Inside TechTV/G4

An anonymous reader writes "Former G4TechTV employee, Dan Huard, blows the whistle on G4. In the last half of his article, he states that TSS manufactured questions and used 'ringers' to ask their questions on the show."

Comments

Unfortunately

[mattboston]

TechTV started going downhill when they let go of Leo Laporte. I used to be a huge fan of The Screen Savers, and when he left it went down, then when Pat left, it went down more, then with the latest generation it's total crap. So I have cancelled my Comcast Digital Cable which is the only reason I had it... to watch The Screen Savers

Re:Woah Woah Woah

[Anonymous Coward]

What next? Professional wrestling is scripted?

Pro wrestling is not generally scripted. The match finishes are set-up by "road agents," retired old wrestlers, on the basis that they are the hook which will keep the marks returning. Promos, the speeches wrestlers give, are sometimes scripted but this is avoided when possible as it usually comes off bad when performed live (wrestlers are not actors); usually the wrestlers are given bullet-points containing the essential issues the bookers (wrestling writers and planners) want advanced in that month's storyline.

For the most part, professional wrestling is improvised based on the structure of the match's finish as set up by road agents, and on the storyline points which are to be communicated. Within the framework established by the agents and bookers, the workers (wrestlers) are pretty much free to work spots (perform a sequence of moves) and create matches dynamically in accordance to the fluid reaction of the crowd. This is known in wrestling lingo as "psychology".

Professional wrestling has far more in common with olde improv comedy - or even, transcendentally, with pro-wrestling video games, than it does with a movie or any other modern 'scripted' analog.

PS - Most everything on TV is fraudulent to some degree, from the news to "reality" shows. Broadcast networks are run by Machiavellians. The bottom lines are ratings and brand-building; accuracy, honesty and integrity don't enter into it, except as they affect the bottom lines (i.e. PR).

Depressing...

[GFLPraxis]

Every time I hear G4/TechTV I get depressed. They combined an awesome channel with a sucky one to get a semi-sucky one. They fired all the good people on TechTV (We miss Leo!), replaced them with G4 people that are obsessive Mac-hating gamers (the new guy on the Screen Savers dislike Macs and is an obsessive gamer. Nothing like Leo, who had some actual intelligence and gave GREAT tips), and completely ruined the shows. And they removed a lot of the good stuff (Call for Help for example) and rarely air some of the surviving good shows.

We miss Tech TV... :'(

Staged Calls on G4's TSS

[leolaporte]

Just so it's clear, this is never something I would have countenanced when I was managing editor of The Screen Savers. And I know that my successor, Patrick Norton, would have brained anyone who suggested such a thing.

We did sometimes pre-book calls - and I do it now on the Canadian version of Call for Help - for production reasons. But I always hated even doing that. I never do it on my radio show. But far worse is using "actors" to ask canned questions. That's just plain lying.

Unfortunately, it doesn't surprise me.