Welcome to a very special bonus episode as Heather and Jameson take a break from MTV to celebrate Halloween! 

Join your favorite Gen Xperts as they discuss their favorite Halloween movies, childhood Halloween memories, favorite trick or treat candies, and favorite costumes.

 Heather and Jameson swap their real-life ghost stories and some we found on the interwebs.

 Heather forces Jameson to watch the Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody” music video (https://tinyurl.com/ys4xzau6), spoiler: he hates it and laments over dancing in boots.

This week Heather and Jameson explore MTV News from inception in the late 1980s to the 2016 reboot.

Our favorite Gen Xperts discuss the national treasure that is Kurt Loder, who was the first MTV News correspondent and one of the coolest cats alive. Chuck Page stops by via text to drop knowledge nuggets, Jameson dives deep into some Kurt Cobain conspiracy theories (check them out here: https://tinyurl.com/k5bn5kmm and https://tinyurl.com/me6bapzv), Heather realizes she appreciates there’s not a lot of boobs in grunge, and the duo finally figure out what the hell 99 Red Balloons is all about (it’s a protest song: https://tinyurl.com/3j6ma54e). 

Until next time, we are left pondering the immortal question: George Harrison, Beatle or monkey?

This week Heather and Jameson take on the late night music video show Headbangers Ball, launched in 1987. Our Gen Experts are joined by actual music experts and superstar guests, Guy and Dagan, who basically educate us all on Headbangers Ball and cool music in general. Guy reminisces about the time he got a signed letter and glossy headshot from Riki Rachtman, Dagan curses Vanilla Ice as the one of the only performers to come to Hawaii when he was a kid, and Heather and Jameson realize they are really, really uncool.

 “Listen to this Shit” explores the mystery of Lizzie Borden and Heather is convinced her great-grandma lived down the street in Fall River (she did, we confirmed this). 

This week, Heather forces everyone to watch “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnack #sorrynotsorry.

This week Heather and Jameson are joined by bonafide Gen X superstar music expert guest Guy! Reliving his college radio days, Guys dusts off his legal pad and graces the podcast with his massive musical knowledge as the trio explores MTV’s alternative music program 120 Minutes launched in 1986. 

Jameson delights everyone with the origins of the band names Nickelback and Lynyrd Skynyrd. And who doesn’t miss Strawberries music stores and mixtapes?

This week, Heather and Jameson explore Dial MTV, a daily top 10 music video countdown show launched in 1986. Viewers called 1-800-DIAL-MTV to request a video or chat with bands live (spoiler: now a sex line, Jameson pressed 1 immediately).

 Our favorite Gen Experts discuss the “Cru Rule”, benefits of high hair and mullets, and explain both Strawberries music stores and the Lilith Fair. We hear what happens when Jameson is left unsupervised and lore of the world’s naughtiest swim team.

 Heather makes Jameson watch the ever-cool 1986 “Addicted to Love” video by Robert Palmer (https://tinyurl.com/df8ds5su) and Jameson tells us about “the Podfather”, Adam Curry (check him out on the Joe Rogan experience: https://tinyurl.com/sbr9su8, and for the record, Heather and Jameson are not Joe Rogan fans, but liked this bit).

For next week, check out the “Best of MTV’s 120 Minutes” (https://tinyurl.com/ec2yh7ae).

This week Heather and Jameson take a break from their very scientific and accurate historical analysis of MTV in this special bonus episode as they are joined by elder millennial and Clue superfan Eddie Jones to talk about the 1985 classic film “Clue”.

 Eddie shares his earliest memories of watching Clue and turtle soup and recalls his own stage adaptation of the film (which led to a cease and desist, of course). The trio offers other board games for film adaptation (hello, Sorry!) and talk about the pivotal singing telegram scene as the Venn Diagram with MTV (https://tinyurl.com/pz8v6hc). Jameson explains the origins of “Break A Leg” (https://tinyurl.com/a66mhx74) and Eddie has everyone watch Toni Braxton “You Make Me High”. 

