Since its monumental launch on August 1, 1981, the epic cable channel MTV has been the home of some iconic and highly-adored original television shows. The channel was created to air music videos and related programming, presented to audiences by television personalities known as video jockeys. Despite its initial musical roots, it has significantly reduced its focus on musical content in favor of shows aimed at teenagers and young adults. Not only did MTV inspire the dawn of music videos, but it also played a pivotal role in the highly-lucrative reality TV genre, cutting-edge comedy, and memorable adult animation. Though MTV has undergone countless transformations and rebrandings, it remains a constant presence and source of entertainment for viewers across the world.
Some of television’s most memorable shows were crafted and debuted on MTV, ranging from a wide array of topics like intriguing documentaries, hilarious animated classics, and groundbreaking reality series. Johnny Knoxville and his merry band of Jackass misfits made a name for themselves on the channel, and audiences were presented with the compelling question of what happens when people stop being polite, and start getting real with the innovative reality show The Real World. From Daria to Punk’d, and True Life to Beavis and Butt-Head, MTV is responsible for some pretty iconic programs.
Updated on August 20th, 2023 by Federico Furzan: This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.
16 Catfish: The TV Show
Reality television pioneers Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray capitalized on every idea available. They took the feature film Catfish and made Catfish: The TV Show, and gave a twist to online dating practices in the dawn of the digital era.
In the show, Nev Schulman (the film's main subject) tries to convince people who have online relationships to dig deeper into who's on the other side of the Internet. What they often find is downright unsettling, as the catfishing practice seems to be more common than everyone thinks.
15 Total Request Live
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MTV’s extremely popular music video countdown series Total Request Live (TRL) premiered on the cable channel in 1998, playing the ten most requested music videos of the day as voted on by viewers. It gave audiences the chance to express their opinions on the most buzzed-about artists and songs of the moment and featured a slew of notable hosts like Carson Daly, Hilarie Burton, Vanessa Lachey, and La La Anthony.
Countless celebrities, singers, and bands appeared on the hit show, with the platform being a lucrative promotional tool that helped target the teen demographic. TRL went on to become “appointment after-school TV". Its studio at 1515 Broadway became a pop-culture fishbowl where rabid teens could catch a glimpse of their favorite stars, The series ran from 1998 to 2008 before being canceled due to low ratings, with a short-lived revival released in 2017.
14 The Challenge
MTV's The Challenge is based on a fairly simple premise that's kept the show alive for 38 seasons and has spawned several spin-offs and international iterations of the show. If you find this hard to comprehend, take a look at the show and tell us if you don't feel the connection.
It features contestants battling each other for money in challenges that range from the silly ones with a twist to the hugely produced finals that feel incredibly cinematic. Of course, as it happens with all reality shows, conflicts arise mid-season, and personalities clash, adding the usual drama to the genre.
13 Daria
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The highly intellectual yet extremely pessimistic Daria Morgendorffer first appeared as a character on the cult classic Mike Judge series Beavis and Butt-Head, before receiving the spin-off treatment in 1997. The show is set in the fictional suburban American town of Lawndale and is a satire of high school life.
It follows the sarcastic and cynical Daria as she provides colorful commentary on pop culture and social classes. The beloved adult animated sitcom ran for five seasons and released two feature-length television films and two specials. Daria earned rave reviews and a cult-like following during its five seasons, and MTV shocked fans with its cancelation in 2002.
12 Fear
MTV's Fear was a reality show that only lasted two seasons before producers realized how expensive it was. However, it was extremely successful among audiences who indulged in seeing people being scared out of their wits. It featured contestants being dropped in an undisclosed location where they would have to spend only two nights.
But the place appeared to be haunted, and ghosts and ghouls would often make an appearance. We all know reality shows are scripted, but Fear constantly made us evidence of real people being frightened to the point of mental breakdown. It's hard to understand how this hasn't made a comeback.
11 MTV Cribs
MTV Cribs offered fans a glimpse into the lives of the rich and the famous, showcasing celebrities touring their private and oftentimes jaw-dropping homes. The show was notable for its depiction of the glamorous and extraordinary estates, in which viewers became privy to their stunning swimming pools, home gyms and theaters, car collection, and even what was hiding in their refrigerators.
Legendary songstress Mariah Carey famously showed off her New York City penthouse in 2002, memorably using a VersaClimber in her black heels and jumping into her Jacuzzi tub. The documentary television show originally ran from 2000 to 2005, having showcased the homes of over 185 celebrities throughout 13 quick seasons. After a few short-lived revivals, MTV Cribs rebranded and renamed itself Cribs, debuting in the summer of 2021 for new episodes.
10 True Life
Undeniably one of the best documentary series of its time, MTV’s True Life features poignant real-life depictions of both heavy and lighthearted subject matter, ranging from drug use, addiction, and sexual topics. The episodes are widely entertaining and engaging, as the series documents three unique persons in their everyday situations, revealing the obstacles and goals they face.
During its run on MTV from 1998 to 2017, True Life was the recipient of numerous accolades and awards for its groundbreaking coverage, including an Emmy and Image Award as well as a GLAAD Media Award. It has also spawned multiple spin-offs like True Life Crime, which produced two seasons.
9 Celebrity Deathmatch
One of MTV's most entertaining and zany original programs was without a doubt the 1998 stop-motion 'claymated' series Celebrity Deathmatch, which depicted various famous figures duking it out in a professional wrestling match. Never one to shy away from gory violence, the showdowns featured celebrities using weapons and brutal tactics to win, much to the delight of viewers.
