G4TechTV Announced

Str8Dog writes "Looks like Comcast has made its plans for the G4 / Tech TV merger public via, G4TechTV.com. The FAQ page list the shows that will be surviving the merger. Call For Help seems to have received the axe. No word is given if the casts will remain the same."

Comments

G4??

[Anonymous Coward]

Haven't you heard, it's all G5 these days.

If Leo goes, I go.

[Seoulstriker]

Leo is the only reason I watch the Screensavers and is only one of two reasons I even watch the network (the other is for X-Play). If Leo isn't there anymore, I'm out of there. :-(

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[ScottGant]

How can you say that? Leo Leporte treats his viewers like they're 3rd graders.

Actually, Leo is one of the nicest people on the face of the planet. When someone is having a problem, he is patient enough to walk them through it.

Not to mention the fact that Leo has many times shown how easy it is to get Linux up and running on a machine.

The Screen Savers is a great show.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Deitheres]

I know a lot of people who watch TechTV. While I won't be so rude as to say they have the mentality of 3rd graders, I will say that most 3rd graders that I know have better computer skills than most of the people who watch TechTV. I've watched it a few times, and I can say that it bores me, because it does pander to the lowest common denominator. I am hardly uber-l337, and it still seems pretty dumbed down to me.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Araxen]

It has to pander to the lowest common denominator because the majority of the people that watch the show are clueless about computers. If Leo or any of the gang take the hardcore route the show wouldn't have lasted as long as it has.

I always thought they should have made a show for the hardcore, linux, and mac crowds though.

Sure they showed a little of each in TSS but if they showed anymore they would have had to get rid of Sarah the clueless wonder and her spoonfed tips.

Aside from that rant I was really looking forward to the break up of Kevin and Sarah and too how they would get along afterwords on the show. ;)

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[pnrgi]

True Leo does treat his viewers like 3rd graders but thats also good. There are all of these old people watching, and they do everything he tells them with their computers. Thank god he doesnt tell them to reflash there bios or i would be at my grandpa's house every other weekend...

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[FrostByte12]

Leo is...TECHTV. When all the boring tech news gets you down, Leo's black shoes with speed-style flame stripes come to the rescue. Best of all, they make whoever wears them go faster. Removing leo is like taking Krispy Kremes from a fat man. It's a sin.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[tbmaddux]

Leo is the only reason I watch the Screensavers

Are you sure you are still watching it? Leo Laporte ended his gig as regular host in late March (as reported on Slashdot) and he left TechTV altogether in early April.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[rograndom]

well, leo hasn't been on the screensavers in about a month. so i guess you're already out of there.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Seoulstriker]

Are you sure you are still watching it? Leo Laporte ended his gig as regular host in late March (as reported on Slashdot [slashdot.org]) and he left TechTV altogether in early April.

I have not been able to catch TSS while in school. When I come home, I only watched TSS and X-Play on TechTV. I was aware that Leo had some issues with the parent company and he was put on hold for a while. It didn't really concern me and they actually got him back for a while because they fixed the problems they had with each other. But now that TechTV was bought by Comcast and it seems that they cut out Leo permanently, there is no reason for me to watch anymore (when I'm home, that is. ;-) ).

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[sweeney37]

except everything was worked out with the parent company and he was back on TV by April 20th.

Mike

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Anonymous Coward]

TechTV only is available for people paying for the full package here in Portland. That means unless you're payign $110+ for your cable bill, you don't get TechTV. I got rid of my expensive cable a long time ago so stopped getting techTV back then.

That being said, I was impressed with the quality of some of their shows. Granted, some were total crap but Unscrewed, Call For Help, The Screen Savers, X Play (okay, I only watched X-Play for Morgon Webb...yum).

Call For Help and The Screen Savers are geared toward newbies and your parents, but they occasionally have interesting stuff - and often have really cool interviews with very important, interesting or historical figures in technology. Being a veteran in this industry, I almost never had an "oh my" moment from the show, but it was okay to watch.

Leo has a good report with callers and users. You should read his computer almanac. He's the pinnacle of good tech support, if you ask me. People in the industry could learn a thing or two from him.

I also like Patrick (his co-host). He has an interesting background, is very intelligent and is just all around a funny guy on TV.

And Kevin Rose is interesting. He is much more like your average Slashdot geek (and I know he's reading this thread because he IS an avid Slashdot Geek). It's okay to hate him though, since he's all hooked up with Sarah.

By the way, Kevin Rose has been doing some interesting things with his site http://TheBroken.org (along with Dan).

And god damn, if Jessika (the hot redhead from TSS) wasn't the hottest thing on geek tv in history... Smokin' hot...

Anyway, I hope that the good people and the good shows survive the merge with G4 and that only the crap is chopped. I could do without 12 reruns of Robot Wars every day - and that stupid "tech tv news" program every night... they recycle news stories like mad! I swear to god they did the same story on a floating motor home every night for about six months! THE SAME FUCKING STORY! And Wired for Sex was crap. And too many infomercials.

For those who don't know, Leo also does a radio show. He has a very full plate. I have a feeling that, while he has been around since the start, he could take or leave the show. He's a popular and busy guy. And as for the rest of the people - theyr'e young and talented. They're not going to be destroyed by the end of TechTV. Not by a long shot.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[AvantLegion]

Leo has left The Screen Savers. Nothing to do with Comcast. He left The Screen Savers before his prior contract dispute, which was before Comcast firing everyone.

If you paid attention, you'd know that Leo has remained on The Screen Savers this long solely because the (now previous) ownership insisted he do so. He always wanted to work on Call For Help, and even had to leave THAT show for a time (and was quite happy when he got the show back).

When word of Comcast's purchase came, Leo saw his opportunity to leave The Screen Savers and take up something else (his radio show).

It's a compressed time frame, and I get how people are getting confused. But Leo's leaving of The Screen Savers stems only from his desire to do so. Now, Call For Help getting axed is a different story.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[deviator]

There are very few people out there who can speak authoritatively about technology--teaching people how to use it without sounding like an arrogant prick. Leo is the *best* I've ever seen anywhere at this--and the tone at TechTV follows his lead.

The few times I watched G4 the people on it seemed to have a 'tude, because there isn't a "Leo" presence there. I hope Leo at least signs on as a creative consultant for the newly combined channel. (G4's design & branding looks like ti was done by a third-grader, as well...)

Comcast's lineup choices seem to be on target though--it's unfortunate they may be dropping Call for Help (at least until a massive write-in campagin restores it) but it's great to see Unscrewed made the cut! Martin Sargent is pretty brilliant--and I think his star (and Laura Swisher's) are just beginning to rise...

(and if you haven't seen Unscrewed, think of Letterman circa 1986...)

I'm bummed that I'll probably never get down to the Bay Area to see a taping of TSS or Unscrewed in time at this point. :(

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Cliffy03]

But If anyone told grandpa how to flash the bios and have it work, it would be Leo.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[netringer]

Are you sure you are still watching it? Leo Laporte ended his gig as regular host in late March (as reported on Slashdot) and he left TechTV altogether in early April.

Are YOU still watching TechTV?

If you read Leo's CURRENT blog and the boards at leoville.com you'll read that he came to terms on a new contract with the interim TechTV and has been back on Call for Help for the last few weeks.

He's currently on a a road trip with others from TechTV.

You'll see Comcast filed termination notices for the entire TechTV staff but they can decide who will move later.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Anonymous Coward]

Leo really knows his stuff. I think this is best demonstrated on his "Tech Guy" radio show on KFI in Los Angeles. He also has MP3s of the older shows available in the 'Show Notes' section of his Website. Highly recommended.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[VesperDEM]

Pitty he doesn't listen to the questions he answers.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Roger Keith Barrett]

Leo is probably out. For one reason, he has said many times he did not want to go to L.A. Secondly, he says he hasn't been approached to stay.

There is more info about it in this part of the thread.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Anonymous Coward]

Martin Sargent is a two-bit Tom Green clone and Laura Swisher's 2 enormous "assets" are the only thing she has going for her. That show should be cancelled, the set burned to the ground, all archival material dropped into an active volcano, and a constitutial amendment passed prohibiting it from ever returning to the airwaves on penalty of extreme electrical shock applied to the genital area over a period of decades.

Other than that though, it's ok.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Geek of Tech]

Great, first it looks like he won't be on G4TechTV, then you put up a link to MP3s on his site! You trying to knock him off the net? What do you have against the man?!

Having said that, I'm about to start download these very MP3s and do my part to slashdot everyone...

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[tbmaddux]

Are YOU still watching TechTV?

Actually, no, I stopped watching a little before he stopped his stint as regular host. Also, even though I stopped watching, I maintained my subscription via Comcasts "Digital Extra" package of channels (which I purchased for the sole purpose of watching TechTV).

So I suppose that makes me 1) uninformed in my decisions of what to watch and 2) ineffective at making my decisions known in a way that matters (i.e. Comcast's pocketbook).

