Total Request Live
Total Request Live is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as a promotion tool by musicians, actors, and other celebrities to promote their newest works to target the show's teen demographic.
During the original run of the program, TRL played the ten most requested music videos of the day, as voted on by viewers via phone or online. The show generally aired Monday through Thursday for one hour, though the scheduling and length of the show fluctuated over the years. Although TRL was billed as a live show, many episodes were prerecorded. Due to declining ratings, and the larger decline of music-based television in favor of online services, MTV announced the cancellation of TRL on September 15, 2008. The special three-hour finale episode, Total Finale Live, aired on November 16, 2008.
TRL was revived on October 2, 2017. In 2019, the show aired Saturday mornings at 10:00 am ET as TRL Top 10. The show was then rebranded to Fresh Out Live.
History
Origin
Total Request Live originated from several pre-existing programs on MTV. Various viewer request shows, such as Dial MTV and MTV's Most Wanted, had aired on the network since 1986. In 1997 and 1998, MTV launched two new shows that became the predecessors of TRL: MTV Live, which was hosted by Toby Amies, Carson Daly, and Ananda Lewis and featured live performances and interviews from musical artists, and Total Request, a viewer request show hosted by Daly.Total Request was more subdued than MTV Live, as Daly introduced music videos from an empty, dimly lit set. As the show progressed and gained more momentum, it was added to the daytime programming during MTV's Summer Share in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. The show proved to be one of the most watched and most interactive in MTV history, demonstrating that it had potential to become an even larger success.
Original run (1998–2008)
Carson Daly era
In September 1998, MTV producers merged the real-time aspect of MTV Live with the fan-controlled countdown aspect of Total Request into Total Request Live. The program made its debut from MTV Studios on September 14. The show then grew to become MTV's unofficial flagship program.The original host of TRL, Carson Daly, brought popularity to the show. The abbreviation TRL was adopted as the official title of the show in February 1999, after Daly and Dave Holmes began using it on air regularly. In the years following, the program was rarely referred to by its original title. The show began successfully, receiving hundreds of votes for popular artists such as Aaliyah, Backstreet Boys, Blaque, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Eminem, Hanson, Janet Jackson, Kid Rock, Korn, Limp Bizkit, *NSYNC, and TLC.
TRL spent its first year developing a cult-type following. In late 1999, a live studio audience was added. By early 2000, the show reached its peak, becoming a very recognizable pop culture icon in its first two years of existence. A weekend edition of the show known as TRL Weekend, with a countdown of the week's top 10 videos, aired for a short time in 2000.
In 2000, MTV gradually began introducing new VJs on TRL. After winning a viewer contest to interview celebrities at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, Hilarie Burton was hired as a full-time VJ. Quddus Philippe began hosting duties in May 2001 as part of MTV's Summer in the Keys. The following year, both Damien Fahey and La La Vasquez began hosting duties. These VJs often co-hosted with Daly or substituted in his absence.
In July 2001, MTV sponsored the Total Request Live Tour, which played over 30 dates in North America and featured acts like Destiny's Child, 3LW, Jessica Simpson, Eve, and Nelly.
On October 23, 2002, TRL celebrated its 1,000th episode. The number-one video on that day was "Dirrty" by Christina Aguilera. Also throughout 2002, original host Daly was gradually seen less often, as he had begun his own late-night talk show Last Call with Carson Daly on NBC. The show had near-daily segments from MTV News correspondents reporting on the latest in national or entertainment and music news from inside the studio.
Post-Carson Daly era
In 2005, the next generation of TRL was ushered in as Carson Daly officially stepped down as host to focus on his own talk show, which premiered two years earlier on NBC. Following Daly's departure, Damien Fahey, Hilarie Burton, Quddus, and La La Vasquez rotated as hosts. Later additions to the hosting roster included Vanessa Minnillo in 2003, Susie Castillo in 2005, Stephen Colletti in 2006, and Lyndsey Rodrigues in 2007.Some changes were made to TRL voting process in 2005. The show previously allowed anyone to vote online several times, but as part of these changes, only registered members of MTV.com could vote online. Additionally, a limit of one vote per day was added. Then, on July 10, 2006, MTV announced that votes would not be taken by phone, ending the use of the "DIAL MTV" phone number, which had been in use for voting on MTV since the premiere of the countdown show Dial MTV in the mid-1980s.
