I used to watch a lot of Tech TV. I was a big fan of The Screen Savers, not just because I’m nerdy that way, but also because, goshdarnit, every single episode they all seemed to be having so much fun. I mean, the whole show just glowed with this light that comes from people who truly enjoy each other’s company and have a job doing something they would be doing even if they weren’t getting paid for it.
I have always dreamed about having a job doing something that I really enjoy and here, every day, I got to watch people in exactly that position. And aside from that, there was always some sort of helpful geek tip or cool website pointer to be had.
G4, on the other hand, was always kind of the anti-Tech TV. About ten minutes of G4 was my limit. Review shows by overly produced pretty people who’ve obviously never even heard of the game prior to taping are just more than I can take. I mean, I understand that Adam and Morgan from X-Play probably don’t play all the games they review, simply because there isn’t that much time in the world, but I’ve never had cause to doubt that they actually play games at all. Look at the shows that carried over from G4 to G4TechTV some time: there’s not a single host that doesn’t look like they could work as a model, nor is there a single one of them that has even a shred of authenticity to them.
When TechTV and G4 “merged,” I had my doubts and fears, but at first everything seemed be okay.
Then Leo left the show.
Not that I have anything against Kevin Rose. I actually like him quite a bit and think that he and Sarah make a darling couple. I mean, he’s a geek’s geek, just like Leo, but I have never doubted that Kevin’s elevation into Leo’s spot was anything more than a pandering attempt to appeal to a younger, hipper, more-likely-to-purchase-our-advertiser’s-products demographic (total crap, because, unbeknownst to the clueless morons that run G4, old, fat, balding guys like me buy plenty of videogames and Mountain Dew too). Which was really unfair to Kevin, because he has the smarts and the credibility to succeed in his own right without getting promoted because they needed to get rid of “that old Mac guy.”
What really bothered me wasn’t so much that Leo left as the fact that everyone had to pretend that he hadn’t. Leo stayed around in the form of a daily pre-taped segment where he would present a daily tip, normally relating to something Mac. The insulting part was that everyone would pretend that Leo was still around: the slotted time would come around and whoever would do the lead in would turn to the nook, say something like “Leo?” and the tape would roll. The first couple of times you could tell that it was a bit difficult for the cast to do with a straight face. A couple of times I swear I could see Patrick thinking “God, I can’t believe I am actually doing this.” In fact, one of the last episodes I watched had Martin Sergeant guest hosting. Martin’s take on it was pretty funny. I forget exactly how it was worded, but basically it was: “Oh, hey! Now I get to insult all my viewers by pretending Leo’s been hanging very quietly around waiting for 120 seconds of time in which to show off the only Mac related coverage we’ll show in what used to be a really well-rounded and well-balanced show. How cool is that? Thanks for the new format G4!”
When Patrick left, I stopped watching. I guess you could say they alienated this member of the older fat balding geek community. Now the only reason I still subscribe to G4TechTV is because if I drop it, my cable bill will actually go up a couple of bucks. Occasionally they still have something worth watching (the recent Icons episode about the history of Bungie was pretty cool) but for the most part, it’s a wasteland.
Long time Screensavers fans know Dan “Foo” Huard, the guy who used to give out the phone number every episode (and apparently did a lot of other stuff behind the scenes). Well, Dan was let go, though I don’t know when because it was after I stopped watching. His blog has a post about why he left and details just how bad things are for those who remain behind. It’s a good read and I am again amazed that a media company that is so profoundly disrespectful of it’s intended audience can manage to stay afloat.
Dan also links to a Slashdot post from Wil Wheaton, who describes his time hosting Arena on G4. Another enlightening read.
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