Still it's good to hear that Leo is back. Maybe I'll start watching again.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Anonymous Coward]

And Kevin Rose is interesting. He is much more like your average Slashdot geek (and I know he's reading this thread because he IS an avid Slashdot Geek). It's okay to hate him though, since he's all hooked up with Sarah.

No, i'm afraid being hooked up with sarah discredits him from being an average slashdot geek.

By the way, Kevin Rose has been doing some interesting things with his site http://TheBroken.org (along with Dan).

While i'll admit the mitnick interview was indeed cool, I don't like how they're trying to portray themselves as being bad-ass 1337 h4x0rs, yet only demonstrating that they have read a few hacking books and know how to run a few tools. that's about it!

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Anonymous Coward]

But where else would I get tips to find pr0n on the 'net!

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[true_majik]

Although TSS is geared toward newbie/novice computer users, I do watch it. I personally do not like Leo at all. What really ticked me off about Leo is not so much how he treats people like 3rd graders like some here have said...it's all the time he wasted trying to be a clown. It just irritated me that even when a caller was trying to ask his/her question, Leo would go offtrack. And when they get back on track, he'd resume with his stupid antics. You could tell that sometimes even Pat would get annoyed and would shut him up in a graceful and polite way. Now w/out Leo, TSS seems to cover more topics, caller's questions, etc.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Ab0rtRetryFail]

I do hope Leo stays. But....

WHY THE @#*^ is robot wars being kept on? Does the smarmy brit host bother everyone else as much as he bothers me? Does the whole ripping-off-the-concept-from-Battlebots (which was/is superior, IMHO) bother anyone?

That being said, I hope they keep Morgan Webb on X-Play. She almost makes up for the extremely annoying Adam Sesler (ALMOST). MMM.... Morgan Webb.... :: Homeresque drooling ::

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Captain Splendid]

Y'know, Leo's a nice guy, and I can respect his passion for what he does, but I never learned much from him. Patrick, Yoshi and Kevin, on the other hand, have actually managed to clue me in to stuff I didn't know about.

Anyway, this is the Slashdot crowd, and stuff like TechTV has never been aimed at us.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Anonymous Coward]

Leo is ok I think, he's pretty mellow so his tv persona doesn't creep me out too much. Call for Help on the other hand is lame.. it's the kind of programming that makes me feel out of place watching TechTV.. I mean it's called TechTV it should be *the* channel I watch, but I already know how to protect myself from the current virus threats, yeah go ahead and tell me about them, give me grity technical detail, and as far as the confused masses go screw em. Oh but that's not good for ratings you might say, it's a valid point, but how many people actually watch that channel for more than an hour at a time? How many of those people who are actually geeks looking for something good to put in the background? Dunno maybe my guess at who their demographic is is totally off base, but I'll just say then that I could watch the channel if the content more closely followed the name. (If you call the current state of TechTV "tech" than you probably think Circuit City has an Electric Ave.

We gonna rock down to... Electric Avenue

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[zaffir]

I was very relieved to see that Invent This and Nerd Nation weren't cut. They're some of my favorite shows. I really like the style of Invent This, where the only input from the network is little text blurbs at the bottom explaining a few background facts, and the rest is totally from the person the episode is about. I miss Deep Thinkers which was much the same.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Cylix]

Yeah, I used to sit in their chat rooms and correct them a lot while watching the shows. They were always hilarious after the show stopped rolling. I think that was back when it was ZDTV.

I since then have stopped watching... just techtv didn't really seem all that tech to me. My mom really likes it though. It seems really targeted for people of her experience level.

I do have a renewed interest with the merger though.

I will miss Leo though...

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[zaffir]

You hit the nail on the head concerning TSS. They aren't for the mom's who are afraid of their computer; they're bridging the gap between the crowd that can use their PC/Mac easily and the typical /. person who's into programming and *nix etc. I'd like to see something even more hardcore, but i don't know what they'd really do.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[jseale]

Yeah, looks lke Tech Live got axed too. Heck! That was like the Headline News of the tech biz. Speaking of which, CNN's tech-related news articles have been produced by TechTV these past few years. You've gotta' wonder if they'll be doing that anymore.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[chadm1967]

Right on!

Martin was "funny" on the TSS but his new show just plain sucks. I tried to sit through a whole episode once. Wow! That was rough.......

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Hallow]

What kind of crack are you smoking?

Robot Wars a rip-off of Battlebots? Puh-leez. I was watching Robot Wars years ago on PBS. It's been around as a British series (hence all the funny accents) since 1997.

Craig Charles the "smarmy" host, played Lister on Red Dwarf, an IMHO, great sci-fi comedy.

There was (is?) an American Robot Wars on TNN that had Mick Foley, a professional wrestler (aka Mankind, Catus Jack), as MC - it was horrible. It was like Robot Wars meets trailer park. I'd much rather have Craig's stupid poetry at the end of every show.

I miss the obstacle courses they used to have -
I found that more interesting than the battles
most of the time.

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Lobo_Louie]

Big question:

Morgan Webb: Pink or Brown?

Re:If Leo goes, I go.

[Ab0rtRetryFail]

Hallow:

Okay, perhaps Robot Wars predated BattleBots. I still don't like it. I'm all about the one-on-one battles that BattleBots provided, plus I thought the interviews and correspondents were funnier. I think BattleBots is currently in limbo, though, so I haven't seen it in quite a while.

Mr. Charles may have been funny in another show, but he just seems corny on Robot Wars. Who knows, maybe TechTV keeps it on because lots of people watch it. Maybe its cheap. Maybe both. I still won't watch.

Thank god!

[SirPhreak]

Was ready to change the channel today at 5 to avoid the horrible robot wars, was suprised to see that Filter was on, a former G4 show. No complaints show far, work out the techtv crap and bring in decent G4 shows. If they keep the right people this might not work out too bad.

Re:Thank god!

[tenaciousj]

I'll have to agree with you on the Robot Wars issue. Just hearing it on makes me cringe. I either have to mute it or turn the channel all together.

Re:Thank god!

[yRabbit]

The same here. There's just SOMETHING about that narrator's voice, auughhhh. (Otherwise, I might've actually tried watching Robot Wars)

Re:Thank god!

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait til you've seen that same episode of filter 30 times...

Re:Thank god!

[Anonymous Coward]

You insensitive clod! My toddler loves Robot Wars, and if it goes off the air, I'll be stuck with showing him The Wiggles, Dora the Explorer, or (shudder) Barney!

Please! Won't someone think of the parents of the children!!!

Now featuring

[Anonymous Coward]

All outsourced Indian hosts! In the near future, they'll be replacing the Indian hosts with computer generated people to lower the costs even more.

Re:Now featuring

[LostCluster]

Actually... ZDTV/TechTV used to have a computer graphics division reponsible for powering animated personalities Dash and Tilde. They were all let go when the 9-and-a-half-hour version of TechLive folded.

Re:Now featuring

[Milton Waddams]

http://dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/images/d ilbert2004366030506.gif

Re:Now featuring

[Anonymous Coward]

If that means Sumi Das is coming back, that would be fine with me.

Re:Now featuring

[igaborf]

In the near future, they'll be replacing the Indian hosts with computer generated people to lower the costs even more.

You mean Apu?

Leo

[mlcolosimo]

Uh oh. Poor Leo is going to be out in the cold... Maybe he'll go back to TSS? Wait its not cold in California...

Re:Leo

[freeJustin]

Have you even been to california? norcal is nothing but fogg. except today.

Re:Leo

[woobieman29]

Wrong. San Francisco is foggy a lot, but the rest of NorCal has nearly perfect weather.

Re:Leo

[freeJustin]

i dont count the sacremento valley as part of california. especially not davis

Re:Leo

[uvsc_wolverine]

San Jose is quite nice this time of year...

And the timeliness of /. prevails!

[LinuxHam]

I was *just* wishing for TechTV to start showing up on my Comcast Digital Cable. In the meantime, I was watching a Screen Savers episode On Demand -- the one about security, not 20 minutes ago. I figured it was going to be a lousy glossing over, but they opened by talking about Nessus and spent a good 10-15 minutes going over a nice-looking Windows port of Nessus, Newt. They really seemed to know what they were talking about. A couple of screw-ups here and there, but I was just blown away that a couple of tv dorks even heard of Nessus and could speak authoritatively about it.

Re:And the timeliness of /. prevails!

[f0rtytw0]

I've just started watching Screen Savers again and I have also been surprised by some of the things they say and do, stuff you'd never think you would see on tv.

Re:And the timeliness of /. prevails!

[Anonymous Coward]

Screen Savers has some good stuff... and sarah lane is hot so that's a bonus.

What "Call For Help" and you will likely fall asleep.

Re:And the timeliness of /. prevails!

