Total Request Live (commonly known as TRL) is a television program on MTV that features popular music videos. The program plays the top ten most requested videos of the day, as requested by viewers who can vote by phone or online. The countdown starts with the tenth most requested video and ends with the most requested. The program generally airs every weekday for one hour, though the scheduling and length have occasionally fluctuated over the years.
The roots of TRL go back to 1997 when MTV began producing MTV Live (originally hosted by British VJ Toby Amies) from a studio in Times Square in New York. MTV Live featured celebrity interviews, musical performances, and regular news updates. Though producers downplay the similarities, MTV Live shared several signature elements with a live show on a Canadian competitor's channel, including its Good Morning America-styled windows-displaying-onlookers-on-a-metropolitan-street format. Music videos were not the major focus of the program.
During the same time period, MTV aired a countdown show simply called Total Request, hosted by Carson Daly. Total Request was far more subdued, as Daly introduced music videos from an empty, dimly lit set. As the show progressed and gained more momentum with viewers tuning in, it was soon added to the list of daytime programming during MTV's Summer Share in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. The countdown would end up being one of the most watched and most interactive shows in recent MTV history that summer, proving that it had potential to become an even larger success by combining with the element of live television.
By the fall of 1998, MTV producers decided to merge the real-time aspect of MTV Live and the fan-controlled countdown power of Total Request into Total Request Live, which made its official premiere from the MTV Studios in New York on September 14 1998. The show has since grown to become MTV's unofficial flagship program.
The widely known acronym of TRL was adopted as the official title of the show in February 1999, after former VJs Carson Daly and Dave Holmes began using it on air regularly. The program is now rarely, if ever, referred to as its original title, Total Request Live.
TRL spent its first year developing a cult-type following, by spring 2000 the countdown reached its peak, becoming a very recognizable pop culture icon in its first two years of existence; however, its influence seems to have greatly diminished since. A weekend edition of the show known as TRL Weekend, with a countdown consisting an average of the week's top 10, aired for a short time in 2000.
Criticisms
TRL receives a significant amount of criticism. Some viewers complain of its habit of not airing complete videos. The show also allows audience members to make dedications on screen while videos are played, interrupting the song.
As a "top 10" show, TRL repeatedly plays the same videos every day with little variance (except when a new video enters the countdown), which has led critics to speculate that the show only showcases a certain, profitable, kind of music video programming and is used to promote mainstream artists and make them more popular while leaving the more serious music for MTV2. When MTV personality Tom Green created a novelty song "The Bum Bum Song" it was vaulted into TRL's #1 spot after Green (at the height of his popularity) beseeched his audience to request it. According to Green's biography, MTV insisted he pull the song from TRL, lending credence to the idea that MTV had specific music it wanted to promote through TRL.
The general format of TRL has also drastically shifted from its originating premise of showing the day's top ten with one or two guests and an MTV News segment. In comparison to its debut, TRL has added a large amount of star promotion for upcoming movies, TV shows, and albums, entertainment-related news outside of music, and fan-oriented activities.
Another frequent criticism that TRL faces is that it only panders to the so-called teenybopper and urban brackets. Sketch comedy shows like Madtv, Nickelodeon's All That, and Saturday Night Live (SNL) have mocked TRL in the past. On SNL, Jimmy Fallon (portraying Daly) would proclaim that he was a "massive tool".
Notes
TRL is MTV's prime outlet for music videos nowadays as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to the music videos, TRL has daily guests as it is a popular promotion tool used by many musicians, actors, and other celebrities to promote their newest works to the show's target teen audience.
Music videos that air on TRL are subject to a general "retirement" rule, that they may only remain on the countdown for a limited amount of days, the current cap is 50 days (previously 65, this number was reduced in 2002 in order to promote more diversity and give other artists a chance to enter the top ten). Artists who do manage to hang onto the countdown and reach retirement are awarded with a plaque, commemorating their achievement.
On October 23 2002, TRL celebrated its 1,000th episode. The show reached its seventh anniversary in September 2005, maintaining its stake as MTV's longest-running live program, and second longest in the network's entire history with The Real World continuing to claim ultimate superiority.
In 2003, Carson Daly stepped down as the host of TRL in order to host NBC's Last Call. The show is currently hosted by a revolving door of VJs including Damien Fahey, Hilarie Burton, Quddus, La La Vasquez, Vanessa Minnillo, and Susie Castillo.
International versions
The first extra-American version of TRL is the Italian one. Born on MTV Italy in 1999 it has been hosted by Marco Maccarini & Giorgia Surina, then the hosts became Federico Russo & Carolina Di Domenico. Since the season 2005/06 Giorgia came back to Trl with a new co-host:Alessandro Cattelan. Actually Trl Italy is live everyday from 1.45 pm to 3.00pm from Piazza del duomo in Milan but Trl, in its 7 seasons discovered all the Italy: Milan, Rome, Venice, Naples, Genova and Turin. Trl Italy is actually the most older show on Mtv Italy 'cause its first show was aired on 11.02.99. On 12.23.04 was aired a special two hours party called "Trl #1000" for trl italy's show #1000.
The British version known as TRL UK is hosted by Dave Berry, Alex Zane, Jo Jacobs, and Maxine Akhtar.
The Australian version is hosted by Maz Compton, Lyndsey Rodrigues, Nathan Sapsford and Jason Robert Dundas.
The Latin TRL is called Los 10 + pedidos (The 10 most requested) is hosted by "Gabo" in the Northern Region (Mexico) and the Central Region (Central America, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile and Bolivia) and by Cecilia in the Southern Region (Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and parts of Brazil that receive the signal) and airs everyday. The Central region was recently revived after being fused with the Northern region; thus, while a new VJ is found and the voting process gets underway, the Northern 10 + pedidos is shown in those countries since it's the one the viewers had been watching for the past year.
In the Brazilian MTV there is a very similar program, that is often compared to TRL, called Disk MTV, but this program was created before TRL and has changed its format a lot over the years.
Most Recent List of Videos
Updated: January 26, 2006
| Currently | Artist | Title | Yesterday | Peak | Days on TRL | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #10 | Daddy Yankee | "Rompe" | #8 | #3 | 18 | Barrio Fino |
| #9 | Ne-Yo | "So Sick" | #9 | #9 | 2 | In My Own Words |
| #8 | Beyoncé | "Check On It" | # - | #7 | 14 | #1's |
| #7 | All American Rejects | "Move Along" | #5 | #5 | 6 | Move Along |
| #6 | Nelly | "Grillz" | #7 | #5 | 15 | Sweatsuit |
| #5 | Chris Brown | "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" | #6 | #5 | 10 | Chris Brown |
| #4 | [[]] | "" | # | # | [[]] | |
| #3 | [[]] | "" | # | # | [[]] | |
| #2 | [[]] | "" | # | # | [[]] | |
| #1 | [[]] | "" | # | # | [[]] |
TRL NOTES:
- Today for the 10th consecutive day, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Avenged Sevenfold, and Ashlee Simpson have kept the top four countdown spots occupied, not allowing any other video to move up from #5.