During its initial four-season run (it had a short-lived revival in 2006), the program was a massive hit and matched the popularity of fellow cartoons like Daria and Beavis and Butt-Head. Some seriously hilarious matches included Ice Cube vs. Ice-T, Ben Affleck vs. Matt Damon, and the Backstreet Boys vs. NSYNC.
8 Headbangers Ball
Currently, MTV is anything but a music channel. But back in the 2000s, metalheads often said "MTV is no longer a rock channel". And they were right. Just look at the progression of winners for MTV's Video Music Awards and Movie Awards, and you'll see how it all went down.
Headbangers Ball was proof of what MTV consisted of in the past. It featured hosts introducing heavy metal videos and artists to the mainstream public and often went on the road to showcase bands on tour. A flagship show for MTV, Headbangers Ball was extremely popular in showing the world the other side of music that they didn't need fear amidst satanic panic and other ridiculous agendas that became popular in the '90s.
7 The Real World
MTV’s longest-running program in the history of the cable channel is the groundbreaking reality series The Real World, which details seven to eight young adults who are picked to temporarily live together in a new city and residence. The social experiment series was hailed in its earlier seasons for depicting contemporary issues like sex, prejudice, abortion, AIDS, and substance abuse, and is credited with launching the modern reality TV genre.
The often controversial The Real World aired on MTV from 1992 to 2017 before finding new life on Facebook Watch and Paramount+ and was filmed across the world in places like Sydney, Brooklyn, London, and Cancun. The success of the series led to two popular spin-offs: Road Rules (1995 to 2007) and the ongoing reality game show The Challenge, which has run for 37 seasons and is still going strong.
6 Road Rules
Road Rules worked the same The Real World did. Only with less luxury. It featured a group of strangers that got picked to go on a road trip with little to no money and complete every sort of challenge.
The sister show at least gave them a house that had buffer zones, and rooms for conflicts to fizzle out. But an RV didn't work the same. Alongside The Real World, Road Rules paved the way for a trend that still lives on and has shown no signs of fading away.
5 Beavis and Butt-Head
From the mind of comedic genius, Mike Judge comes the 1993 adult animated comedy series Beavis and Butt-Head, which follows the dim-witted, heavy-metal-loving teenage slackers as they engage in idiotic activity simply because they’re bored. Judge voices both the iconic delinquent characters, who were first introduced in the creator’s 1992 short film Frog Baseball.
During its initial run, Beavis and Butt-Head earned widespread critical acclaim on MTV for its hilarious satire and scathing commentary on society, though it received both positive and negative reactions from the public for its lewd humor. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of Comedy Central darling South Park, have cited the series as a major influence. The show’s popularity led to the 1996 theatrical film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and a short-lived eighth-season revival. A second full-length film was released in 2022 on Paramount+.
4 Making the Video
Fans of their favorite music sensations were in for quite a treat with the 1999 behind-the-scenes series Making the Video, which offered a rare insight into the extensive process of filming a music video. Some of the entertainment industry's brightest stars were featured in the revealing program, with performers like Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Metallica, and Aerosmith all having documented their brand-new videos.
The directors offered viewers a detailed outline of the music videos, and the finished product was revealed at the end of each episode. The exciting series concluded its run in 2010, ironically in the age where music videos have become more cinematic, but less popular than before.
3 Punk’d
2003’s hidden camera series Punk’d was co-created and hosted by Ashton Kutcher and depicts celebrities being pranked. During the show’s initial four-season run, several notable actors served as accomplices to the pranks, such as Dax Shepard, The Office’s B.J. Novak, and a then-unknown Bill Hader.
Kutcher and MTV’s original premise featured pranks on regular people, but a 2002 prank involving a fake dead body at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas caused MTV to retool the concept with a focus on celebrities instead. Popular episodes included the one when Justin Timberlake was led to believe that government agents were seizing his home and assets, because of unpaid income taxes. The show experienced multiple unsuccessful revivals.
2 MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged showcased iconic acoustic performances by some of the music industry’s brightest and most talented performers, with mega-stars like Mariah Carey, Nirvana, Eric Clapton, and Jay-Z being just a few who have taken the MTV stage. Producers Robert Small and Jim Burns created the worldwide phenomenon, with the first episode premiering on November 26, 1989, and featuring performances by Squeeze, Syd Straw, and Elliot Easton.
The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999, allowing artists to display their talents in an intimate and stripped-down setting, with many of the performances being released as official albums. Eric Clapton’s Unplugged was released in 1992 and went on to sell 26 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling live album of all time. MTV Unplugged was awarded the George Foster Peabody Award and continues to air specials, though not consistently.
1 Jackass
Co-created by Spike Jonze, Jeff Tremaine, and Johnny Knoxville, the 2000s reality comedy series Jackass showcased a cast of wild daredevils, carrying out stunts and pranks on each other. The Jackass cast included some colorful and hilarious faces like Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O, and Chris Pontius, and was extremely controversial during its reign due to its display of dangerous behavior. It became a worldwide sensation for MTV and was famous for its over-the-top pranks, outrageous stunts, and all-around endearing camaraderie between the screwball cast members.
When the series concluded in 2002, it grew into a media franchise and produced spin-off shows like Wildboyz and Viva La Bam, and took to the big screen with highly successful feature films that are still being released. The most recent installment, 2022’s Jackass Forever is seemingly Knoxville’s final contribution to the franchise. We'll see about that.