In honor of today being MTV's 25th birthday, here are some of my favorite MTV memories:
- I first started watching MTV when I was in kindergarten (fall of 1984)... we basically moved a mile down the road from where I was born, into a community that for some reason was a test area for South Florida cable television. Immediately I was hooked.
- My sister and I used to record our favorite videos onto VHS. We had dozens of these tapes lying around the house. One time she got mad at me because I accidentally taped over Corey Hart's "Sunglasses at Night," which she claims they hardly ever play, with Genesis' "Land of Confusion." I have no idea what happened to those tapes.
- Circa 1988, MTV ran a Top 500 Videos of All Time countdown. It was in the middle of my Def Leppardhysteriaa (pun intended... sorry). So I was utterly annoyed that "Pour Some Sugar on Me" came in at #6. U2's "With or Without You" ruled that countdown. Highly questionable choice.
- I was obsessed with Remote Control. Thought it was the greatest game show of all time. Wish I had been old enough at the time to be a contestant. Oh, and one of my cousins became the Remote Control grand champion. He is now a famous screenwriter. Guess being a couch potato pays off.
- I was also obsessed with Just Say Julie. But I think I was the only one.
- I rang up $20 in calls to MTV's 900 number trying to win the Win the Batmobile contest. What a great prize: actual car from the 1989 movie, filled with cash. I didn't win, and my parents were not thrilled to get the bill.
- The first episode of The Real World I ever saw was the Seattle episode in which Stephen slapped Lyme-Diseased Irene. Reality television at its best.
- When I interviewed for my summer internship in MTV's Series Development department, one of the questions I was asked was "What do you think of Sifl and Olly?" I hated that stupid puppet show, and against my bettjudgmentent, I told her so. I guess she liked my honesty (or my moxie), because I got the job. And so began my tenure here.
- MTV2 used to be only available inside the building and on special satellite systems. When it launched on cable in January 2000, they played every video ever made (all 19,000 at the time) in their entirety in alphabetical order by song title. It took them 4 months. And I missed all but the first four days because I left to study abroad in Scotland. I'm not sure why that bothered me so much.
- This was the countdown for my very first TRL show:
10. No Doubt "It's My Life"
9. B2K "Badaboom
8. Kelis "Milkshake"
7. Good Charlotte "Hold On"
6. JC Chasez "Some Girls (Dance with Women)
5. Clay Aiken "Invisible"
4. Britney Spears f/ Madonna "Me Against the Music"
3. Beyonce "Me Myself and I"
2. G-Unit "Them Thangs"
1. Blink 182 "Feeling This"
Mandy Moore was the guest, and we also premiered FeFe Dobson's video "Everything." I have since worked on 566 episodes. And the countdowns are still just as crappy.

Anyway, happy birthday MTV.