| Much’s Rickety New Era |
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by Dan MacRae the Carillon MuchAXS come back, all is forgiven MuchMusic’s never really been about constants. Bands, shows, logos and timeslots were always temporary, but ironically enough the VJ nicknamed “The Temp” was the network’s one constant. Until Aug. 26, when Rick “The Temp” Campanelli made his final appearance on MuchMusic. Fear the Post-Rick era. For those of us who grew up with The Temp, Rick’s departure from MuchMusic (to the irrelevance-en-masse that is Entertainment Tonight Canada) is a major blow. He wasn’t particularly good or interesting, coasting on the strength of being babyfaced and travel-sized, but he was the last link to the past of MuchMusic. A link to a time when VJs weren’t vaccinated against personality and (shudder) Xzibit wasn’t one of the station’s biggest stars. Despite being a safe haven for lots of dreadful CanCon artists (11:30 anyone?), MuchMusic was important. Or as important a network featuring flaming Christmas tree thrown off the top of the Chum building can be. Rick’s sendoff on the cold morgue of bland that is MuchOnDemand illustrated everything once right about the network and also everything wrong with the network now. The sendoff highlight package was early-years heavy featuring exciting things like that strange Italian man who frequents the station and Sook-Yin Lee’s unusually toned bare ass. Also included in the highlight package was a series of goodbyes from ex-VJs. In just thirty seconds or so of seeing Namugenyi Kiwanuka or Bradford How it gets even harder to put up with Leah Miller’s daily struggles with her arch-rival: complex thought. It’s likely that part of my dislike for MuchMusic in 2005 is that my love for the network is drenched in nostalgia. For example, while I look back fondly on the TV show Dinosaurs, the thought of a baby puppet dinosaur assaulting his father with a frying pan isn’t as funny now as it was then (although the tie-in rap video featuring the baby dinosaur is still wildly hilarious). When it comes to the network, I wasn’t really excited about Electric Circus or ClipTrip before they left, but for some reason am heartbroken they aren’t on the air. How am I going to see my Deee-Lite and OMC videos now? MuchMoreMusic? Oh, okay. Nostalgia aside, the current incarnation of Much is still a terrible one. I’m not asking for big changes, but even slight adjustments would better. I can’t stand MTV Cribs, but on top of that, why are all episodes from before 2004? If I’m going to see Omarion’s crib, I’d like to see his newest, most unnecessarily gold-plated crib, please. With the last big link to the past of MuchMusic leaving, the least the network could do is look back to the past. Much steals heavily from MTV, why not steal your old original ideas? It’s in our national interest for MuchMusic to go from being the Newlyweds network back to “The Nation’s Music Station". Hell, I’m sure Master T would be happy to organize a huge “Blocko” to mark the occasion. |