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[Shard]

http://www.g4techtv.com/html/about/press/showrelease.asp?pressrelease_key=64

G4TechTV announced today that Feb. 2005 will mark the end of the TechTV name altogether, as they're dropping it for G4 again months after buying, raping, stripping and destroying TechTV, leaving only Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb as the survivors. This is basically exactly the kind of sickening move I'd expect from a channel that took one of my favorite "tune in anytime" channels and turned it into the 13-year old's station. You couldn't even THINK up worse shows than the garbage they cancelled Call for Help and destroyed The Screen Savers for. I mean, Arena? Cheat? Filter? Do I look young enough to not be able to look up cheats or be interested by top 10 lists? And now they've actually come up with something STUPIDER -- "Girls Gone Wired", which I initially thought might be Martin Sargent's shot at getting a job again, but turns out to be a digital beauty pageant. That's right, kids, ogling DIGITAL GIRLS.

 

[bishoptl]

in before fap

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

It is so sad what G4 did to TechTV. I use to watch all the time, but now I never tune in, not even for XPlay. The channel is totally geared for kids. TechTV RIP.

 

[DJPS2]

It's a by-product of gaming becoming a part of mainstream society. Gaming isn't just for nerds anymore, so the suits at G4 are trying to add a dose of SpikeTV to the lineup with the hopes of attracting the 18-30 male demographic.

Fear not, though... if and when that video game crash that hardcore gamers are praying for finally hits, G4 will sink faster than the Titanic.

 

[kaching]

TechTV was already sliding towards doom in my eyes once Sumi Das left Fresh Gear. It was practically inevitable at that point.

 

[G4life98]

So are we gonna have to wait for someone to start a new channel, so we can get actual tech news again.

my inner geek am crying

 

[Shard]

It does appear that way, so sad, so very, very sad.

 

[Hooker]

in before fap

Isn't that a on "the list"??

 

[bishoptl]

I'm an admin, I can do what the hell I want.

 

[Pimpwerx]

I last tuned in when it was still called ZDTV. :lol Screen Savers was a great show. It was great to watch during the big hardware announcements back in 2000 too. Oh well, RIP a channel I'd long forgotten. PEACE.

 

[Truelize]

Ah come on everyone. Stop your whining. It's still a gaming related channel. It's better than not having a gaming channel at all.

Geesh.

Every week. Every freakin week.

 

[bonesquad]

The 4 new 'G's of G4 say it all:

Games, gear, gadgets, and girls.


And if Peach doesn't win that digital beauty padget, there will be hell to pay!!!

 

[Priz]

hahahaha... "Girls Gone Wired" (sad they use the name of the unscrewed segment) is hosted by Hal Sparks!

John Henson used to be my favorite Talk Soup Host (Never saw the Kinnear days) and he recently had a short lived show on SpikeTV. On the first episode he introduced himself saying you might recognize him from talk soup, and mentioned all the other hosts... he mentioned Hal Sparks seeming to slide into his Queer as Folk role a little too easily. :lol

What about Kevin Rose/Sarah Lane and the Screen Savers? Are they scrapping that too?

 

[Cain]

It's a by-product of gaming becoming a part of mainstream society. Gaming isn't just for nerds anymore, so the suits at G4 are trying to add a dose of SpikeTV to the lineup with the hopes of attracting the 18-30 male demographic.

Fear not, though... if and when that video game crash that hardcore gamers are praying for finally hits, G4 will sink faster than the Titanic.

Ugh. I don't get the channel so I've never actually seen it, but having it compared to Spike TV makes me understand how horrible it seems to be.

 

[Wario64]

 

[Defensor]

TechTV was already sliding towards doom in my eyes once Sumi Das left Fresh Gear. It was practically inevitable at that point.

Once Sumi Das and Erica Hill left Tech TV, it was all over from there.

 

[Wario64]

The 4 new 'G's of G4 say it all:

Games, gear, gadgets, and girls.