Next week Heather and Jameson will talk about Dial MTV, the precursor to TRL.

This week, Heather and Jameson explore MTV’s first live concert broadcast, Live Aid concerts held on July 13, 1985 in London and Philadelphia.  Organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, Live Aid raised funds for famine relief in Ethiopia and MTV broadcasted 16 hours of coverage (check out the coverage here: http://liveaid.free.fr/rewind/mtv/index.html).

Heather and Jameson talk about the history of the concert and their favorite moments, including Queen (compare the performance to the film adaptation: https://tinyurl.com/9w64k4m6).  Jameson explores Freddie Mercury’s life more in “Listen to this Shit” (https://tinyurl.com/33e2shv2).
 
For next week, watch the 1985 film “Clue” (yes, we know that film has nothing to do with MTV, get over it).

Party’s here! Heather and Jameson take a break from the MTV timeline to explore current programming with millennial pop-culture expert, Julie Mirwis, as they watch Jersey Shore (https://tinyurl.com/5ewh2dd7). Julie shares her vast knowledge of Jersey Shore, including all the spin-offs and current cast status.

Jameson pays homage to hometown East Haven or “Staven” with a little Italian-American history (https://tinyurl.com/4mz2ea7m) and the significance of fried dough at the OLOP carnival. And of course, the classic song “Christmastime in East Haven” (https://tinyurl.com/3uvfj9m7).

Top Countdown explores the 1985 “Dancing in the Street” from David Bowie and Mick Jagger (https://tinyurl.com/fkjadcxz).

For next week, check out Live Aid minute by minute (https://tinyurl.com/u5y8panh) and watch the End of Bohemian Rhapsody featuring Queen at Live Aid (https://tinyurl.com/9w64k4m6).

Heather and Jameson are joined by fun party guest star Eddie to discuss the Video Music Awards. The trio discuss the first VMAs in 1984, share their most memorable performances and events over the years, bring more attention to the whiteness of early MTV, and hope they get invited to the 2021 VMAs in Brooklyn (please send tickets). Eddie pleads for a new Rhianna album, Heather confuses Dua Lipa with Duolingo, and Jameson admits he didn’t really watch a lot of MTV as a kid.

 Jameson talks about Mr. Potato Head since he loves potatoes (https://idahopotatomuseum.com/mr-potato-head/) and Heather forces everyone to watch the 1988 Rush Hour music video by Jane Wieldin aka the Live Action Lisa Frank video (https://tinyurl.com/wr4rvdzb).

For homework for next week’s episode, check out some recent episodes of Jersey Shore Family Vacation (https://tinyurl.com/5ewh2dd7). 

Note: this episode is supersized for literally no reason whatsoever. #FreeBritney

Heather and Jameson dive deeper into the Venn Diagram that is MTV and Michael Jackson by exploring the 1983 World Premiere of the Thriller video. The Gen Experts are joined by superstar millennial guest star Fawziah Qadir as they discuss this historic 13-minute video (https://tinyurl.com/u5vmuscf), all of Michael Jackson’s made up words, Ola Ray’s fantastic outfits (also, check out her Insta https://tinyurl.com/u3rakbec), and their collective skill set for surviving a zombie apocalypse (archery, gardening, and homesteading).

Jameson has everyone watch You Can’t Touch This by MC Hammer and provides a fun recount of the Hammer’s origin story with the Oakland A's (https://tinyurl.com/5ckfhafc). You can follow the antics of MC Hammer on his Insta (https://tinyurl.com/mu2y99bk) and for shits and giggles, check out Caroline the dog in her rainbow bikini (https://tinyurl.com/mxs2eern).

Lastly, Fawziah has a real podcast about serious topics, check her out at https://www.racethrougheducation.com/.

For next week, check out the crazy history of the VMAs: https://tinyurl.com/4b7rnvur