[LostCluster]

Comcast viewers without TechTV will be able to see a preview of some of the surviving TechTV content tonight over G4. The two networks will simulcast every day from 4pm to 6pm ET and 10pm to 12mid ET with one hour of TechTV original content and one hour of G4 content in each block. Basically, you'll be seeing X-Play and Unscrewed as TechTV's contribution to those blocks.

Re:And the timeliness of /. prevails!

[The Lynxpro]

"I was *just* wishing for TechTV to start showing up on my Comcast Digital Cable."

Eh? TechTV WAS on Comcast Digital. It just wasn't on their standard digital package. You had to pay $5 extra to get TechTV and Trio...and BET Jazz. Isn't that a combo? And apparently, that is Comcast's most popular add-on, that package, not the BET Jazz component. G4 came in the standard Comcast package. So the question is, will G4TechTV be in the standard digital Comcast package or if it will remain in the $5 add-on.

4 Hours?

[DaHat]

Maybe I'm seeing a bad page... but their line up looks only like 4 block hours thus far... oh yea!

Re:4 Hours?

[LostCluster]

No, what you're seeing is are the two "crossover blocks" when TechTV content will appear for the first time on G4 and G4 content will appear for the first time on TechTV. Those will happen every day from now until May 27th when the two networks finally merge and become one.

Never even heard of G4

[Deitheres]

But I am not a big TV watcher... I have, however, heard of TechTV... I've seen TechTV. I wonder if this will help G4's viewer audience, or if there are going to be people who defect because they are pissed that their favorite TechTV/G4 show got cancelled... I know a lot of people who really like Leo (I think his last name is Laporte or something?), and if he gets dropped I think a lot of them will stop watching the channel.

yar

[fresh27]

still some crappy shows on there. but it seems that they have screensavers, ep, and judgement day, the only shows that really matter.

How is this bad again?

[MrZaius]

Okay.... so they're keeping the two shows I sometimes actually liked (Anime Unleashed and the Screen Savers), adding gamer-oriented content I never got to see before.

I'm supposed to bitch and moan....... why?

Re:How is this bad again?

[Anonymous Coward]

You will be annoyed at the G4 "shows" after a week. Mainly because it's the same show, same episode is on every other day.

Re:How is this bad again?

[jejones]

If you like gamer-oriented content, then I guess you don't need to bitch and moan. I personally couldn't care less about gamer-oriented content, and IMHO anybody who goes on as they did about catering to "the gamer lifestyle" is probably a marketroid who couldn't come up with a good show to save his or her life. Also, combining the two into one network probably means that the good stuff will be crowded out by the "gamer-oriented content," and that it will be that much less likely that we'll see a TechTV program specifically about, say, FOSS?

poor unscrewed

[lawngnome]

I sadly doubt that one of my favorite techtv shows, unscrewed will be around... From what I have heard it sounds like the new network will be game heavy with a little tech thrown in to balance things out...

I wonder what Martin will do after this? He should get a public access show, as thats what unscrewed resembles now.

Re:poor unscrewed

[gamgee5273]

Dude, read the FAQ. Unscrewed survived.

Re:poor unscrewed

[TJ_Phazerhacki]

No offense personally, but Unscrewed is the reason I stopped watching TechTV for a good while. It was vulgar, and downright offensive. Mebbe he can head on over to Comedy Central, where they pander to that crowd. As for myself, when I turn on TechTV, I expect just that - something relating to Technology, not giving away butt plugs to any hooker whose willing to post their website on TV. Come on, I'm not saying he dosen't have a right to put content on the air, but If he's going to foul up a station, push him off onto something designed around it.

Re:poor unscrewed

[lawngnome]

First, I did not RTFA - my work firewall only allows slashdot and userfriendly (many thanks to the admin team btw)

Secondly, I can understand why others dont like the show (and one of the reasons I thought it was cancelled) it is vulgar, and sometimes downright weird... (whats with the spoken word sessions with smut on the screen? *shudder*) But, its a pretty cool talkshow - the people are so insane its awesome late at night, kinda like a normal talk show on very heavy drugs. No, Im not one of those jerry springer watching shock monkeys either, I just like my tech mixed up a bit ;-)

Re:poor unscrewed

[the_2nd_coming]

I guess you are illiterate?

it says right in the FAQ that unscrewed is gonna be kept.

Re:poor unscrewed

[Mantorp]

I could do without the "girls gone wired" segment because it is offensive and sexist, and I would not feel comfortable watching it with my wife or daughter. But on the other hand the show is about online culture and like it or not porn is a big part of that culture. I like the show for the odd guests that are on, freaks with weird interests or inventors of obscure or faddish stuff. The singing psychic and various conspiracy theorists are also amusing. Martin's visits to trekkie or UFO conventions are good too. I'm glad it made the cut.

Re:poor unscrewed

[Anonymous Coward]

Hear hear. This show would be great without the raunchiness. As it is, they're all sex-obsessed and I just can't stand it. I did manage to catch the segment with the Time Cube guy, though.

Re:poor unscrewed

[DeXtroMe]

It's interesting to see that in a liberal community such as /. there's still people who find anything sex related 'offensive' on television, sounds like my father, who grew up watching TV in the 50s. I would have thought we've progressed a bit further than that, but then again maybe you are just one of the much older crowd....

Re:poor unscrewed

[The Lynxpro]

"No offense personally, but Unscrewed is the reason I stopped watching TechTV for a good while. It was vulgar, and downright offensive. Mebbe he can head on over to Comedy Central"

My gawd...it sounds like you need to spend some time in the *touching shed* (obligatory "Unscrewed" reference) instead of deciding to stop watching an entire cable network over one channel. Geez. Sargant is funnier than Leno or The Late Late Show. If I said he was funnier than Letterman, I'd be accused by some moderators here as pandering...although I think it...

Re:poor unscrewed

[TJ_Phazerhacki]

There is a difference between sex related content on TV in general and content on a station that broad casts to (lets face it) Males between 13 and 30. There is enough of the lower end of that audience that I honestly believe they should review some of the content. And FYI, I'm a 19 year old male - terrible to think we exist, us young, educated conservatives, isn't it?

I wonder if they know...

[Power Everywhere]

I wonder if they know that Motorola renamed the G4 to e600.

It just doesn't have the same ring, does it?

What article about G4 would be complete

[Talez]

Without Penny Arcade's Review of G4TV!

Not a surprise that Big Thinkers got the axe...

[The Beezer]

I'll bet both the other watchers of the show are bummed out too. :(

Re:Not a surprise that Big Thinkers got the axe...

[multimed]

I have to admit early on I thought the show was promising--I think it started with Stewart Brand, an interesting guy who's had a dramatic impact on the world and worth finding out what he's currently thinking about. But I think it bottomed out with David Gelernter--seriously I think I could smell the guy through my television--take a shower man. An hour show on him and I still have no idea what the hell he has contributed - I mean he kind reminded me of the to old dudes from the muppets who just sat and bitched - well at least they were funny.

Re:Not a surprise that Big Thinkers got the axe...

[memco]

I thought Big Thinkers stopped airing a while ago. I liked that show. Oh well, now it's definitely gone. Now down to 3 interesting shows left.

No Robot Wars?

[blandnet]

I can't stand it! However, I hear the test pattern that is taking its slot is promising great ratings!

Re:No Robot Wars?

[LostCluster]

Robot Wars is actually on the "safe list" however its 5pm and 10pm ET timeslots are going to get pre-empt for the next three weeks by TechTV simulcasting G4 programming in a pre-tease of the merged network.

Some of the crossover blocks will contain live coverage of the E3 convention.

Strong line-up...

[gamgee5273]

I like the line-up, and I think the logical crossovers (TSS's LAN party days easily can be tied into a larger Arena presence) are good things...

I think this could end up being The Geek Network... or it could end up being a rehash of all we've seen on both TechTV and G4 (rerun after rerun after rerun). I'm surprised to see that X-Play survived. I seriously wonder how it will fit in with a bunch of shows (Judgment Day, G4TV.com, Cheat!) that basically do what it does in much greater detail (it's gotta be Morgan).

I think the network needs to do three things for it to take off correctly: 1) Bring back Leo as a major presence; 2) Bring back Wil (yes, CleverNickName, even with your view of The Company and The Viewer I think Comcast would be silly not to ask you to return) to not just Arena but maybe TSS, too; 3) Make sure Jim Downs is out and that his ghost never rises again...

And the one thing that would bring many old-school TSS fans back? Find, and hire, Kate and Megan, dammit! :)

I gotta go warm up my TiVo...

Ugh. Too much anime.

[EvilStein]

Just like when MTV was playing the same stuff on Headbanger's Ball, 120 Minutes, Alternative Nation...

TechTV has 3 anime shows that show up quite often. I will miss "Call for Help" as it was sometimes an informative & fun show.

Also notice that TechLive is not on the list of shows. That was one of my favorites.
"The Tech Of.." is gone, but "Robot Wars" stays?

I knew Comcast was going to screw everything up.

Re:Ugh. Too much anime.

