F'NMTV: Putting the 'M' Back in MTV?

Remember when you wanted your music television? You're not alone. The net's introduction of MTV2 somehow didn't stem the tide of rumored malaise and longing for truly youthful rawness - and MTV apparently got the message. Their answer? F'NMTV.
Hosted by newlywed and soon-to-be dad Pete Wentz, the visually spastic, weekly show unveils artists' brand-new videos and encourages multi-platform audience participation. With super-saturated colors and graphics, a studio audience and live musical performances, the show is part concert, part critics' discussion, part Facebook-in-a-show-experiment and, most surprisingly, part education forum. (Seriously.) For F'N's third episode (to air June 27), I joined the fan corps to check out a taping that included Rihanna, T.I., Maroon 5 and newbies No Age, along with Making the Band alums, Boys to Men - whoops, Day 26.
Perhaps the most unique aspect of the show is the way that each artist introduces their video premieres. For T.I., an usually somber, pre-taped docu-style interview prefaced his arrival on stage, where Pete asks him to talk about his inspiration for his new video. He starts reeling off the names and song titles of artists that brought back my MTV era, starting with Tupac and ending with his own plaintive, Akon-like new video.
Later, Rihanna goes through a similar process, starting with a clip of Madonna's "Material Girl." It was at that moment that the sinking realization hit: This stuff was historical to the audience. The educational component was utterly undeniable later on, though, when indie band No Age mentions Phil Collins and Pete tells the audience to "YouTube" him.
Flashy, fun and self-aware (a panelist even refers to Pete as "Mrs. Simpson"), F'NMTV is clearly attempting to get it again and rejoin Gen Y's stream of consciousness in their own language. Are they succeeding? Summer's just beginning, so there's time to catch up to the beat of the new series. F'NMTV airs Fridays (8 pm/ET) on MTV. - Anna Dimond