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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

What article about G4 would be complete

[Talez]

Without Penny Arcade's Review of G4TV!

No Robot Wars?

[blandnet]

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

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.

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 :-)

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.

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.

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.

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

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

[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.

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.

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

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]

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

Leoville

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.

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...

Actually...

[Cyno01]

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

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.

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.

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...

[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.

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?

G4Tech?

[GypC]

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

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?

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!