[Anonymous Coward]

TechLive was the one program I would watch religiously. It was sort of the slashdot of TechTV. It was almost a day late with most the slashdot stories but it was still worth watching. Does the new network have any sort of computer news show?

Re:Ugh. Too much anime.

[LostCluster]

G4 has had a weekly video-game news program called "Pulse" based out of their LA operation. If Pluse were to expand its topic area to the tech world at large beyond video games, it'd essentially become TechLive.

G4 presently has an "all video games, all the time" format that's going to get muddled with the TechTV content they're absorbing. It's still a bit unclear whether G4's original shows will start to change format with this merger, or if it's TechTV's surviving shows that are going to be asked to focus more on video games than they did before.

Re:Ugh. Too much anime.

[Roger Keith Barrett]

I really hope that G4 makes some changes. I just started watching G4 since I heard about the merger and some are damn near unwatchable. A lot of them are just slickback newsreaders that have the personalilty of your generic "tv personality" types you see on infomercials.

One of the reason I think people like Morgan and Adam on X-Play is while they do a professional job they seem normal. I think that's why so many gamer and geek guys like Morgan, because while she is a good on-air personality she lets her normal personality show up on the shows. G4 doesn't do that... it's totally slick corporate airheads.

Having said that, they do have some good concepts to build on.

Re:Ugh. Too much anime.

[Anonymous Coward]

Any anime is too much. Can't stand anime
or just about any Japanese animation I've
ever seen. And, yes, most of their video
game art sucks to.

X-Play!

[Anonymous Coward]

Sweet! X-Play made it through. Now, let's just hope the hosts make it through too. You guys know what I mean. *wink wink* *nudge nudge*

Re:X-Play!

[Roger Keith Barrett]

Morgan is SO CUTE and can be HOT at the same time.

I sooooo think she would be the perfect woman for me, but the restraining order is making it hard for me to catch her attention.

Re:X-Play!

[trashme]

Oh boy do I! That Adam Sessler is so hot!

Re:X-Play!

[Geek of Tech]

In all seriousness, Adam Sessler's humor is one of the reasons that I watch that show.

Re:X-Play!

[Karnatos]

Agreed: Adam is one of the funniest game reviewers I have ever seen on TV; but without dumbing down the quality of the reviews he provides. I really hope he makes the leap to G4TechTV.

Re:X-Play!

[Anonymous Coward]

More importantly, both Judgment Day and the Electric Playground survived from the G4 schedule. Both shows are hosted by the same guys (Vic and Tommy) who do a great job covering the video games industry. Both shows are independently produced (not directly by G4).

What with X-Play on the schedule, it may seem like an overload of videogaming, but remember that originally G4 was 100 percent videogaming.

Since the server seems to be dying, MIRROR :-)

[mirror_dude]

I have put up a mirror at http://mirrorit.demonmoo.com/r_359/www.g4techtv.co m/
Enjoy :-)

I'm Satisfied

[MBCook]

I think this is one of the best outcomes that could happen. The shows that I care about most (X-Play, Fresh Gear, and Invent This!) are all OK, along with others (Anime Unleashed, for one). At the same time I'll get new shows from G4 (some of them must be good, right?).

I was worried about this whole thing, but this seems to be about the best anyone could realistically hope for.

Tech Tv...

[TJ_Phazerhacki]

I was sorely dissappointed when I returned from an extended leave of absence - years - and discovered that one of my favorite channels, TechTv, had lost almost all the qualities that I used to appreciate. The need for a network preaching tech to the beginning user is past - and some of the content on Tech TV is downright questionable. I have seen very little of G4, but I absolutely love the concept - I hope that G4 benefits from becoming part of a larger network, instead of rotting away in the recesses of a network with an identity crisis. Anime, computer games, and SOME hardware stuff... Not going to name certain shows or hosts (some of them seem to have a fanatical following around here...Leo) That's a network that I could devote some time to. Wired for Sex, Unscrewed in it's current format, and live broadcasts of games I'd rather turn on and play myself? This could fall both ways folks. Let's hope it remains a lifestyle channel, not a public ridicule and stereotypical all-things-that-make-geeks-antisocial montage.

Fixes

[illuminata]

Hopefully they're only using G4techTV as a temporary name to help guide people through the merger, because that one's just not meant to last. ZDTV was able to handle switching over to TechTV, so I don't think that there will be much of a problem switching over this kludge of a name in the future.

As far as the new lineup goes, it's better, but still a little weak. Some of what TechTV is bringing over might as well be tossed over to a channel in the Discovery family (Future Fighting Machines, Invent this), and some of the G4 shows might as well be scratched (Arena, Players).I hope that they're trying to find some worthwile original programming to strengthen the lineup, otherwise I don't see this merger making the channel any stronger than G4 and TechTV were on their own. Who knows, maybe if they try hard enough they can make the basic programming packages.

Re:Fixes

[Ledge]

I pray that they change the name to The G Spot. I haven't watched TechTV much since it changed over from ZDTV. This would surely draw me back in.

Call For Help finally done for!

[SnowCrashed]

Finally, they're going to cut Call for Help... All Call for Help really was is a rehashed/dumbed down version of the Screen Savers. Admittedly, Leo does/did a great job at running the show, and he is the perfect person to run a show for the less experienced crowd, I just think that if they do have a show of the Call for Help "nature" that they should either make it completely for beginners, or just make the Screen Savers slightly more newbie friendly.

Re:Call For Help finally done for!

[dicepackage]

I like the Screen Savers but was hoping they would keep Call For Help. Now the Screen Savers is going to be more of a merger between Call For Help and the Screen Savers where they have to dumb down a lot of the questions to try and appeal to both audiences.

Re:Call For Help finally done for!

[illumin8]

Fuck, if they dumb down the screen savers anymore I won't even watch it. Sometimes they cover semi-interesting shit like a few days ago when Kevin Rose told you how to use an OpenGL desktop on KDE and OpenGL desktop switching 'ala Expose in Linux... Occasionally there are good articles like that, but then they'll have 45 minutes of "What size hard disk do I need to buy to upgrade my computer???" and I just cringe.... The truth is, 90% of the questions they are asked could be solved by typing the question, word for word, into Google and clicking "I Feel Lucky!".
That is boring television, honestly, but I watch it anyway sometimes just because I'm a geek I guess. Whatever.

Now they might have enough content for one channel

[Anubis333]

Well, from the times I watched Tech TV and G4, I wasn't at all impressed, maybe now they will have enough programs to fill ONE channel with content, instead of rerunning old programs as endlessly as they plug themselves with HUGE commercial breaks full of their own spots and commercials for their own network. There were a few great shows on ZDTV/TechTV, and a videogame network was a cool idea, but I could have told you they were going to fold eventually, G4 was especially terrible, it only had one or two shows a day and then recycled all it's content for the rest of the 12 hours before it sold it's soul to infomercials at night.

Unscrewed isn't going anywhere

[RdsArts]

Check the page. Unscrewed lives! :D

That and XPlay are the only reasons I watch, they're both staying. As far as I'm concerned they can just dump the rest of the schedule. ;)

text of FAQ page

[slyguy420]

G4 and TechTV Merger - Press
Press Release
G4 and TechTV Merger - Quick Facts
When will TechTV and G4 merge into one network?
The merged network will premiere on Friday, May 28th.
What will the merged network be called?
G4techTV
Will my provider carry the merged network?
The following systems will carry G4techTV: Comcast, Time Warner, Mediacom, Insight, Cablevision, Charter, Adelphia, Cox, Cable One, Dish, and DirecTV.
What channel number will G4techTV be located at?
Your cable or satellite provider will be letting you know where to find the new G4techTV.
What will happen to all my favorite shows?
G4techTV will showcase the best of both TechTV and G4 including:
from TechTV:
* Anime Unleashed
* Body Hits
* Eye Drops
* Fresh Gear
* Future Fighting Machines
* Invent This
* Nerd Nation
* Robot Wars
* The Screen Savers
* Thunderbirds
* Unscrewed
* X-Play
from G4:
* Arena
* Cheat!
* Cinematech
* Electric Playground
* Filter
* G4TV.com
* Icons
* Judgment Day
* Players
* Portal
* Pulse
* Sweat
How can I find out when these shows are on?
When the new G4techTV launches, the full schedule (and detailed information on each show) will be available here at g4techtv.com. In the meantime, check out the programming blocks listed on this page for a sample of each network's great shows.

What about TechTV.com and G4TV.com?
The websites will also be merging into a new website, g4techtv.com, which will be located right here where this informational page is located now. The new site will incorporate features from both G4TV.com and TechTV.com.

How can I get more information?
Call (800) 839-7880 or send us questions and feedback at mergerinfo@g4techtv.com

Re:text of FAQ page

[c1pher]

"How can I get more information? Call (800) 839-7880 or send us questions and feedback at mergerinfo@g4techtv.com"

heeey...another number we can /.

ask 'em why they're giving everyone the boot or something... then ask them what they're wearing and how long they've been beating their kids. :-)

Re:text of FAQ page

[Anonymous Coward]

Holy shit, it made it.

