Either MTV is much smarter than us, or they have completely lost touch with America's youth. There's also the chance those two possibilities are not mutually exclusive. But when MTV announced, in December, that they were teaming up with the producers of High School Musical to create The American Mall, we were immediately skeptical: Isn't mall culture dying?

The financial woes of most retail stores would say so, as would the acceleration of teens and tweens' time spent sitting in front of a computer, television, or iPhone screen. But MTV charged ahead its new romantic dramedy TV film, already done filming and in post-production, about two teens falling in love while one tries to save her mom's record shop. The obvious appeal to the walking commercial that is MTV, of course, are the marketing opportunities; placements for Hot Topic and Torrid stores are no-brainers.

Actually, it'll be Sears. The struggling retail giant, usually touted by the likes of Ty Pennington, inked a deal with Mall and hopes to blow up the brand among younger consumers with the movie's Aug. 11 cable debut. (Also: It's back-to-school season.)

So what are the chances The American Mall will hit gangbuster status a la High School Musical, the sequel of which premiered to 17 million viewers? We're doubtful it'll perform that well but, while we still treat Empire Records as the official ushering of the end of mall culture, there's a yearning for a food court in all of us.