If you rushed home every day to catch Total Request Live (TRL) on MTV, you weren’t alone. The iconic music show was a cultural touchstone for fans of ’90s and early 2000s pop music, a sentiment explored by boy band stars in the new Paramount+ documentary Larger Than Life: Reign of the Boybands.

The documentary features members of some of the biggest boy bands of the era as they reminisce about the groundbreaking show that defined their careers and connected them to millions of fans. Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees recalls the interactive nature of the show, where fans played a major role in shaping the music scene by voting for their favorite music videos.

“Fans felt like they had a say,” Lachey shared, explaining the show’s impact during the documentary. “I’ve tried to explain it to my kids, what it meant to that era of music and that generation of kids, but if you were a certain age, it was must-see TV.” Lachey’s personal connection to the show runs even deeper—his now-wife, Vanessa Lachey, was a TRL host (or “VJ”) during its heyday.

TRL debuted in 1998, hosted by Carson Daly, and quickly became a cultural phenomenon. It was more than just a music countdown; it was a platform where artists could interact with fans, premiering music videos and conducting live interviews. For boy bands like *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and 98 Degrees, TRL was instrumental in elevating their careers and cementing their status as global superstars.

Nick Lachey’s reflections highlight how TRL captured the spirit of its generation, bringing fans and artists closer in a pre-social media world. For many, the show was a daily ritual, showcasing the biggest names in music and defining what it meant to be a pop fan in the late ’90s and early 2000s.