But as Jefferis’ story shows, there was often a seedier side to these contests that emerged when the cameras were turned off. They capture the sublime ridiculousness of the era, when the network was flush with cash and eager to attract viewers and win the good graces of the world’s biggest musicians.

Thanks to archive-minded MTV viewers, many of the promotional spots for these contests have made it onto YouTube. “Lost Weekend” may go down as MTV’s most infamous contest, but it was one of many outrageous ideas executives cooked up during the Eighties and early Nineties. “They were flying by the seats of their pants, trying 100 different things to see what stuck.” “This was the Wild West of the cable era and were doing anything they could to connect with viewers,” Thomason recently told The New York Post. Jefferis story is now the subject of Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb’s new short documentary, Lost Weekend, which recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

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