MTV marks its 20th year with party

NEW YORK - In the end, MTV decided to celebrate its 20th birthday by doing what it does best: throw a party. Martha Quinn, J.J. Jackson, Alan Hunter, Nina Blackwood and Mark Goodman will appear - and many current MTV viewers will wonder: Who?
They'll stare blankly upon hearing the names of the five original VJs, and that's precisely why there was a big debate within MTV about whether to take note of the anniversary at all. No television network is so relentlessly devoted to the pursuit of what's hip - excuse us, what's "da bomb" - in everything it does. And what can be more unfashionable than nostalgia?
Might as well be strapped to the kitchen table and force-fed your parents' stories about the good old days. MTV is where it's at today - the immensely profitable first entertainment stop for millions of young people - because of two decisions that didn't seem obvious when the network blinked to life at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 1, 1981 with the video for the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star."