What ever happened to VH1s "Behind the Music" ? (1 Viewer)

[todd stone]

This show was quite good, and popular from what I can recall. Why did VH1 just stop doing this? There are tons of bands out there they did not cover yet.

 

[Scott Ware]

Actually, the show was recently revived with a BTM of Britney Spears. As for why it was cancelled in the first place: my guess is that VH1 no longer wants to be seen as the grown-up's MTV. They seem to be going after a younger audiance now, which would explain all the celebrity shows that they air now.

On a similar note, what ever happened to pop-up video? I recall that being pretty popular as well.

 

[Paul_Medenwaldt]

I have also been wondering why this show has disappeared from their schedule. This was a great show. The only show that I watched I thought that didn't need to be produced was the Weird Al show. There just didn't seem to any problems in his life that were scandolous enough to warrant a show. Except that Coolio got mad at him.

To be honest this was the only show I watched on Vh1.

Paul

 

[WillG]

Well, I don't think controversy and scandal has to be a pre-requeset of being a subject of BTM. Weird Al certain in an irrevrent and in a way, interesting artist. The did one on Genesis and the biggest issue in that one was Phil Collins' divorce. But I still appreciate that they did it, because you rarely hear much about the Gabriel years. Besides, I never liked the way some bands/personalities are rewared/immortalized/honored for drug abuse, sex addiction etc. I guess the stories do make for interesting television though. I always thought they just ran dry. They have done some BTM on recent acts, but I can see how they might not be interesting enough. In today's P.C. world, you're probably not going to have acts candidly reveal their foibels, especially when they are still in the public eye. Brittney Spears is not going to say "Well since this is BTM, I can tell you that I guzzle Cristal like it's water, do alot of blow, and have lots of sex.

 

[StephenA]

They also recently made and aired an episode on the Spice Girls. he most recent one before Britney and the Spice Girls was Aerosmith, which was aire in 2001 or 2002, can't remember. I wish they would make more Behind the Musics too.

Other shows I wish VH1 would bring back are Legends, Rock Jeopardy and Pop Up Video.

 

[Adam Tyner]

I think it has more to do with Al's welcome ubiquity on VH1 than the need to dish any dirt.

 

[Brad Porter]

I heard the show needed more cowbell...

Brad

 

[Carl Miller]

I remember a story not too long ago in the news about Viacom shifting some staff from MTV to VH-1, to rescue the network from sagging ratings. The story said the goal was to reach a younger audience.

I wish they'd bring back their version of Antiques Roadshow they ran for a short time..it was kinda cool seeing people bring in their rock memorabilia for appraisals.

 

[Randy Tennison]

VH1 did a BTM of Britney Spears and the Spice Girls?

"And that's when things started going horribly wrong!"

 

[MickeS]

Randy, .

The problem with BTM for me was that it was so generic (up, down, comeback attempt, back/returned to family life), so the Weird Al episode, for example, was a welcome change of pace.

Also, they're pretty shallow, so if it's an artist I've been interested in, there really haven't been much said that I didn't already know. BTM is best when it's some mainstream artist I don't really care much for.

 

[todd stone]

I was hoping for a Nirvana and Alice in Chains behind the music myself :frowning:

 

[Rhett_Y]

I thinkg the more important question was when did VH1/MTV/MTV2 STOP SHOWING MUSIC VIDEO's.... Good god it is all tv shows and movies now.

At least there is hope, if you can get your cable company to carry FUSE Music TV get it, it rocks!!

R~

 

[Sean Cauley]

I think VH1 found themselves in a position where they were nothing but a factory for BTM episodes. It was their only successful show, and as they progressed through band after band, it lost what had made it popular in the first place. The show started as a repository for acts who had major setbacks and tragedies (Milli Vanilli's shame and the subsequent suicide of Rob Pilatus, MC Hammer's bankruptcy), and when the Lynyrd Skynyrd episode proved to be VH1's most popular show in a long time, they kept cranking them out.

When BTM started, it wasn't the only rock biography show on VH1; they had Legends, too. The difference was like that between The E! True Hollywood Story and Celebrity Profile on E! One dug the dirt, one lauded the performer. Eventually, Legends fell by the wayside, and bands who'd been on that show were getting BTM packages.

Eventually, there were too many bands being covered and the format was watering down, losing viewers. VH1 shifted focus to the general pop-culture setup they have now, and here we are. While I like some of their popcult shows (like I Love the 80s and its follow-ups), I think some of it is a bit too much, and a total retread of things already covered by E! (Is there really any difference between Fabulous Life Of... and It's Good to Be...? I think a re-focus on the music industry would be great, but it won't sell as much as specials about Paris Hilton and ex-Real World semi-celebs, so I'm not holding my breath.