And if Peach doesn't win that digital beauty padget, there will be hell to pay!!!

You know, gear is pretty much the same thing as gadgets. You can tell they were desperate for finding words to fit the 4 G's

 

[Shard]

Priceless.

 

[heavy liquid]

TechTV was already sliding towards doom in my eyes once Sumi Das left Fresh Gear. It was practically inevitable at that point.

Ohhhh, Sumi...

I had no reason to watch Fresh Gear after she left.

 

[AirBrian]

You know, gear is pretty much the same thing as gadgets. You can tell they were desperate for finding words to fit the 4 G's

They should've used GAF as the 4th "G" 'cuz of all the quotes they steal -- LOL AM I RITE!?

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Ah come on everyone. Stop your whining. It's still a gaming related channel. It's better than not having a gaming channel at all.

Geesh.

Every week. Every freakin week.

Um...no. I'd rather have no game related channel rather than suffer through G4. It's the kind of programming they continue to push out that keeps the general public thinking that game players are all young dweebs who can't get a date and have no life outside of GTA.

 

[Shard]

Ditto, plus we have the internets for all of our gaming needs anyway. In short, G4 who the bloody hell needs it?

 

[tedtropy]

Once Sumi Das and Erica Hill left Tech TV, it was all over from there.

Ah, Erica. Sigh.

 

[mj1108]

No gaming channel >>> dog shit >>> G4

 

[BuddyC]

hahahaha... "Girls Gone Wired" (sad they use the name of the unscrewed segment) is hosted by Hal Sparks!

NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HAL?! NO NO NO NO! BAD!

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Once Sumi Das and Erica Hill left Tech TV, it was all over from there.

Yeah, why couldn't one of them been a part of the Cat Schwartz Photoshop Topless pics fiasco from awhile back!

 

[Wario64]

Yeah, why couldn't one of them been a part of the Cat Schwartz Photoshop Topless pics fiasco from awhile back!

Jessica Corbin wasn't too bad either

 

[Legal Step]

They work in the building next to us. Morgan Webb was upset when confronted about whether or not they play they games they review.

Adam Sessler has a big noggin. If you are ever in LA they located on Olympic and Bundy, bring your molotovs.

 

[border]

I like how a thread that started out criticizing G4 for trying to put the focus on hot girls has ended up with people obsessing over the hot girls that used to be on G4, and talking about how a particular show wasn't worth watching after some hot girl left.

Gee, I wonder why G4 is putting more emphasis on girls?

 

[hyp]

TechTV had some shitty shows anyway. i'm actually glad that G4 is going to be more gaming oriented from now on. and hell, hot chicks aren't a bad thing imo.

 

[Shard]

TechTV had some shitty shows anyway. i'm actually glad that G4 is going to be more gaming oriented from now on. and hell, hot chicks aren't a bad thing imo.

Well, now we know who hasn't been able to get free porno online yet.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

I like how a thread that started out criticizing G4 for trying to put the focus on hot girls has ended up with people obsessing over the hot girls that used to be on G4, and talking about how a particular show wasn't worth watching after some hot girl left.

Gee, I wonder why G4 is putting more emphasis on girls?

Well, at least the hot girls were on shows that weren't aimed at teenagers and had some useful, interesting content. :lol

 

[Shard]

Yea, this new approach is more of a "Teenage softcore wankfest" idea as seen on MTV and Spike TV.


Also, these girls are flesh and blood not polygons and pixels.

 

[tedtropy]

No, I am not responsible for that horrible Photoshop effort.

I'm not overly concerned with happens to the rest of G4, as most of the content of both G4 and TechTV's has always been crap. It's what's happening to TSS that bothers me. Everytime they 're-tool' it, it seems to get that much worse. Oh well, the honeymoon has long since past for the show. Kevin's basically the only remaining older member, and you can tell his heart ain't exactly in it anymore...

