 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "PopClips" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| PopClips | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Music television |
| Created by | Michael Nesmith |
| Developed by | Michael Nesmith William Dear |
| Directed by | William Dear |
| Presented by | Howie Mandel Jack Armstrong Jeff Michalski Charles Fleischer Bill Martin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 30 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Michael Nesmith |
| Producer | Jac Holzman |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | Nickelodeon |
| Release | 1980 (1980) – 1981 (1981) |
| Related | |
| Development of themusic video |
|---|
PopClips is amusic video television program, the direct predecessor ofMTV.[1]
FormerMonkeeMike Nesmith conceived the first music-video program as a promotional device forWarner Communications' record division. Production began in the spring of 1979 at SamFilm, a sound-stage built and operated inSand City, California by Sam Harrison, aMonterey Peninsula College instructor with a motion picture background. The series was produced byJac Holzman.
With aninfinity cyclorama as the background, set flats were made from theStyrofoam packing used to ship laserdisc players and 3/4" video decks. The first "VeeJay" was Jeff Michalski. The director wasWilliam Dear. Besides Harrison, the production team was made up of Bruce "Buz" Clarke, Keith Cornell, Marybeth Harris, and Leslie Chacon.
The program was broadcast weekly on the youth-orientedcable television channelNickelodeon in late 1980 and early 1981. The channel's owners at the time,Warner Cable, wanted to buy the name and idea, but instead, according to Dear, "they just watered down the idea and came up withMTV."
PopClips was preceded by the videoElephant Parts (which won the first everGrammy Award forMusic Video),[2] and followed by a second series titledTelevision Parts, both of which Nesmith hosted and produced.