For better or worse, VH1 has taken a unique approach to catching TV viewers in the last few years. Abandoning the old "Behind the Music" formula, they have dropped any real commitment to music, instead turning the network over to the writer/producer duo of Cris Abrego and Mark Cronin, who have built a stable of personalities known to us only through their appearances on reality TV shows. These personalities, who are paid as little as $100 a show, can then be recycled through a number of contest-based shows with ever-diminishing prize money. The producers wisely chose eccentrics (after all, who else would date Flavor Flav or Bret Michaels?) whose attitudes and conduct are so extreme that they can easily be caricatured. When you watch the show cycles, it's a little like watching Wagner's operas: you take pleasure in recognizing familiar themes and personality types. The emphasis on building familiarity, which includes networking with the "stars" on famousvh1friends.com and a personals site, makes the channel's strategy smarter than MTV's, whose shows tend to feature aspiring upwardly mobile types rather than John-Waters-style freaks. At some point VH1 is going to need some fresh blood that hasn't been cycled through Flavor/Rock of Love/I Love New York/Real Chance, but they've been proving me wrong so far. "Celebrity Rehab" was a bright spot, but "Sober House" is unwatchable. "Tool Academy" was brilliant but can't be repeated. The Ray-J show is going to flop because Ray-J is actually attractive, making the contestants relatively too "normal."

An ok network. Mostly shows reality programming with limited amounts of music videos/programming thrown in.

What types of shows would make VH1 and MTV better?
Would you like to see more reality with music
ex. following Lil'Wayne as he records next album?
Jay Z and Beyonce on tour with backstage footage?

SUMTIMES ITS FUN OTHA JUS LAME

home of Rock Of Love & TOP 20

ok like the music.

LOVETHIS<3

I love the 70's and Best Week Ever are super funny!

I am a big fan of I love the 80's,90's,and of course Best week ever.

reality tv and music. who doesn't love that?

sure

Best place for useless and stupid reality shows that I shamefully admit I sometimes watch purely for the entertainment value....some are pretty funny.

Same w/ MTV, not enough music programing for a "music network"

The only thing I've ever watched on VH1 is Hogan Knows Best.

It's like the twin of MTV.

Although VH1 is not as vomitous as MTV, it has still morphed into the look at what rich douchebags do with way too much money and has beens acting like tools channel.

I have to admit I enjoy the reality stuff on VH1. That Flavor of Love is a classic! hahaha. Whoever got tickets to "The Flavor of Love" reunion show is a lucky is BAMF!! I LOVE the I LOVE THE 80's and 90's too! But they have to get rid of the shows that are in line with the old school Life styles of the rich and famous. Those are boring.

The station I turn to when I want to eat my heart out over how many millions a talentless overblown-nothing like Paris Hilton has, or how many mansions Jennifer Lopez aka "Ain't No Joy Like A Big-Butt Boy" has, or the number of yachts Justin "Knucklehead Smith" Timberlake can have elaborate parties on, or how many beachfront resorts Model-Mom Britney Spears has invested in, or...(pardon me while I vomit)...

The only thing you find on vh1 these days are i love the 90's, or unmetal moments. And they talk to the same people that you never even heard of. I think they pull people of the streets, and just label them a comedian. Or comedian/actor.

VH1 meant it was called Video Hits 1. Today it is more like Mtv. How is it that they put on shows that have nothing to do with music (Hogan Knows Best/Kept/Celeberty Fit Club) and only play videos very late at night or early mornings. Its a whole lot better to watch VH1 Classics.

Nostalgia stuff is fun.

My guilty pleasure network. The Best Week Ever always makes me put down the remote, and I find myself watching I Love the 80s and I Love the 70s whenever they are on. It's a network that should tick me off because they re-run the same crap over and over and over, but for some reason I watch it anyway.

I used to like them, and the Decade series are brilliant, but now all they show is stupid reality show/trivia crap about C-list celebrities nobody cares about. Please get rid of the hideous obnoxious beast that is Flavor Flav.

First off, they took the Surreal Life and made it into probably the worst reality show out there (and that's saying something considering how many RS's are out there). Then, most, if not all, of there shows are pretty lousy.

Does everyone on their station have to curse so they can bleep it out? Gosh. A bunch of junk and now they have reality TV nonsense too.

Goodbye VH1, hello to MTV junior.

i love the 70's, 80's, 90's are great and so is bands reunited.......however, it would be cooler if they actually played some kind of music every now and then........mtv sucks by the way

VH1's new format has me watching it more and more. They have random shows that suck you in at odd times. Something new is on more often than not. The we love the 80's, 90's, etc crew is absolutly hilarious!

The only good show is I love the 80's thats about it.

Was brilliant when it started in the 80s. Highly watchable for round-the-clock viewing right through the mid-90s but has now gone the MTV route, fewer videos, more shows, some of which are good but many are trash. A hit-and-miss station that requires the use of TV Guide to know when to watch, whereas in the heydey you could watch anytime and be entertained.