 

[Vibri]

From the press release:

"Video games offer us a distinctive voice that resonates with our target audience and G4 delivers the highest concentration of males 12-34 of any other television network." Hirschhorn also announced plans for a multi-million dollar marketing and advertising campaign to launch the G4 brand.

Some PLEASE EXPLAIN this world where fucking GMR and XBN are cancelled, and yet G4 seems to be growing and spending millions every year like nobody's business? Ugh.

 

[border]

I only started getting G4 over the past month....can somebody explain what used to be so much better about The Screen Savers? From what I've seen it's pretty decent. Not the sort of thing that I would tune in to "on purpose", but if I catch it on then I usually watch it.

"G4 delivers the highest concentration of males 12-34 of any other television network"

B-b-b-ut the ESA says that 45% of gamers are women!

:lol

 

[Lyte Edge]

I just keep hoping that all of the people from the good Tech TV shows band together and start up a new channel.

Okay, so G4 bought Tech TV to kill the "competition." Hey MORONS, WHAT COMPETITION? You couldn't have two channels, one focusing on VIDEO GAMES, the other focusing on all the tech/computer stuff? Lame.

 

[Lyte Edge]

I only started getting G4 over the past month....can somebody explain what used to be so much better about The Screen Savers? From what I've seen it's pretty decent. Not the sort of thing that I would tune in to "on purpose", but if I catch it on then I usually watch it.

It's almost become the same show in NAME only. TSS used to be a show related to PC/Mac hardware/news, and had little to do with gaming. They would show off/review new products and take calls from people, giving them tips and such.

Now the show is basically an altered version of G4's gaming news show, Pulse, which is where the new hosts came from. It also also revealed from a former TSS co-host/writer that the format was completely changed and even the calls became scripted, because the G4 people thought that having "insecure nerds calling in for help" wasn't good TV. Thing is, TSS was a SHOW FOR NERDS, so it kind of made sense.

I'm not going to just side with the Tech TV people. They lost their jobs, some got "screwed" by G4, etc. So they're obviously bitter about it. So while I feel for them, for me, G4TechTV is just another channel to watch. I don't take it personally.

The problem I have with G4 is that 90% of their shows are just CRAP. I mean come on...Cheat? Filter? Cinematech? Who the hell is watching these shows that doesn't have internet access and can't find cheats on gamefaqs, look at various websites' top 10 columns, or download previews for games? It's just dumb. I read that even Arena got "corrupted" and now the competitions are fixed. Yuck. And don't get me started on G4TV.com. The only thing worse than that is going to be "Girls Gone Wired." :\

 

[Wario64]

I only started getting G4 over the past month....can somebody explain what used to be so much better about The Screen Savers? From what I've seen it's pretty decent. Not the sort of thing that I would tune in to "on purpose", but if I catch it on then I usually watch it.

"G4 delivers the highest concentration of males 12-34 of any other television network"

B-b-b-ut the ESA says that 45% of gamers are women!

:lol

The Screen Savers used to be about tech, and the hosts and cast of the show were very knowledable about a lot of tech stuff. They answered daily calls, they had tech news daily and it was fantastic. The guests were good and the personality of the hosts really brought out the show. Now TSS is replaced by G4 cast and they don't really know anything about tech, so they tried to shift the focus of the show from tech to a 'gamer lifestyle'. I havent really watched the new TSS though, maybe only a couple minutes or so. The thing that really bothered me about the new TSS is that they fabricated live calls, meaning they made up the questions and they hired G4 staff and friends to call in, trying to make them authentic phone calls. It was obvious that the hosts aren't capable of answering live calls on the spot...they even had to ban one of their hosts from answering live calls at one time

 

[Shard]

The only show of any value that G4 created was ICONS.

Also, can we please for the love of god fire Tommy Tallerico out of a cannon already?

 

[Wario64]

The only show of any value that G4 created was ICONS.

Yes, WAS Icons. They're changing the show to this, however...