If there was one abandoned show on TechTV I really liked, it was Eye Drops. It's a show that plays short films on the 'net, usually made in some kind of 3d animation suite (Maya, Blender) or Flash.

Excellent, excellent show, I'm glad they're finally making more episodes.

Re:text of FAQ page

[Anonymous Coward]

Here is my assessment of current TechTV shows (from techtv.com), and which ones should stay. I haven't seen any of the G4 shows, but most of them sound similar to X-Play, and why would I need to watch any more than I do already? They already play it multiple times a day, and X-Play gives me my Morgan fix. *Anime Unleashed - Pretty cool and varied. Keep it. Leans toward the teen/identity crisis crowd Big Thinkers - Haven't seen it recently, but was pretty interesting when I did. I'd still take Silicon Spin and John C. Dvorak over it, though. Let it go. *Body Hits - Topical and informative. Great host. Keep it. Call for Help - Strictly for newbies, but Leo is great. Keep it for the newbies. Conspriacies - This is reactionary nonsense. Good-bye! Cybercrime - This was informative, but I have no idea who the target audience was. Focus on the end user, and keep it. *Eye Drops - Amateur computer graphics submissions. Interesting, but repetitive and flat sound content. Get more submissions, add voice commentary by submitters over video. Keep it, but keep airing it on off-hours. *Fresh Gear - Nifty new gadgets and stuff you can't afford. A little repetitive, but lots of great contributors. Definitely a keeper. *Future Fighting Machines - Neat show, it helps that it is internationally acquired. Keep it. *Invent This! - Good show, but dwells a lot on simple inventions. Gets old quickly. Keep it anyway. Let'er Rip - Never seen it. *Nerd Nation - Um, since when am I no longer a nerd? These aren't nerds, they're social rejects. I may be a social reject and a nerd, but I can't identify with any of these "nerds". WTF? Lose it. Performance - Really cool. Keep it. *Robot Wars - Pretty interesting the first time or two around, but an hour long in prime time? I watch Red Dwarf, so I'm a Craig Charles fan, but a lot of people aren't. Lose it. Secret, strange, and True - Informative, but unbalanced (sensational and activist). Nothing particularly secret, either. Dump it. Spy School - Lorna Watson is okay, and the other chap is a dunce. The host is an egomaniacal twerp. Barely watchable because the format sucks. Dump it. Tech Live - Interesting, but light. A little more intersection with Slashdot would improve things significantly. Keep it. *The Screen Savers - Leo is the man, Patrick and Kevin are pretty competent, and Yoshi comes up with some interesting mods. Sarah daily adds a database entry to her XP registry edits. Great guests, and lots of mentions to FOSS. Kevin and Sarah need to grow up. Keep it. The Tech Of - Haven't seen it in a while. Sorry. *Thunderbirds - I think I saw this when I was 5. Dump it. Titans of Tech - Haven't seen it. *Unscrewed - Martin makes a lot of suggestive comments and drug references and interviews freaks. For those of us who think the web means you are more free to be a freak... not me! Dump it. Wired for Sex - Very timely topics, but hugely biased and misrepresentative. Dump it. *X-Play - Morgan abuses Adam, and we get to watch her jiggle. Stilted interactions but fun if you want it to be. I'm too old for this... I actually do enjoy some of the reviews, though. Keep it. My scorecard: Keeping 8 of 12 keepers (67%) Potentially losing 9 of 12 losers (75%) All things considered, they've kept the best (and unfortunately Unscrewed), and gotten rid of the mediocre. I think I can be happy as long as the SNR of tech to G4 content is high enough.

The big question

[Profane MuthaFucka]

Will that sweet sweet maiden Sarah Lane still be on Screen Savers, and will she dump Kevin Rose for me?

Re:The big question

[Anonymous Coward]

Sarah's Cute and has quite a following... but I want Jessika or Morgan Webb. They're not hot for "geek chicks". They're hot for ANY chicks. Period.

Re:The big question

[LostCluster]

Will that sweet sweet maiden Sarah Lane still be on Screen Savers, and will she dump Kevin Rose for me?

The more likely question is whether the two of them are going to live in the same appartment if they relocate to Los Angeles when the show moves...

BTW. For casual fans of the show... Kevin's real-life roommate at the time is fellow cast member Dan Huard... together they rent out the garage of an otherwise large house.

Re:The big question

[Profane MuthaFucka]

Wow, my comment about Sarah Lane got modded up to +5! That means there's a chance she might read it!

Oh shit...that means there's a chance she might read it, and she'll never become Mrs. Muthafucka now.

Re:The big question

[Z4rd0Z]

That's not information for casual fans...that's more like information for heavy breathers.

Re:The big question

[cubicledrone]

The more likely question is whether the two of them are going to live in the same appartment if they relocate to Los Angeles when the show moves...

They'll need a roommate too. Preferably a doctor, lawyer or CEO with a lot of savings.

Re:The big question

[boiscout]

The real question is will Kevin dump Sarah for me!

He's such a hottie!

Re:The big question

[The Lynxpro]

"Will that sweet sweet maiden Sarah Lane still be on Screen Savers, and will she dump Kevin Rose for me?"

And where is Ms. Cat Schwartz? Photoshop will never be the same without her...

Re:The big question

[GuyinVA]

You can have Sarah. I want Cat. She's a lot better looking, and has a better personality.

Anime stays?

[Quebst]

No offense to the anime lovers, but doesn't comcast already have other outlets for anime? I fail to see the direct connection to technology, although gaming is somewhat related.

Again, no offense to anime lovers, but it seems to be in places where it shouldn't. I really don't mind it on Cartoon network(where it may belong) but would still prefer other adult swim titles. I guess it's better than many of the new kids cartoons, which can't compete with even my generation's(X) classics.

Re:Anime stays?

[TJ_Phazerhacki]

The main reason the Anime stays - look at the target audience. I personally like it, but look at the facts. Anime is popular among teens who game + Teens who game watch tv = Put anime on your network, and they will watch it. Honestly, I don't know how long the Anime will survive. Cartoon Network Has an established Presence in this field, and they have options on many major shows. Tech Tv/G4/ Whateva will end up with Indie Anime, And seconds from the big CN. Heard Nickelodean is looking at Anime too - 'cept they're gonna produce their own. Aieee.....

Re:Anime stays?

[Roger Keith Barrett]

I agree that the reason it's on TechTV is because of the huge overlap. On the surface it doesn't make a lot of sense, but when you look at the audiences it's perfect.

I am fine with the fact that it's there, and I think that anime itself is underepresented on American TV and I would hate to see ANY outlet get rid of it. As a matter of fact I would love to see a fulltime channel for Anime in the US.

Re:Anime stays?

[DarkBlackFox]

but doesn't comcast already have other outlets for anime?

Comcast might, but other cable providers may not. I have Charter, and the only somewhat decent anime I get is on Cartoon Network and TechTV. I'm glad they're keeping it in, for non-Comcast subscribers who need an anime fix.

Re:Anime stays?

[erice]

No offense to the anime lovers, but doesn't comcast already have other outlets for anime?

Like what? Cartoon Network? I like Anime but what Cartoon network chooses to play is not to my tastes. It's all dumbed-down and g-rated. Part of what makes good Anime so good is that it is so different from American television. Cartoon Network only likes to show Anime when it fits in well with it's American programming. The good stuff is nothing like American cartoons and, as often as not, is not considdred safe for the kiddies.

KTEH, in San Jose, used to show a lot of good stuff but Sunday Science Fictino is no more.

Re:Anime stays?

[Anonymous Coward]

anime is for fucking faggots who like to dress up as panda bears and be gang raped by tentacle monsters from the sea. fuck you and the giant octopus that is currently pounding you in the ass with his giant cock, which by the way has an obscene amount of veins in it.

you're a sick fuck and i hate you.

Re:Anime stays?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, like I trust Nick to make good choices about anime programming. They canceled Invader Zim even though it has a HUGE following and won an Emmy in it's first seasion.

They can take their Sponge Bob and shove him down their filthy little worm baby pants!

All well and that, BUT

[Anonymous Coward]

Is Wil still gonna be there?

This network continues it's spiral down

[jshindl]

Back in the beginning, it was ZDTV. A great network -- lots of useful information, tech news updates (basically a video version of news.com -- updates on the 1/2 hour). It was great. Then it became TechTV, stripped away much of the serious news coverage and replaced it with silly shows about how to use your computer (Screen Savers, anyone?). Now it will basically become a gamer's channel. Probably Ch. 485 on most cable systems. A say day :(.
-Jason

Re:This network continues it's spiral down

[BigDish]

I agree it was much better when it was TechTV, but I would like to point out that The ScreenSavers has been on TechTV/ZDTV since day one

Re:This network continues it's spiral down

[nuggetman]

The first time I turned on ZDTV sometime in 1998 was at a friends house (I didn't have the channel at the time) when Leo and Kate were installing Linux live on an episode of TSS

The name

[phisheadrew]

What the hell kind of name is G4techTV? That sounds absolutely horrible. I like that they're bringing over a lot of TechTV shows (though not unless they bring over the TechTV people with them, including Leo), but the name just sucks IMO.