In September 2006, TRL reached its eighth anniversary and, at that point, the show was the longest-running live program that MTV had ever produced. Around this time, it began airing four days a week, instead of all five weekdays. On November 2, 2006, the show introduced what was billed as the first-ever hip hop public service announcement on global warming. The three-minute piece, titled "Trees", warned about deforestation and the dangers of global warming. The video corresponded with MTV's social campaign, Break the Addiction, as part of think MTV.
On May 22, 2007, TRL celebrated its 2000th episode, showing highlights from the past 2000 episodes, and a special countdown of ten of the most successful videos to ever appear on the show. Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River" topped the special countdown.
By 2008, the only remaining hosts of TRL were Fahey and Rodrigues. Burton left TRL in 2004 after joining the cast of The WB/CW's One Tree Hill. Quddus departed in 2006 and became host of TV One Access. Minnillo left in 2007 and resumed an acting career.
First cancellation
In 2007, rumors began circulating that the ratings-challenged music video countdown show was to be cancelled. In early 2007, an average of 373,000 viewers regularly watched the program. New York Daily News were one of the first to publish this rumor. In February 2007, MTV said the rumor was unfounded and claimed TRL would continue to air for the foreseeable future. The producers of TRL experimented with web-based viewer interaction throughout the 2006–2007 season, showing viral videos and allowing viewers to send feedback on a video via internet forums and webcams, along with a heavy emphasis on MTV's since discontinued Overdrive video portal. However, MTV still secretly planned to cancel the show and replace one with even more emphasis on viewer interaction, named YouRL Consequently, in July 2007, it was reported that YouRL was not received well by test audiences and the concept was abandoned. Total Request Live proceeded with a new season as usual on September 4, marking the tenth season of the show.On September 15, 2008, it was announced that TRL would end. The final regular weekday episode aired on November 13, 2008, with guest Seth Green and The All-American Rejects. The Rejects spent the entire episode assisting in the tear down of the set which was a theme for the episode. At the end of the episode, Rodrigues and Fahey cooperatively added the last step in the demolition process by shutting down all the lights. Preceding this was a montage of cast and crew members saying their goodbyes by waving to the camera. Total Finale Live, a three-hour special marking the end of the show, aired on November 16, 2008. Several artists made appearances, including Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Beyoncé, 50 Cent, Fall Out Boy, Backstreet Boys, Justin Timberlake, Kid Rock, JC Chasez, Christina Aguilera, Travis Barker, Taylor Swift, Hilary Duff, Eminem, and Korn's Jonathan Davis. Former host Carson Daly described the media atmosphere after his departure from TRL in an interview with TV Guide: "MySpace was sold. Social networking took off. Technology went crazy. The whole tectonic shift of mass media. There were a lot of reasons why TRL became kind of a different show after I left. I don't necessarily think it had anything to with me leaving as much as it had to do with the changing landscape." The last music video to be played on TRL was "...Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears, as the video that made number one on the countdown of the most iconic videos of all time.
Final top 10
TRL chose the top ten most iconic videos and aired them as their final countdown.| Position | Year | Artist | Video | Director |
| 1 | 1998 | Britney Spears | "...Baby One More Time" | Nigel Dick |
| 2 | 2000 | Eminem | "The Real Slim Shady" | Dr. Dre/Philip Atwell |
| 3 | 1999 | Backstreet Boys | "I Want It That Way" | Wayne Isham |
| 4 | 2000 | *NSYNC | "Bye Bye Bye" | Wayne Isham |
| 5 | 2002 | Christina Aguilera featuring Redman | "Dirrty" | David LaChapelle |
| 6 | 1999 | Kid Rock | "Bawitdaba" | Dave Meyers |
| 7 | 2003 | Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z | "Crazy in Love" | Jake Nava |
| 8 | 2004 | Usher featuring Ludacris & Lil Jon | "Yeah!" | Mr. X |
| 9 | 1999 | Blink-182 | "What's My Age Again?" | Marcos Siega |
| 10 | 2003 | Outkast | "Hey Ya!" | Bryan Barber |