“Icons”: Icons will be the “Biography” show for the G4 viewer. The goal is to release the biographies in conjunction with major movies in 2005. The show is interested in producing shows on: Frank Miller, George Lucas, Pixar, James Bond, Stan Lee and Peter Jackson. Once the icons are set, we will be setting up interviews with their friends and associates.



UGH.

 

[VALIS]

I still like X-Play and Judgment Day is the one good show G4 brought over. Once in a rare while Icons or Filter is okay. The rest, though, especially The Screen Savers, just awful. Even though the Kevin/Alex Screen Savers wasn't as good as the Leo/Patrick shows, it still wasn't toooo bad. At least there was some humor between Alex and Kevin. The Kevin P./Che-Lan Screen Savers is so painful and awkward you actually feel bad for everyone involved. The show now has all the timing and energy of a local cable access program. I feel seasick just thinking about it.

 

[doncale]

I last tuned in when it was still called ZDTV. :lol Screen Savers was a great show. It was great to watch during the big hardware announcements back in 2000 too. Oh well, RIP a channel I'd long forgotten. PEACE.

lol, i was just gonna mention that myself. ZDTV :lol

 

[Shard]

Now I REALLY feel like banging my head against a weall and then setting fire to the G4 HQ.

 

[Lyte Edge]

The only show of any value that G4 created was ICONS.

Yeah, and I thought I saw something about even that getting changed? :\

Also, can we please for the love of god fire Tommy Tallerico out of a cannon already?

I'll accept him simply because he's on two shows that at least have a purpose: Reviews and previews. Same with X-Play.

 

[Shard]

Yeah, and I thought I saw something about even that getting changed? :\



I'll accept him simply because he's on two shows that at least have a purpose: Reviews and previews. Same with X-Play.

See above Wario post.

 

[VALIS]

The only show of any value that G4 created was ICONS.

Also, can we please for the love of god fire Tommy Tallerico out of a cannon already?

The guy can be annoying personality-wise, but he makes up for it by being very critical of nearly every game he reviews. I'd love to see a lot more of that in the vg media than the typical fanboy slobbering.

 

[Arluss]

Problem number 1 is thinking they are a "brand." XD

Nothing says "love me" more than saying "I'm a brand!"

Especially since the brand they're selling is complete shit. It would've been better if they cancelled most of their G4 stuff and just let TechTV take over.

"Our audience interacts with digital girls as much as real girls and we're tapping into that fantasy," commented Laura Civiello, Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for G4.

I find that quote totally demeaning. Especially since videogame characters are mostly attractive by design. As appealing as the idea of Solid Snake in a speedo would be to me, I really wouldn't tune into a show where their VP of Acquisitions and Development says "well, the female audience, and some of the male audience, interacts with digital men just as much as real men. We're tapping into that fantasy."

No, bitch, you're selling more ad space.

 

[Wario64]

The guy can be annoying personality-wise, but he makes up for it by being very critical of nearly every game he reviews. I'd love to see a lot more of that in the vg media than the typical fanboy slobbering.

To me, Tallerico acts like a troll than anything. I know it's his opinion and all, but his justifications for his reviews don't really make sense to me. I mean, he actually lowered the review score for Viewtiful Joe because the name "Viewitful" was stupid. Huh?

 

[border]

From what I've seen, Screen Savers still follows technology and has gaming slant. The hosts are not super charismatic but they're at least a bit likable. The features and interviews are pretty cool -- I caught them chatting with Kevin Mitnick the other day. I tend to want to judge these shows on the content that they have rather than their cast, but it previously seemed like people just whined about the loss of old hosts.

How did the call-in format work? You just dial them up and ask about anything tech related? I can't fairly side with the fans or G4 since I haven't seen it, but that really doesn't sound very exciting to watch. I guess with that style though then good hosts really would have been a necessity.

My main complaint about the network is that everytime I tune in it's just some tedious game-reviewing show. I understand that it's hard to come up with compelling content that is game-oriented, but do I really need to see the same shit reviewed 3 times over on like 3 different shows?