Combined names work for soul-less huge corporations who merge (AOL Time Warner), but TV stations? How about CBSABCFOX?

Leo most likely gone... others stay

[Roger Keith Barrett]

Leo Leporte said somewhere on his leoville site that most all of the TechTV talent has been approached about staying on EXCEPT for him.

Basically, that means that the outward face of X-Play, TSS, and Unscrewed would basically be the same.

Wish I had a link to back this up, but it's burried somewhere within his huge messageboard.

Re:Leo most likely gone... others stay

[Roger Keith Barrett]

Oh.. an addition to this... today they started their crossovers as mentioned on the site.

They played two previous episodes of X-Play with lovely Morgan and Adam on G4. I doubt that they would have done that if they beleived that the hosts were going to go away.

Re:Leo most likely gone... others stay

[Roger Keith Barrett]

After doing some wrassling with the UBB forums, I finally found the link

Leoville

Re:Leo most likely gone... others stay

[Anonymous Coward]

There is no way G4 would dump Morgan Webb. She is just too cute, funny, coy and intelligent. A chick who has a fetish for GBA and knows more about videogames than I do - and totally gorgous to boot. They could have an hour long show of her just standing around by herself and it would probably be the highest rated thing G4 ever had. Getting rid of or keeping anyone else is totally debatable - but getting rid of Morgan Webb would be like... well... getting rid of all your male viewers. :)

Unfortunately, Unscrewed made it

[McSpew]

I don't know how anybody can call "Unscrewed" one of their favorite shows. Martin Sargent is just not that funny, and Laura Swisher is too something. I tried to watch the show when it first came on, and it sucked. A few months went by and I thought, "Well, they haven't canceled it yet, so maybe it's gotten better." So I watched it again. It hadn't.

If you took everything funny out "The Man Show" and pointed it squarely at computer geeks, you'd have something sorta, kinda like "Unscrewed." But it would probably be funnier than "Unscrewed."

Morgan Webb

[Castaa]

I think the whole merger rides upon getting Morgan Webb to stay with the new network.
There's something about Morgan...

All kidding aside, I'm glad that X-Play and the Screensavers are surviving the merger.

As dumbed-down as some people think the Screensavers is, its the only nationally broadcast TV show that actually talks about computing and the people/culture of computing. It has a very homebrew feel about it. Plus the show is a big proponent of Linux.

I like X-Play because of Morgan and the fact that they aren't afraid to actually criticize poorly designed games.

Re:Morgan Webb

[Anonymous Coward]

Cable TV is not broadcast, you moron.

the good and the bad

[dirk]

While I see a lot of good stuff staying (TSS, G4TV.com, Icons, X-Ply, I see some things that I just can't figure out.

They kept the fucking Thunderbirds?? The Thunderbirds??? I have never talked to anyone who actually watched this show, much less enjoyed it. Same thing with Portal and Cheat.

They should definitely tone down the G4 contribution, as that was by far the weaker channel. And they need to keep the hosts as is if at all possible. I like Leo, but he was a much better fit for Call for Help than the Screen Savers. He is better with the lower knowledge crowd, and TSS was moving towarda a geekier crowd.

Re:the good and the bad

[Roger Keith Barrett]

Um... I watch the Thunderbirds (or at least Tivo it) every week. And I enjoy it.

It's not a new show... it's a classic. And, BTW, there is a big budget live action version coming out this summer. Info at IMDB.

I would guess that there are many fans all over the world for them to decided to do a live action version of a supermarionation program as old as that.

Re:the good and the bad

[brokenspark]

They kept the fucking Thunderbirds??

Probably because of contract obligations.

Re:the good and the bad

[Anonymous Coward]

> They kept the fucking Thunderbirds?? The
> Thunderbirds??? I have never talked to anyone
> who actually watched this show, much less
> enjoyed it. Same thing with Portal and Cheat.

Hey, Thunderbirds are cool! So there...

Re:the good and the bad

[multimed]

I can't help but feel like the Thunderbirds is some inside joke that I just don't get. I mean could some one please explain it to me? At best it's campy garbage that might be funny for it's awfulness once, but I just can't understand why anyone would watch it unless they were high or something.

All I need...

[Knifethrower]

All I need is Starcade and Secret, Starange and true to be added to the list and I can die happy. I wonder what'll happen to TechTV On Demand, G4TechTV On Demand?

Who Will Stay?

[SlashdotOgre]

A show with all new hosts is basically an entirely different show. The loss of a number of behind the scenes people is a shame, but I don't believe it would have as much of an effect (at least not on the types of shows being kept). I really hope they will post who will be staying on soon. I am betting Cat will stay (she mentioned she was in LA over the weekend on today's show); but unfortunately I doubt that will be the case with Leo. I wouldn't be suprised if the younger people on staff (Kevin, Sarah, Morgan, etc.) make the jump, but I don't know if that will be enough to hold me over as a viewer. I almost stopped watching a month or so ago when Leo temporarily left TechTV, and the future looks bleak to me...

To hell w/ Comcast!

[Anonymous Coward]

No Call for Help, no Wired for Sex, and God only knows what's happening to the casts of the shows they are keeping on the air...

Screw Comcast!

Actually...

[Cyno01]

No slashdot arcticle at all would be complete without a semi-relevent Penny Arcade link.

Basic or Premium?

[Anonymous Coward]

On Insight here in Louisville, TechTV is included with standard cable, while G4 is included with one of the premium digital packs. It'll be interesting if they move the new channel to basic or premium.

Bleh

[davmoo]

Any organization that would can Call For Help and Leo but keep Unscrewed with Martin the Dork obviously has no concept of what they are doing.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Hmmm....

[writermike]

I don't know. I'm happy about the merger; I think the topics are natural fits, but they BOTH struggled mightily for ad revenue. I keep thinking about the song "Nothing From Nothing Means Nothing." Can combining both really bring a real bump in revenue?

m

They should have used G5s

[cft_128]

G5 servers would have handled the load much better than the G4 they seem to be using.

Some theories

[AvantLegion]

First of all, this is a good thing. Sad that the merged network may be Laporte-less, but without someone to buy the network, we might lose all TechTV.

Some people are scratching their heads at the inclusion of stuff like Thunderbirds. I can't blame them.

But remember: Comcast has said all along that the merged network will see new programming. But new programming takes time. In the meantime, something has to be put on air. Here they are, acquiring TechTV, which has purchased a good amount of external programming. Well gee, there's some no-cost programming to stick on air. That's almost a no-brainer.

I dislike Thunderbirds, Robot Wars, and the rest of that crap as much as anyone else. But I understand why it's going to be aired. You can bet that those will be the first things replaced with new merged-network content.

Re:Some theories

[LostCluster]

It looks like all of the made-by-TechTV shows are going to end up suffering a downtime while they relocate to be with the rest of Comcast's TV operations in Los Angeles (which include G4 as well as The Golf Channel, Outdoor Life Network, E! and Style Network).

Therefore, there's going to have to be a bit of a stop-and-reboot before new "TechTV" content comes out of the merged network.

G4 was pretty weak

[McP]

First, I was never able to decide if the writing on most of those shows was aimed about 2 generations behind me or it was just plain awful. Not that I'm Shakespeare over here, but their writing and attempts at being funny just fall flat.

Second, watching segments of an Unreal Tournament match on shows like Arena are just... not thrilling. I can watch a friend play just fine, or even spectating a net match is cool sometimes, but the way they presented it was just bleah. This is partly due to my first complaint above... the commentary during the matches blows.

For me, the coolest thing was their promotional stuff. The animations and game clips that they play between the commercials and the shows (are thos ecalled bumpers?) were very stylish. What a contrast to the actual programming.

The best show they had, hands down, were the old episodes of Starcade. Makes me want to feather my hair and play some Frogger.

Let’s keep our priorities straight...

[Anonymous Coward]

As long as Laura Swisher's breasts make it to the new network, I'll be happy...

A Sreen Savers without Kevin Rose...

[callipygian-showsyst]

A "Screen Savers" without Kevin Rose is like a Day without Sunshine! I can't imagine watching some LA "actor" portraying a Silicon Valley nerd.

Re:A Sreen Savers without Kevin Rose...

[Anonymous Coward]

You can see him at www.thebroken.org

he's got a few good episodes of his own stuff but supposedly a ton of them got the boot

Re:A Sreen Savers without Kevin Rose...

[vwjeff]

Kevin Rose is from Las Vegas. Just another uninteresting fact that is taking space in my brain.

