a big fan of she network I cannot help but miss those happy, happy days when MTV ruled the world. Sigh.

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In recent weeks, I’ve noticed a few comments here on the blog talking about state of music videos these days and how some folks find the need for videos unnecessary since networks don’t seem to air them on TV anymore. When Music Television launched in August of 1981, it revolutionized the way the world enjoyed music. Radio took a back seat to mini-music movies that were created for each new single released by musicians. MTV got people used to watching and enjoying music visually in a way that had never been done before. Then, in the ’90’s, MTV decided to focus more on original programing on their network letting music videos fall by the wayside (allowing other networks like Fuse to pick up their slack … but even those networks devote a lot of airtime to non-music video related programing). Today, you’d be hard-pressed to find one full-legnth 3 minute music video to watch on MTV at all. As a result, MTV is trying to take back control of the music video market by launching a new website at MTVMusic.com where their catalog of music videos can be watched online at any time:

The cable music channel, which debuted in 1981 with round-the-clock music videos but now primarily focuses on reality programming, has archived its video collection on a new Web site, MTVMusic.com. “For all of you haters out there griping about how MTV doesn’t play music videos anymore, here’s something to calm the waters,” according to a Tuesday blog post from MTV. “MTVMusic.com offers up a more in-depth library, including over 16,000 videos, “Unplugged” performances and exclusive MTV concert footage.” MTV promised to add more videos daily. It currently filters videos by most viewed, top rated and vintage videos (David Bowie, New Order, Duran Duran …). Users can also search by artist or song name. As of Wednesday afternoon, the “most viewed” videos on the site were Britney Spears’ “Womanizer,” Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing,” and Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Insert Rickrolling joke here.

While I would argue that NOTHING will ever be able to replace the amazingness of watching music videos on a TV network 24 hours a day, I think that this is prolly the next best thing. Once upon a time Polaroid cameras were all the rage … and now, digital photography has basically killed the instant film medium. It’s not better, necessarily, it’s just newer and more technologically advanced. The same thing happened to MTV … the public’s need (mind included) for shows like The Hills have forced the network to air that sort of programing instead of the music videos that made the network thrive. I’d argue that you can’t even call MTV “music television” anymore. But, again, this new site is prolly the best way to handle the problem. You Tube, as amazing as it is, is notoriously unreliable because unauthorized videos get taken down all the time. This new MTV site should offer all the videos we’d want to watch without the worry that they will be taken down. This is all very new so who knows if people will even care. I know that I, for one, like the idea of an online library of all the music videos in existence. Is this new site that? We’ll see. But, in the meantime, I’m gonna try and see if I can find any music videos on my actual TV to watch before they are all gone for good.

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MTV has *just* announced that it will produce and air a 90 minute documentary on Britney Spears, tentatively titled Britney Spears: For the Record. This new doc will air on MTV on November 30 and will feature our dear Britney reflecting on her last few years of hardship as well as all the progressive strides she has made in the past few amazing months:

Possibly more than anyone on Earth, Britney Spears’ life is constantly documented by the media, which voraciously reports on the singer’s every step and misstep. But what’s it like to be in her shoes? With her new album, Circus, set for release in just a few weeks, the singer is ready to show the world her side of the story. Britney has joined forces with MTV for a 90-minute documentary about her return to the pop-music spotlight. Tentatively titled “For the Record,” the special is set to air on November 30 at 10 p.m. on MTV, two days before Circus is released on December 2 (the singer’s 27th birthday). “So much has gone on over the last couple of years and there’s a lot that people don’t know about me that I want them to know,” Spears told MTV News in a statement about the special. “I wanted to make this film because I started to feel like I wasn’t being seen in the light that I wanted to be seen in. This is an opportunity to set the record straight and talk about what I’ve been through and where I’m headed.” The documentary combines personal stories with behind-the-scenes footage of her comeback. Cameras follow her to the recording studio, to rehearsals, to press tours, to the video shoot for her latest single, “Womanizer,” and even to her hometown in Louisiana. Backstage footage from her recent triumphant appearance at the Video Music Awards is also featured. Through it all, we hear Britney talking about the hardships that led up to this comeback. “I’ve been through a lot, and there’s a lot people don’t know,” she says in the film. “Sometimes it can get lonely ’cause you don’t open the gate. I’m stuck in this place, and I just cope every day.” Britney also owns up to the mistakes the world has watched her make, and offers some telling insight into how she feels about it all now. “I sit there and I look back,” she says, before asking rhetorically: “I’m a smart person, what the hell was I thinking?”

This sounds pretty freakin’ awesome! Y’all know I can’t wait to see this for myself. After the jump, check out a short preview video of this new documentary …

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MTV has released a press release that officially confirms that the new reality TV series The City, which is a spin-off of their hugely successful series The Hills, has been picked up and will begin airing on the network in the early part of the new year. As y’all know, Whitney Port will be the central figure on The City (much like Lauren LC Conrad is the central figure on The Hills) and has been filming scenes around NYC of a romantic and friendly nature with her new cast of reality cohorts. At last we have final confirmation that those scenes will finally make it to air:

From the MTV press release:

WHITNEY TRIES NEW YORK CITY ON FOR SIZE AS MTV GREENLIGHTS “THE CITY”

“The City” is created by Adam DiVello. Adam DiVello, Sean Travis and Liz Gateley will serve as executive producers. Colin Nash is co-executive producer. Catherine K. Whyte is MTV’s executive-in-charge of production. Spike Van Briesen and Sophia Rossi serve as supervising producers for the series.

I mean, c’mon, we totally knew that MTV was gonna air this series so this news isn’t really news at all. But the officialness of the announcement has to sting just a little for Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. It was commonly believed that they would be getting their own spin-off TV series once The Hills ran its course … and, indeed, they might still. It just seems very telling that MTV is investing so much on this Whitney-centered TV series — and there is no sign that Speidi are going to be given the same treatment. My guess is that Speidi will eventually get their own TV series but I wouldn’t be surprised if their show was on another network. They seem like the type of folks that would do well at E! Maybe The Hills will get one more season, mebbe not but at least Whitney can breathe easy … she now knows that she’ll be on TV next year. It remains to be seen if any of the other folks on The Hills will be as lucky.

[Photo credit: Bauer-Griffin; Source]