Changing viewership makes MTV Studios plan to bring back some of the old-time classics like 'Daria' and 'Real World'
MTV has always been on top of the game when it comes to the best reality TV shows, the announcement of big musical events, and as a platform for both the rising stars and celebrities. Now, in their most recent reboot, they are bringing back some of the old-time classics, such as 'Daria' and 'The Real World' to win over the millennials once again.
According to the Rolling Stone, MTV Studios' initial lineup included an updated version of the reality show make-over 'Made', and a live-action remake of the animated sci-fi show 'Aeon Flux'. The article further informed that the studio has announced two new programs: 'The Valley' which is a coming-of-age docu-series about a group of friends growing up in the border town of Nogales in Arizona, and 'MTV's Straight Up Ghosted' which is about young people trying to "reconnect with lost friends, lovers, and family members and confront them about why they have been ghosted."
Although there is still not enough information about the details on the production of 'The Real World' and 'Made', the studio might use some "real life re-inventions" in the age of "2D Instagram transformations". The studio is planning to strip off the polarization and "cold anonymity" of social media, "the din of the 24-hour news cycle, and the facades of the Insta-famous culture to find out what happens when seven strangers are picked to live in a house stop being polite and start getting real", according to the article.
The HollywoodReporter reported that the move is being taken in order to monetize 35 years of content, "with the goal of rebooting old hits", in order to sell them to other networks and streamers. According to the report, the effort is part of a larger push by Viacom brands which includes some of the big names, such as MTV and Nickelodeon, and to expand into a full-fledged studio. Reportedly, Viacom's Nickelodeon has already sold its first off-network series, like the animated children's show 'Pinky Malinky' at Netflix. While all these projects are being produced by MTV Studios, they will be shopped to outside linear networks and SVOD platforms. MTV Studios is also more focused on some of the all-time favorite series, franchises, and spinoffs. It is also trying to produce a slate for outlets beyond Viacom.
It has been reported in the article that the updated version of 'Daria' will now be called 'Daria & Jodie', which will be written by Grace Edwards who had earlier worked on 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' and 'Inside Amy Schumer'. Chris McCarthy, the president of MTV, mentioned that the main intention behind the project is to create "the largest youth libraries". He said, that in a world where the viewership has grown from Marvel and ABC to NBC, reimaging IPs might be a big step to bring in some good cable content.
The article quotes him saying, "Once we started talking to people, they got really excited about how important these characters and franchises were to them. Daria was a good example. We brought on Grace Edwards as the writer and she is a huge fan of Daria. The story she wants to tell of Daria is different, it's about Daria and Jodie and two close friends taking on the world today and what's happening in our culture at large. It's less about the monetization and more about telling great stories. Of course, we're going to make money but it's about taking this IP and bring it into the future and doing these shows on platforms where audiences make the most sense."
The Variety quoted Chris McCarthy in their article, who said, "MTV has the biggest collection of hit youth franchises that spans more than three decades of content and over 200 titles, part of which have fueled our resurgence...With MTV Studios, we are for the first time ever opening up this vault beyond our own platforms to reimagine the franchises with new partners.”