top buzzer tonight on MTV

blur · Nov 24, 2004

top buzzer tonight on MTV

Who's watching this? Looks interesting :chill:

Roll, roll up for the dope opera
October 26, 2004

London - MTV reckons that if it wants to be down with the kids and remain the most-watched music channel among 16- to 24-year-olds, it has to stick its neck out. Hence the first-ever drama to be shown on the channel will be based, controversially, on the life and times of two cannabis dealers.

"It's a departure for us," says Richard Godfrey, senior vice-president of MTV Productions Europe, of the "dope opera" - called Top Buzzer - which begins next month.

"From the early rushes, Top Buzzer looks like nothing else you'd see on TV," says Godfrey.

Asked why the music channel has gone for drama he replies: "We've taken the decision to invest in original programme development in the UK and we need a balance of projects." Godfrey describes Top Buzzer as "edgy comedy/ drama" which will provide a counterweight to some of the more traditional territory covered by the channel.

"This particular show is rooted in the music culture, its soundtrack is really important and there's an MTV spirit to it," he says.

Leaving aside the difficulty of defining exactly what the "MTV spirit" is, the idea that the show is "rooted in the music culture" is highly controversial because Top Buzzer is all about the lives and adventures of a pair of drug dealers.

"It's based on a culture that exists and it's a perfectly justifiable one on which to base a show," says Godfrey.

He's quick to add that the channel feels it must treat the subject of cannabis use "responsibly" and has lined up websites, helplines and a range of support programming exploring different views on drug use.

But he rejects the idea that a "dope opera" clashes with any image MTV might have as a squeaky clean broadcaster. The channel is better known for its HIV- and Aids-awareness campaigns and earnest young people interrogating Tony Blair on the rights and wrongs of going to war in Iraq than espousal of drugs culture.

Godfrey is hoping the show will be a hit among young British viewers and be exported to other MTV channels around the world.

The overall strategy is to move MTV "from being a back-to-back, music-video channel to a lifestyle channel".

"We're very ambitious for this stuff," says Godfrey.
Click to expand...

ManofScience · Nov 24, 2004

MTV and most-watched music channel in the same sentance - it's not exactly hard, is it? there's like 15 different MTV channels and then a smattering of pop/the box type 'rob teens blind of their phone credits' type channels....

i'm sure it won't last long - the mary whitehouse brigade will go mental!

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