Total Request was a music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 request show on MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Background

The show was created in 1997, at a time with MTV was being heavily criticized for showing fewer music videos than it had in the past. As a reaction, five shows were created: 12 Angry Viewers

12 Angry Viewers

12 Angry Viewers was a television show in the United States on MTV which aired from 1997 to 1998. The title is a play of title of the movie 12 Angry Men. Its first host was Jancee Dunn, with Ananda Lewis replacing her later on.-Premise:...

, MTV Live

MTV Live

MTV Live was a U.S. television series that aired from 1997 to 1998 on MTV, featuring interviews with celebrity guests, live musical performances, news coverage, and music video premieres.-Series run:...

, Say What?

Say What?

Say What? is a music video series that aired on American MTV in 1998. It was created at a time when MTV was being heavily criticized for not playing as many music videos as it had in the past...

, Artist's Cut and Total Request.

Format

Viewers would vote at night for the videos they would like to see on the show, either calling a toll-free line or voting at MTV's web site. Carson Daly

Carson Daly

Carson Jones Daly is an American television host. He is the host of NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly, a late-night talk show that began airing on January 7, 2002. Before his role as host of that program, Daly was a VJ on MTV's TRL, and a DJ for the Southern California based radio station KROQ-FM...

 and Dave Holmes

Dave Holmes

David Robert "Dave" Holmes is a television personality who gained national attention as the runner-up on MTV's first Wanna Be a VJ contest in 1998. From the beginning, he distinguished himself from other candidates with an encyclopedic knowledge of music trivia.Despite his loss to Jesse Camp, MTV...

 originally hosted the show, seemingly away from MTV's newly acquired studios in Times Square

Times Square

Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...

.

In 1998, the show was combined with MTV Live to create the former Total Request Live

Total Request Live

Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...

, commonly known as TRL which ended in 2008.