MTV had many hit series, both scripted or unscripted. MTV slate includes some underrated and popular gems. The scripted slate in particular was a goldmine. Music was second best on the network from Teen Wolfto awkward to fake it for a short time.
The unscripted series is another option. I’m not referring to Teen Mum or Catfish. MTV’s peak was when it had the right balance of unscripted and scripted shows. We’ve reduced the list to six shows.
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Finding Carter
Another underrated series, Finding Carter centered on a teenage girl finding out her whole life is a lie and that the woman she thought was her mother abducted her when she was a child. She reunites with her actual family, including her twin sister, and she struggles with it. The show only lasted for two seasons, ending in 2015. The real kicker is that Finding Carter ended on a cliffhanger. To at least get some conclusion would be nice because it’s still upsetting.
‘Total Request Live’
T RL has already made a comeback. But that doesn’t stop it from trying again. Total Request Live is the ultimate MTV. Teenagers tuned in daily to see if they could make the countdown. The original run lasted 10 years and officially ended in 2008. TRL re-emerged nine years after the original run, and ended again in 2019. The show had a huge impact on music TV. It’s a shame that with all the crazy music being released these days we can’t even watch to see if Olivia Rodrigo or Taylor Swift’s latest video will make it on the countdown.
‘Faking It’
Faking it was one of MTV’s most underrated series. The dramedy, which aired from 2014 to 2016, focused on students in a suburban Austin High School. After Amy and Karma are mistakenly assumed to be lesbians and outed by the school as the first lesbian couple, they must navigate through their “relationship.” Amy begins to develop feelings for Karma, while Karma is smitten with the handsome and popular Liam.
The network cancelled the show after just three seasons, despite it being the first television series to feature an intersex lead character. Even though it’s been 7 years since the cancellation, it still hurts.
‘Eye Candy’
Victoria Justice’s debut TV role after Nickelodeon was in the one-season thriller eye Candy. Based on R.L. The drama is based on the R.L. The show aired between January and March 2015. It was announced a month after that it had been cancelled.
It hurts when veteran shows are canceled, but it hurts more when shows get canceled after just one season. The show doesn’t have enough time to grow and people seem to forget about the series soon after. This was also a great genre for Justice after her Nickelodeon years to ease into new projects. It’s a pity we didn’t see more of it.
‘Happyland’
Happyland is another one-season show that focuses on the lives and work of theme park employees. The focus was on the daughter of a character actor who wanted to leave the theme park, but instead got swept away by the son. It would take a double blow to put that at risk. The show lasted only eight episodes. Happyland, despite not being the most popular show and perhaps even forgettable, had plenty of room for growth and its cancellation wasn’t very happy.
‘Awkward’
Awkward is one of the more popular shows on this list and definitely deserves some more love. The dramedy ran for five seasons and almost 100 episodes. It follows social outcast Jenna Hamilton starting a blog that helps her deal with various teen issues. While it seemed like the series would be renewed for Season 6, MTV ended up not renewing it. The show officially came to an end in May 2016, and it’s definitely time for a comeback.