MTV's Most Wanted

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MTV's Most Wanted
Genre	Music / Entertainment
Running time	90 Minutes (with adverts)
Starring	Ray Cokes
Country of origin	UK, Europe
Original channel	MTV Europe
Original run	April 14, 1992–December 15, 1995

MTV's Most Wanted started on April 14, 1992 at 20:30 CET on MTV Europe. Every Tuesday to Friday, Ray Cokes offered a lot of viewer interaction, funny jokes, live music, famous guests, and crazy competitions. In the beginning it was a lot of crap. At the end it still was, but by then the popularity of the shown had reached enormous proportions. The end was announced as "quit while you are on top". It ran for four years, and the final show came on December 15, 1995. But Cokes would soon be back.

"Welcome to history boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen. Because this is the beginning of a new era, the beginning of a new series here on MTV. It's called MTV's Most Wanted. We wanted it, and you got it. NO! You wanted it and we got it!". That's how Cokes started the series.

Another entertaining aspect of the show was Cokes' interaction with his crazy crew of cameramen, producers, and soundmen. The crew members were treated as part of the family. Do you remember Andy (Andicam), Rob (Eééévening) and Craig the cameraman (Hello Europe!, QVC)? There were also Tracy (The tyrant), Timmy (The tea boy), Naughty Nympho Nina, the assistants and Alain (the Dictator - Director).

Brought live from MTV HQ in London, Most Wanted managed to bring a smile to millions of European viewers: 60 million viewers across 38 countries to be exact. Not even the most terrible circumstances of war prevented people in former Yugoslavia from watching the show and laughing with Cokes' often repeated jokes.

Most Wanted started out as programme with a simple concept: a show where viewers could request a video. Although financial resources were limited, the show's popularity increased rapidly as a result of the successful concept and the host's unique and open style of presenting.

1 Most Wanted weekends
2 Season 1 and Season 2
3 Season 3
4 List Of Just Some Of The Guests
5 External links=

[edit] Most Wanted weekends

In November 1992, Most Wanted had its first major highlight: a Most Wanted Weekend. Special guests included Sting, Right Said Fred, Shane McGowan and Nick Cave. One major highlight was Hypnotising the MTV VJs.

The "Bingo Wall of Death" was introduced during the second season. Björk was the first victim: she had to undergo it without the balls and without the big board (it wasn't ready yet). Take That was the last one. The questions ranged from "Do you believe in UFOs?" to "Did you ever have sex in a public place?". It was auctioned off during the last charity auction.

The second Most Wanted Weekend (November 20-22, 1993) came a year after the first one. It was bigger, better and madder than the year before. The special guests were Crowded House, who composed a new song, painted, and performed a half-hour live set). There were live cameras in two Hard Rock Cafes, and Davina McCall presented live from Camden Market on Saturday, and she visited a big fan in Germany on Sunday. There was also a lot of fuss about Flossy the sheep. The major highlight was the special night edition. That edition included a strange quiz with even more strange occurrences, like putting a condom on a cucumber and Cokes on the Bingo Wall of Death.

[edit] Season 1 and Season 2

Specials during those first two years include: The Cure - live concert, a Phil Collins special and Most Wanted meets ZOO TV. Cokes was also replaced many times because of other engagements (like Cokes in Cannes, Hollywood weekend, Cokes in search of Madonna) by Angelo Abela (Cokes' regular replacement), Maiken Wexo, Steve Blame, Curt Smith, Meat Loaf, Robbie Williams and Mark Owen.

February 1, 1994 meant not only a new starting hour (21:00 CET), but also a new set (the hotel set) for Most Wanted.

Image:Cologne 1.jpg

Ray Cokes

[edit] Season 3

Raywatch (April 21, 1995) was a special end-of-season edition with a special beach flavour. Cokes aid goodbye to Rob, the cameraman (he plays one of the main roles in the main storyline - he was supposed to be eaten by a shark).

May 23, 1995 has gone into Most Wanted folklore as "the big change". The show was back (for the penultimate series) with crap and total madness, but this time Wicked Will took control. He brought the show to a whole new level with lots of new ideas: live public (Club Bed), Devil Ray, Internet Ray Chat (IRC), Clean Our Souls (get rid of memorabilia from ex-lovers), Underwear Everywhere, etc... .

On June 2, 1995, Most Wanted witnessed the biggest chaos yet. Take That was in the studio, and hundreds of girls were going absolutely mad outside. Inside, it was the same: the phone lines went down, the competition went wrong (it took ages to find the answer) and the Bingo Wall of Death was one question too many ("Would you pose naked for money?" made Robbie Williams show his bum for £10. Cokes went down with disbelief and the papers had a nice new headline!).

Possibly the greatest Most Wanted moment was the live edition from Cologne, Germany on August 17, 1995. It didn't only have an incredible audience; it had good music too (Therapy? and Die Fantastischen Vier). There was also an Underwear Everywhere in front of Cologne cathedral! Do you remember the uplifting competition and the big bang (Clean Our Souls)? It was Most Wanted at its best. The following day, Cokes ended the series with a big hangover.

During 1995, Cokes was absent twice. The first time he was replaced by Davina; the second by Lisa I'Anson. (Cokes was sick for three days.)

Most Wanted ended with a bang on December 15, 1995. Cokes had his good friends The Cure playing live in the studio and there was a surprise call from Bryan Adams and a surprise visit by Björk. The set was taken away and we met some of the old crew members. Private Parts meant a revenge on Wicked Will and Cokes: Will lost his "nice" underwear and Cokes lost a special computer game. The latter almost broke into tears at the end, but it ended with the host played live with the Cure. A look-back during the closing credits was accompanied by Carly Simon's "Nobody Does it Better".