Re:A Sreen Savers without Kevin Rose...

[0racle]

Ya because it would suck to have someone pretend to be a elite hacker and pawn off KazzaLite as a Dark Tip. That would be a shame.

5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

[Anonymous Coward]

Thunderbirds...

are...

GO!!

You either need to be in your 20's or 40's to appreciate it.

When I see "G4"...

[JeffTL]

Mirrored drive doors and quicksilver still come to mind.

How convenient!

[oGMo]

They've combined two things I'd never watch into one convenient, easy-to-avoid program.

Seriously, besides the terrible but funny things I've heard about G4, I've never seen it and never really heard of TechTV either. Why would I watch TV when I've got the real thing?

Re:How convenient!

[Anonymous Coward]

for the same reason you own a RealDoll and have a girlfriend at the same time??

Re:How convenient!

[Quasar1999]

Why would I watch TV when I've got the real thing?

Dude, don't tell me you don't watch porn *with* your g/f... Oh wait... this is slashdot... you don't have the real thing in this case... my bad...

Re:If Leo goes, I... can't.

[SphericalCrusher]

Yeah dude, seriously. I mean, I watch it for a lot of other reasons, but Leo is the man. He's one of VERY few people who actually appeal to all audiences -- unlike Kevin, who appeals to hackers, and Adam, to gamers.

Even though the idea of a huge Technology/Gamer channel is one of the things I've always dreamed of, It's never going to be the same as TechTV was. Gah, I wish Comcast would have just put G4 on another channel and left TechTV alone. They would generate enough profit from TechTV by itself... why change it?

No more international feed

[Anonymous Coward]

Comcast have given 30 days notice to companies subscribed to the international TechTV feed that the international channel will be closed. It seems G4techTV will be USA-only.

The international TechTV feed was a severely watered down version of the USA channel. It had a fraction of the shows, heavily repeated. Despite this it did pick up quite a number of viewers.

(posting AC to avoid my employer getting upset)

Re:No more international feed

[Anonymous Coward]

I live in canada and (i think) get most of the programming found on the us channel. A g4techtv without leo is like an overclocked cpu without any cooling, it's going to suck really, really badly.

Re:No more international feed

[^_^x]

I'm with you on that one. TechTV had a really nice atmosphere, so even if you were watching a show about how to install Winamp, it was still entertaining. Leo's a cool host, and IMHO, so was Chris Pirillo (sp?)

I didn't really watch much TV in the first place, now I may not need it at all. :/

New casting -- Linux support show

[MMHere]

Steve Gates and Bill Balmer will be hosting a new show on Linux installation, maintenance, and support.

Strangely, I think these may pseudonyms, as the publicity head shots show (1) a portly balding man of middle age with small bits of blonde hair left, and (2) a wiry geeky looking skinny guy with squarish glasses and unkept brown hair. They were both dressed in $4000 Armani suits, so apparently the budget is no longer an issue.

I wonder what their credentials are, though, for being experts at Linux support?

Re:New casting -- Linux support show

[Roger Keith Barrett]

Serously though, what TechTV really missed was a full on show about Open Source to level out the ra-ra pro-Microsoft cast members and the Microsoft Infomercial program they play (Insider?).

That would be something revolutionary... but I am sure the corporate fuckheads at Comcast would put a stop to it really quick.

G4 is a channel of rejects.

[SteveXE]

When G4 1st came out i was pissed because i didnt have digital cable in my area...when i finnaly got it, I paid for G4 and TechTV. TechTV is great, TSS is a good show, and they have some other shows i watch from time to time. G4 on the other hand is full of shitty shows with news channel reject interns who couldnt get a job coding in India let alone do a proper news cast. Ill give G4 some credit, a couple of its shows are decent enough but the majority is just a waste of time.

Of course if Call for Help and TSS gets taken off the air ill get rid of digital cable, they are the only shows i ever watch on a regular basis these days. The rest of my entertainment comes from other sources, like my Girlfriend/Son, the net, DVD's, and games. I dont need to pay Comcast (who is already breaking into my house at night and using my credit cards) anymore money for more bullshit programming.

What's with the schedule?

[Jonny Royale]

I noticed the schedule, and it's only through the 16th? I know the FAQ says they're keeping shows around, but with a limited shedule like that, does it mean they're only keeping those shows until people are used to the new station? Or are they moving the shows around more, or what?

Not that I don't trust Comcast, but...

I Hate LA

[Detritus]

Are they going to be able to convince everyone to move to LA? For someone settled in San Francisco, picking up and moving to LA would be quite a shock.

Dish Network People be happy :)

[GweeDo]

This is a good thing for most of us. I currently have TechTV and love it. Now I will be keeping all my shows I love from TechTV and gaining a few extra from G4. This time of year is the only real reason to have G4...e3 coverage!

G4Tech?

[GypC]

How is that pronounced in 1337-speak? Gay-Tech?

Good night you could at least read one link

[OS24Ever]

I mean it's there in all it's table glory. Yes the craptacular show Unscrewed is on.

I can't believe that one made it really. I mean I tried to watch it but it's like watching an edited for TV porno. A bunch of nudge nudge wink wink crap but nothing serious. I mean this IS pay cable and such and it is scheduled here out east at 11PM EST/EDT so it's not like every kid is up late.

I just despise shows that try to get by on craploads of innuendo.

Maybe it changed but I could only make it through about the first five episodes, if that. Martin was like pulling teeth some days. However he was funny all at once. I swear one time Gary Coleman was going to come over the table and choke the life out of him when they hosted an episode of TSS. Some funny stuff.

Hate Comcast

[Richard Allen]

One more reason to hate Comcast. I hate them so much I could spit. They need to be put out of business.

--
email: Richard@comcast.net

Crap

[aztektum]

I just wish X-Play would be on more often.

What!?

[vwjeff]

but the restraining order is making it hard for me to catch her attention.

You too?

I think you did catch her attention and she did not like it. Enter the restraining order.

READ

attention=stalking

Body Hits makes the cut...

[Jonah Hex]

I'm happy to see that Body Hits is sticking around, I appreciate any show that has the guts to show the reality of drugs and alcohol from a fair viewpoint. If I remember correctly it's one of their "British imports" like that occasionally interesting spy show, which may explain their break from the usual US Drug War propaganda on our TVs over here.

Jonah Hex

So

[cubicledrone]

Why fire everyone? Is it some kind of new rule that every time a business does something new that step one is to fire the entire staff?

MCI just announced 7500 layoffs today. Another several thousand careers out in the street. Wonderful.

Re:So

[thebra]

What's a career?

Xplay

[tetro]

I met Adam and Morgan and they're genuinely nice people. I'm happy to hear that their show is safe and I hope they'll stay around.

TechTV Canada?

[Sandman1971]

I wonder how this all affects TechTV Canada. They currently run about 80-90% of TechTV's(US) content. Nothing on the TechTV Canada website. Anyone heard anything?

Re:If Leo goes, I... can't.

[Rodrin]

Wait a minute...since when did Kevin apeal to hackers? As far as I know we all consider him a lame excuse and almost a script kiddy. Lets seem him do some real damage sometime. As-if. Hah.

Not Just Linux...

[trashme]

But a proponent of free and open source software in general. Every show they have a "free file" which is some free (as in beer, but often as in speech as well) piece of software.

I have only recently started watching TechTV, and I think TSS and X-Play are the best shows on the network. It's good to see them survive.

Playboy the Girls of G4TechTV.com?

[Anonymous Coward]

Does this mean that Playboy will now rename the Girls of TechTV to the Girls of G4TechTV? --- Morgan b00bies, yay!

YAY !!! WE GET TO SEE LAURA SWISHERS BOOBS!

[Anonymous Coward]

Well at least they kept Unscrewed!

Hopefully that means Laura Swisher remains co-host...
Seeing her big ol' titties is the highlight of my day, er'yday !!!!

Right on Laura !!!!

Love them gazongas baby...

( o ) ( o )

Uhm...yeah?

[John Pfeiffer]

An 'announcement' of the merger is kinda ridiculously late....considering there's been G4 programming on TechTV all day today. Stupid digital cable listings don't reflect the change...so I have no idea what these shows are... (Not having seen any G4 programming before today.)

Not so bad...

[InvaderXimian]

As long as Kevin Rose and his scene whore girlfriend are gone. I thought I heard once that she dated Kevin Mitnick or am I just imagining things?

Anywho, good riddance.

Robot Wars Question

[Nova Express]

So, is the version of Robot Wars that will show on the new merged channel be the cool UK version, or the loud, dumbed-down, idiotic pro-wrestling-esque American version? I'm an American myself, but every single aspect of the UK show is superior to the American travesty.

Signed, A Man Without Cable Until He Buys a House This Year

Re:Robot Wars Question

[Anonymous Coward]

It will be the UK version. Viacom has rights to the US version locked up through 2006 or 2007.

