I had a very nice Fourth of July long weekend, thanks for asking. After a few days of basking in the glory of independence and not having to be at work, I wanted to kick back on Sunday afternoon and enjoy some television. I had no interest in Wimbledon nor the hours of Christmas movies running on the Lifetime Movie Network, so I turned to an old failsafe at MTV with the knowledge they normally reserve their Sunday afternoons for reruns of America's Next Top Model. Imagine my surprise when Hulk Hogan was calling somebody "Brother" on the set of American Gladiators. This caused a short circuit in my brain so profound that I'd like MTV to explain themselves.

The "MTV doesn't play videos anymore" argument is tired and has been made pretty much every year since MTV's inception. Despite the mess that is F'N MTV, the network remains more committed to the girls from The Hills and Rob & Big than to anything involving music videos. I'm fine with that; with the rise of YouTube and the advancement of web video, who could possibly want somebody else to program their videos when they are available at the touch of a button? If I want to scroll up the clip for Coldplay's "Violet Hill," why would I wait to see it?

So I tune in knowing that I'm not getting music videos, and I'm fine with that. When MTV started running marathons of America's Next Top Model on Sundays (which evolved from showing Real World and Road Rules marathons in that slot), I was a bit taken aback. Was it really more lucrative to air repeats of a show that they don't normally host on their own network than to just toss up a few hours of random videos? Apparently yes, as the trend continued yesterday with MTV's American Gladiators marathon, featuring Hulk Hogan, "Gladiators" named Wolf and Hellga and a parade of geeks competing against each other for a car.

You could make a case, however tenuous, for America's Next Top Model: it's based in fashion, which is deeply linked with the music world, plus Tyra Banks has appeared in several music videos (including Michael Jackson's "Black or White" and Kobe Bryant's one rap video).

But where is the link with American Gladiators? Is the idea that MTV gets a big number from the Real World/Road Rules Challenge and used to air Sandblast back in the '90s, and thus it's okay? Is it because Hulk Hogan had a hit show on sister station VH1? Is it because MTV has bought into the idea that pro wrestling is the best way to break new bands? Or was it just 4th of July weekend and they were looking to show something with "American" in the title? I'm baffled, but what do you think?

[Photo: Getty]