Used to have good music specials, and I've enjoyed the I Love the 70s/80s/90s series, but now is trying too hard to compete with E! Too many countdown shows (not the music countdowns, but the E type) and many of the same atrocities that MTV committed.

Another good channel.

Better than MTV, in terms of programming specials. I loved their I Love The 70's, I Love The 80's, and I Love The 80's Strike's Back. Still more music would be nice.

Great Music Video Selection and good shows on music artists and their music from past to present. Also, I like their Pop-Up Music show.There are some non-video shows on VH1 but they all pertain to music and music artists, unlike MTV's crappy non-video shows which are sucky cartoons and reality shows.

The endless marathon of "I love the 80's" has forced me to change my rating. Every day I see fewer and fewer music videos. There are now more movies and specials about how many thongs Britney Spears buys at once.

I am a significant member of the "Magical 18-49 Demographic": At 35, I have viewed both VH1 and MTV from their inception: My question is: WHAT HAPPENED?!?! Doesn't your initials stand for "VIDEO HITS ONE"?? I cannot believe that in order to see music videos these days, a person has to SPEND $$ ON DIGITAL CABLE - and not watch the channel itself that STARTED IT ALL!!! I don't CARE about: 1. how people get hot 2. the absurd procedures they have, OR 3. how they look on the red carpet!! Believe me -- there's a TON of others out here who FEEL THE SAME WAY.

The Behind The Music segments are timeless, though I didn't understand why, for a few months, they were getting happy on Michael Jackson programs.

Recently VH1 appears to have gone the way of another once great music channel, MTV. They now show specials and movies that are no way related music or anybody that created them. They're even sharing programming from MTV, since VH1 is its sister network. I guess with the launch of the new digital channels such as VHI Classic, VHI is nothing more but an MTV clone.

They used to pride themselves on the fact that they didn't show any rap music. Now, they are getting as bad as MTV.

I normally like this channel, but I have noticed that lately they have been showing programs that have NOTHING to do with music. Last month I saw that they had on TV Guide's Truth Behind the Rumors, shows that you normally see on TVLand(for some reason they were having TVLand All-Star Week), Best Game Show Moments and movies that have nothing to do with music, like "Married to the Mob". Last time I checked, this was a MUSIC channel. I know that MTV has been doing this for more than a decade, but at least it's ORIGINAL programming that has nothing to do with music. VH1 is just showing things that you have seen before on other channels. When did this change start?

I really like this channel but how bout some more behind the music and more than 5 videos in rotation on the insomniac music theater??

They have too many shows now, but unlike MTV, most of their shows deal with music. So in the end, it evens out.

It is one of my favorite channels. I am addicted to the "top 100" countdowns.

VH1 is a good channel, but they have this annoying habit. Whenever they show something that I want to watch, it is always on at a most inconvinient time. Like, for instance, showing a Behind the Music for Queen at midnight, or showing a Before They were Stars for R.E.M at 2:00 in the afternoon when I am at school. Oh, well. When I have nothing else to watch, I often turn to VH1. And I have a couple of words for anyone at VH1: PLAY SOME QUEEN, FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!!!!

This show is for old people!

O.K.,I remember when this channel used to play videos but I guess it's just become MTV for an aging generation X.Why are they constantly trying to shove everything but videos down our throats?I started watching VH1 because I got sick of MTV trying to be the harbinger of all that is hip in our culture,it became one long commercial all day and eventually you had to give up waiting for the promised M in MTV.It took VH1 half the time to begin this sort of downfall.Alas VH1...we hardly knew ye.

I like vh1 because of it's music content. The shows they do have on are music-oriented. They have a lot of info on older bands. Because MTV sucks so bad now, I'm glad there is vh1!!!

I've been watching your top 40 Bad Asses and I've got to say you haven't a clue about how to rate bad asses in any chronological order. Putting Jimi, Janice, and Morrison at no higher then 20 is insane. I'd accuse you of smoking to much pot, but if that was the case they would've been rated a lot higher then 20. I mean come on Cortney Love higher then Joplin, you would have to know nothing about music to feel that is an exceptable comparison. Thanks moose1513@hotmail.com

Although Vh1's documentaries and specials are somewhat interesting and it is a far better network than MTV (but that's not saying much), I think they should play more music videos, including more obscure and older videos. I also would REALLY like to see Radiohead's new video for Pyramid Song, but it never seems to be on!

I like VH1 a hell of a lot better than MTV, but I have to agree with barbarablock on that they really hardly ever play music videos anymore. Though at times their specials can be interesting, I can only take so much of Leif Garrett's "Behind The Music" or "Divas 2000"! When we first received VH1 ten years ago, all they played was those great 80's videos! Now it's like a miracle if I run across a video on that channel! (Hello, guys, doesn't VH1 stand for Video Hits One? Keyword here being VIDEO!!!) Perhaps, VH1 should create its own sister channel that broadcasts nothing but those nostalgic 70's and 80's videos 24 hours a day. They could bite off of MTV and call it VH2!!!