One Hundred and Twenty Minutes (120 minutes)first aired on MTV in 1986. According to The 120 Minutes Archive, 120 Minutes was a weekly aired alternative music video program that was broadcasted on the Music Television Station. Produced by Dave Kendall, 120 Minutes would play two hours of underground rock bands that were unknown or weren’t in heavy rotation on the airwaves. The show premiered on MTV on Sunday, March 10, 1986 being hosted by legendary Video Jockey J.J. Jackson.
The show went through many hosts but found one that was there to stay in 1989. Kendall left the show in 1992 and was officially replaced with Video Jockey Matt Pinfield. 120 Minutes found two homes that it aired on. It aired on MTV and M2 (later to be known as MTV2). As the years progressed so did the shows amount of mainstream music being added to the play list. It was one of the only official places rock videos and rock music in general could appear on TV at this time (besides the short lived rock show Mattrock Daily).
120 Minutes and music videos in general were rapidly being replaced with shows such as the Real World, Road Rules, Loveline, Undressed and many other shows in reality and drama television category. 120 Minutes aired its last show on MTV in 2000. MTV2 picked up 120 Minutes on January 1, 2001. The show came to an end in 2003. In that time the show went back to its original format, airing music videos from Underground Rock Band. The end of 120 Minutes was just the beginning of the end of music television programming.
I was born in 1986 so by the time I was able to realize what 120 Minutes was it wasn’t what it had started out to be. MTV had already started to air more than just music videos. They had started to air shows such as The Real World and Singled Out. They soon came out with other shows such as Total Request live (which branched from V.J. Carson Daly’s last night request show) and MTV Jams. However theses two shows didn’t mainly revolve around the sounds of alternative rock. Total Request Live revolved mainly around the music that viewers voted for throughout the day. It covered everything from Alternative Rock to Hip Hop and R &B. MTV Jams was strictly Hip Hop and R&B. There was no home on MTV in my later years for solely Alternative Rock.
The only shows that air rock now on music television that I am aware of are MTV2’s Head banger’s Ball and Rock the Deuce. Head Banger's Ball is a television program that airs heavy metal at 2 a.m every Saturday morning. The show showcases upcoming talent rising in the music industry of Heavy Rock. The closest thing that comes close to 120 minutes is a show called “Rock the Deuce”. The show airs every Thursday at 3 a.m. and every Saturday at 1 a.m. The concept of the show is to “Bring the Rock”. It’s the closest that you will come to seeing rock videos even though it’s not even at a decent hour!
MTV Networks(2009). Headbanger's Ball. Retrieved October 2009, from http:www/mtv.com/shows/headbangers_ball/series/jhtml
MTV Networks(2009).Rock the Deuce. Retrieved October 2009, from http://www.mtv.com/shows/you_rock_the_deuce/series.jhtml
Unknown(2008). Rock the Deuce with Linkin Park. Video posted on http://www.youtube.com
Unknown (2009,February 15). Radiohead Fake Plastic Trees 1995 MTV 120 Minutes.Video Posted on http://www.youtube.com
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