After-School Special.

• Author: LINDEN, AMY
• Position: MTV vj Carson Daly - Brief Article

Carson Daly's biggest asset on MTV may be his likability--and what's wrong with that?

Heather Purcell, 17, looks cool, calm and collected on a nippy, drizzly February afternoon in New York City's Times Square. She's one of 17 students from Lake Orion High School in Michigan on a class trip, and now that they've seen the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and Columbia University, it's time to take in Carson Daly. Or at least as much as they can see across one very wide street and up to the second floor of the building where he's the host of MTV's most popular show, Total Request Live.

Purcell's composure vanishes, however, the moment a nearby camera goes on, as she and the crowd around her begin to scream, wave hand-lettered signs, and jump up and down. When the camera shuts down, Purcell comes back to earth to explain why she's a fan of the 26-year-old Daly. "He's hot," she exclaims.

That declaration is true in more ways than one. Aside from his hip, smart, articulate--and let's face it, cute--on-air persona, Daly is enjoying considerable career momentum. For two years he has been the veejay on TRL, which, with about one million viewers per day, has become the biggest thing on MTV. The show's fast-paced combination of video excerpts, celebrity guests, and real-people shtick gets its special oomph from Daly's effortless charm. And lately he's begun to branch out, filming a TV commercial that ran during the Super Bowl and taking the MC duties at the Miss Teen U.S.A. and Miss U.S.A. beauty pageants.

STARS IN HIS EYES

Daly, who has dated actress Jennifer Love Hewitt and hung with musicians such as Christina Aguilera and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, still seems to be bedazzled by everything that's happening to him. "You're talking about a guy who was going to be a professional golfer," he said, "and who's really been thrust into this thing, and who's had all these wonderful opportunities."

Growing up in the Los Angeles-area beachside community of Santa Monica, California, Daly didn't have a clear...