Who Remembers “Bands On The Run” on VH-1 [VIDEO]

With American Idol finally going away soon, after Fox announces it's cancellation this week; I remember one music contest show that was ahead of it's time that I didn't really hate. 

Right around 2001 when VH-1's Bands on The Run music reality show debuted, reality TV wasn't really seeing it's big boom yet. We had The Real World and Survivor was picking up steam sure, but things weren't out of control yet and you could still be groundbreaking.

Now remember, this was a time when websites were about it. The ones that existed were bare bones. There was no MySpace or Facebook or Twitter, Instagram so on and so forth. The music industry was starting to feel the rumblings of the earthquake and technology boom that would destroy all previous ways of doing things. BUT... all was not lost yet. Bands still made records, played gigs, had blow ups, rocked out, partied hard, met human physical interests with sexual promise and lived on the edge of a knife. That's enough for a music tv show! It worked for VH-1, for just one season.

I'm not a fan of music contests. I don't judge talent shows or battles of the bands and I can't stand the shows on tv like the Voice and Idol, etc. I know it's entertainment, but I don't like the judging of people's talents in public. That's just me though.

If you never saw this show, Bands on the Run, this show was different. You'll see in the first episode video below. This was (sort of) about bands grinding it out and being a band. No phones (which all were flip back then), no money, no credit cards or comforts. Just you and your crew and a destination to be at to perform that night. Sure the cameras were on and if something serious were to happen they probably could get help, but because this was so different and never before addressed (bands trying to be bands on the road and succeed a long term journey that extends beyond three judges with bloated heads), you believed it a bit more. It was new. The bands and the viewers didn't know what to expect, so that made it as true to reality as possible, if that makes sense.

Anyways, here's episode one of Bands on the Run. As much as I liked the series, it would have been impossible to do a 2nd or 3rd season because the bands and fans and viewers knew how it worked after one season and it would have been tainted going onward. This one season worked cause no one knew what the hell to expect! It did come off VH-1 cheesy for times looking back of course, but overall, this was a cool show I thought. It was the closest thing to seeing real bands operate than had ever been shown on tv before. See for yourself. Watch a couple minutes and I assure you you'll watch it all!