Of course, Comcast could try to buy the rights or something. Why they'd pay money for that crap, I have no idea. The UK show is far better.

Leo Leporte is a violant man.

[Anonymous Coward]

He and some crazy psychopath homeless woman named Kate something or other attacked me from behind, beat me sensless, reconfigured my PDA to better utilize the battery, and left me for dead.

It just happened.

[MazTaim]

I am watching "Unscrewed" right now on G4 (or what was G4) here in Pittsburgh, PA, and I don't have TechTV.

Imagine...

[ne0nex]

...a beowulf cluster of computer generated hosts!

g4.com

[Anonymous Coward]

anyone else here want to bone that tina girl from that g4.com show? the asian girl from filter needs it pretty hard too

Morgan to be in maxim!

[Roger Keith Barrett]

Lookie what I found. Here is a press release about X-play... and look what it says about Morgan:

Morgan Webb is well known as one of the true gamer girls in the industry. Objective and passionate, fans look to Morgan for a no-nonsense approach to all the latest and greatest titles. Morgan who will be featured in the July issue of Maxim has also appeared on "ESPN Cold Pizza" and was one of five TechTV talent in Playboy.com's "Women of TechTV" online poll.

OMG... real Morgan skin on it's way. Horray!

Yeap, that a real original name.

[geekanarchy]

The creative minds of Comcast sit to think of a new name for their 'tech' channel.

Marketing Person 1: "Well, we had G4 and TechTV. We've got to think of a new, inspired name. Something fresh and inviting to the tech geeks and gamers."
Marketing Person 2: "Hmmm, I don't know. That's a lot to shoot for, Person 1. I'm not very tech savy. I don't even know how to make my computer stop flashing 12:00 all the time."
MP1: "... your computer? Are you sure you don't mean ..."
MP2 *excitedly*: "I GOT IT! We could call it G4TechTVTV!"
MP1 *also excitedly*: "Brilliant! Lets drop the TV at the end though, It might confuse those stupid viewers. How in the world did you come up with such a slick name?"
MP2: "Haha. Now I can't give away ALL my secrets now. I didn't spend two years at a community college for nothing."

Prepare for the inevitable

[LinuxWhore]

From the FAQ: "The new site will incorporate features from both G4TV.com and TechTV.com."

While this sounds great, more often when one company buys or merges with another, the resulting website contains little to none of the archived content that used to be available before the merger. This results in millions of broken links across the web and a loss of vast amounts of documentation and software. TechTV.com has been a fairly useful resource to nubies and even some old hats. It'll be a shame to see all of that content disappear.

Re:Prepare for the inevitable

[sbermunk]

Hmm, someone should grab a copy of the site now, then... (Okay, most of it isn't that useful, but there is SOME good stuff on there!)

Re:If Leo goes, I... can't.

[Anonymous Coward]

You 1337 h4x0r, you.

Dev Null

[doormat]

On MSNBC's tech show (I forgot what it was called) back in the mid 90s. On a related note, Leo did the voice for Dev Null on that show.

They just bought TechTV to kick off Wheaton again!

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess that ends Wil Wheaton's stint as a guest on TechTV shows...

Keep robot wars, dump CFH?

[podwich]

So they keep a rather annoying program called "Robot Wars" and dump an interesting and informative "Call for Help"? Bah!

swear its not flame-bait

[TheLittleJetson]

techTV just seems so... i don't know, it's hard to say. it seems like it's geared towards people who aren't 100% up to speed on tech stuff (it's no /.) -- but it also has this whole coke-fueled-programming-creation vibe to it. it just has so much stuff that is really corny / out-of-date / etc.

I mean, I would kind of like to see a TV channel like WIRED magazine. Sure, it's not always the best read, and sometimes its just as corny/yuppy, but at least they do a good job and make it interesting.

-m

Aaaarrrggghhhh!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

No! They can't! They can't dump the redhead with the great snoobs! And the long legs. They can't let her go. They just can't.

Goodbye Jessica.

(sob)...

Bell Express Vu?

[Mantrid]

I hope bell will carry the new channel! Although I think the Cdn Tech TV might be separate - not really sure what with our crazy CRTC and all. I'm just getting to enjoy watch the Screen Savers the odd time.

G-Faux will become a day long infomercial

[scupper]

I don't know that the G4 gamers audinece are as big a viewership niche as the folks that tuned into TechTV, namely for TSS and Call for Help.

Boobs helped pump up TechTV ratings. I don't think there was a small breasted women on the entire network. If they go, the shows will tank on ratings enough for Comcast to cancel them.

What I think will happen is most of the shows from TechTV won't exist in a year, and the personalities that get the best ratings will be cherry picked from the TechTV line up and absorbed into G4 shows, eventually becoming vender infomercials. The rest, well I think they will bail before that time.

I think Unscrewed isn't pulled off well, but both Martin and his endowed co-host are great. Sargent is great opposite a guy like Leo or Pat, or even Megan who I thought was good.

As for Leo, I think he's going to do great off of TSS and TechTV. I hope he gets more air time soon, maybe a reality TECH show?

"Hacker Wars" host? A LAN party gone mad where teams try to hack each other's networks, servers in less than a half hour? Or wardriving contests between two teams?

Leo is OUT

[artemis67]

...most likely, according to this post and this one on his messageboards.

Re:Leo is OUT

[netringer]

...most likely, according to this post and this one on his messageboards.

Yeah, I just read up on the G4/Comcast story on Leo's boards. They evidently think that Leo and Patrick are too old for the target audience.

I happened to have corresponded with one of TechTV's major 2004 advertisers who wanted the audience more like Patrick and Leo's age. I'm going to let him know that he should watch closely and consider shifting the ads to another channel.

I suspect I'll be deleting the TechTV shows from my TiVo's season pases and they WILL know overnight when enough of us do that.

Leo has had some job offers so we should look for him and other TechTV vets to show up elsewhere.

Re:Leo is OUT

[tbmaddux]

I happened to have corresponded with one of TechTV's major 2004 advertisers

Related at all to your sig? It reads word for word like an ad I would frequently see during TSS. Effective but annoying (like most ads) - it obviously stuck with me because I could hear the announcer's voice as my eyes scanned over your sig. I think maybe it even hit me on a subconscious level first that made me go back to read it. Scary.

Jessie!

[Syberghost]

Noo! TechLive did not survive!

Forget these prattling fools of Sarah and Morgan fans, we want our Jessie!

Get rid of Scott on G4TV.com; Jessie, Tina, and Lara are the perfect combination of hosts.

Pat

[jrwillis]

Nope, you are wrong sir. Pat Norton is the geek god, not Leo.

The G4 remaining lineup

[Darthmalt]

Since I think I'm the only one to get G4 instead of TechTV I'll lodge my complaint. G4 is keeping a solid line up with the exception of Sweat (i don't care about watching the dude play games in real life) and cinematech (c'mon 30 min. of nothing but game trailers they don't even have to play commercials since the whole time is one commercial after another)
and my complaint about the one TechTV show I 've seen. ROBOT WARS?!?! WTF I hated them even when they were new Comedy Central's Battle Bots was a much better show. No cheap gimmicks like flame and "referee bots" that would jump into the fight for no reason. Just good old pieces of metal trying to hit saw and smash each other into bits in the middle of a well lit arena where it was easy to see what was going on.

Slashdotted, but here's my wish list anyway

[Retired Replicant]

I can't access the new site to find out what shows made the cut but here is what I would do:

Keep:

• The Screen Savers
• X-play (maybe tone down the infantile goofing a bit)
• Judgement Day / Digital Playground (Somehow the infantile goofing on these shows is funny instead of lame. They have done a good job of creating some Siskel/Ebert chemistry between the hosts.)
• Tech Live
• Deep Thinkers
• Invent This
• Future Fighting Machines
• G4TV.com
• Pulse (But revamp/refresh. We already know Ronilyn Reilly is not going to be on anymore)
• Icons
• Call for Help
• Wired for Sex (actually an insightful show besides the obvious attempt at titillation)
• Unscrewed (I never thought I would say it, but you have to love the show's shamelessness :)
• Coverage of industry events like E3, CES, Tokyo Game Show

Keep but revamp:

• Portal (keep Dave, but refresh the concept somehow)
• Arena (trash the hosts and use PC games that are popular instead of games that MS or whatever game company is willing to pay the most to get their game used on the show)- put some of the geeks from TechTV TSS in charge of this and maybe make it into a show covering the LANparty scene).

Trash:

• Cheat
• Starcade
• Game On
• Cinematech
• Robot Wars
• Filter (but keep Diane Mizota and use her on another show -- maybe Pulse to replace Ronilyn)
• Thunderbirds
• Anime Unleashed (I'll probably get flamed, but the only anime I ever got into was the old Star Blazers show)
• Sweat
• Blister

techtv sux

[Anonymous Coward]

tech tv has been trash since it changed it's name from zdtv. Now it caters to noobz