MTV Presses the Flesh : Television: ‘Spring Break’ moves from Daytona to San Diego--and turns ‘Beauty and the Beach’ into a ‘family’ affair.

“Where are all the single horny men?” the warm-up man, Mark Wolberg, yelled to some 3,000 of San Diego’s young, restless and media-hungry gathered around the post-modern stage in the sand.

It was the moment of truth for MTV’s 1994 “Spring Break” programming, taped for the first time on Mariner’s Point in Mission Beach for seven days, ending Monday.

It was time for “Beauty and the Beach: The Swimsuit Competition,” the most controversial of MTV’s special “Spring Break” shows and the final straw that landed the music cable channel on San Diego shores in the first place.

During the eight years that MTV taped “Spring Break” in Daytona Beach, Fla., a longtime magnet for youth on the loose, the beauty pageant spoof had featured young women in sliver-sized bikinis bumping, grinding and gyrating on the stage.

Such scenes and the repeated airing of MTV “Spring Break” programming throughout the year raised fears among Daytona officials that the city was gaining a reputation as a yearlong hotbed for hyperactive hormones, prompting families to spend tourist dollars elsewhere.

Daytona and MTV couldn’t reach an accord, so “Spring Break” exited and arrived in Mission Beach amid an atmosphere of excitement, novelty, skepticism, cloudy and sunny skies and question marks. Lots of question marks.

Would the San Diego site, which is not traditionally a major destination for the spring break masses, produce the same beach blanket bonkers that drew top ratings in the past? In Daytona, MTV covered spring break. In San Diego, it created it.

Would the event, held in a 2 1/2-acre bayside compound next to a 10-acre site reserved for food vendors and product promotions, bring gangs, drugs and fights into the area, which draws a substantial party-down contingent under normal circumstances?

How would the city, staid by nature but eager to shed its “sleepy little Navy town” image once and for all, end up being portrayed when MTV’s “Spring Break”--an amalgam of its regular shows, live concerts and special beach-based segments--begins airing internationally, starting Friday?

The answer to the latter question--pivotal to MTV and San Diego’s future relationship--became apparent when the “Beauty and the Beach” swimsuit contestants hit the runway.

The young women pranced in bright, relatively modest bikinis, leaned down to slap hands, wiggled and left. The men, uniformly wearing checkered shorts, did basically the same thing.

“MTV provided us with the bathing suits. No thong bikinis were allowed,” said Jaime Torres, a 22-year-old Colorado resident whose husband is a Marine stationed in San Diego. “We couldn’t do certain dance moves. No grinding, no rump shaking. They kept saying they didn’t want controversy. That this was family entertainment. They stressed family, family, over and over again.”

Family entertainment? MTV? The media progenitors of “Beavis and Butt-head”? The station that prides itself as the one consistent television refuge from Mom, Dad and middle-class rules?

“If we don’t keep ourselves in check, our advertisers and cable affiliates will,” said executive producer Joel Stillerman.

Cloudy days and cool temperatures during the first few days of taping aided the cause--perhaps too much so, keeping the mostly teen-age crowds sparse (about 10,000 a day throughout the area) and clothed. MTV crews had to prowl the grounds for nubiles willing to brave the elements in scanty clothing.

Compared to previous versions, this year’s “Spring Break” may well seem less like “Animal House” in the sand and more how parents wish their teen-agers would spend their time--alcohol-free, smiling, bouncing a beach ball.

The scene changed, however, when sunny weather and the weekend combined to bring 35,000 twentysomething partiers a day to the area. With them came problems: traffic jams, drinking (although MTV and the adjacent festival area were alcohol-free), gangs and, for some local businesses hoping for a financial boost, a decrease in receipts.

“We rent kayaking and windsurfing equipment,” said Kathy Puckett, owner of Windsport, located across the street from Mariner’s Point. “But this wasn’t a beach crowd. And with the traffic, our regular customers couldn’t get to us. Bicycle rentals have been good, though.”

Arrests were nonexistent until Saturday, said Beach Enforcement Officer Steve Molner of the San Diego Police Department. “Then, there were fights, a strong gang presence, drinking. There were no major incidents, because we worked our buns off. Saturday night was a zoo.”

Molner still thought “Spring Break” was good for San Diego. “Next time, we’ll have more police officers. This was a learning year for everyone.”

Reaction among local residents was mixed, however--some hoping MTV never returns, others asking for better planning and a possible change of site to nearby Fiesta Island.

“Anytime there’s a large congregation of people, there’s going to be congestion. We’ll be checking with local organizations for reactions,” said Carolyn Wormser, the city’s special events administrator. “But most of the feedback I’ve received has been very positive, about both the taping and the event. I hope MTV will return.”

Will it? “It’s been a more pleasant experience than Daytona on every level,” Stillerman said, although no agreement has been signed yet for 1995.

Just one more thing. The women participating in “Beauty and the Beach” in Daytona. Were they “professionals”? “Some were,” Stillerman sighed. “You audition hundreds of people. You don’t always think of things in advance. This year, we made a conscious effort to reject strippers.”

* MTV’s “Spring Break” programming begins Friday at 4 p.m. with an installment of “The Grind,” followed by “Lip Service” at 4:30 p.m., “Beach Jam” at 5 p.m. and “Beauty and the Beach” at 6 p.m. It continues through March 27.