TechTv R.I.P. - the new G4 starts today

[SKMDC]

the G4 (http://www.g4tv.com/home.aspx) TechTv starts today and it looks like LEO LAPORTE (http://www.leoville.com/) has been reduced to a 90 second taped bit on Screensavers.
Call For Help has been deep-sixed, (although G4 says they are trying to sell it to another network) the only other survivors seem to be XPlay and Unscrewed with martin sargent, also Robot Wars which is from the BBC. (i think)
they seem to be really skewing for a young audience so leo is out.

[Moogs]

Just checked their lineup... might as well call it "The Gaming Channel". How one-dimensional can you get?

[SKMDC]

they are calling it G4/TechTv.
i have to admit liking the retooled screensavers last week.
i am not a huge fan of leo's on-air unctuous personality, but i do like his writing, and his website (http://www.leoville.com/).

[psmith2.0]

the (i think)they seem to be really skewing for a young audience so leo is out.

Yeah, this is what happens when the marketing/money geeks get hold of something. Totally ruin (or cheese up) what was doing just fine, and try to get "hip" and "fresh" with it, pegging it onto something fleeting and trendy.

Hey, I'm just surprised they didn't call it "Xtreme"-something or other...

Could be worse.

Do some of you ever wish sometimes they'd just leave shit alone, and quit trying to "improve" it?

[ThunderPoit]

add all this to us not getting to see the "Women of TechTV" playboy shoot :mad: ;)

[Moogs]

Criminal, isn't it?

[Ryan]

TechTV was much better than this. It was more rounded in content. Soon enough The Screen Savers is going to become Teh 5c3en s4v3r5!!!!!111!!!!1!!

[Bones3D]

Wow... so you guys are following that too, huh?

All I can say is that G4 is literally sucking the very soul out of what liitle of Tech TV remains. Near as I can tell, most of it is stuff rehashed from G4's past.

Overall, it's been one of those situations where you don't really want to watch it, but it's so bad you can't look away. :p

[tallslacker]

What was G4???? :confused:

[Paul]

the name of the network that bought out TechTV
http://www.g4techtv.com/ is a good place to start...

[tallslacker]

I know who they are as in they are the ones who bought out TechTV. I just never heard of them up till now :\

[Bones3D]

It's a gaming network owned by Comcast. They were also behind the eventual firing/rehiring of Leo Laporte just before the switch was made.

[Crusader]

I remember the good old days, I would wake up, turn on TechTV and watch TechTV news, then surf the web. I also remember watching the MWNY '01 Keynote on that channel... ah the memories...

[NosferaDrew]

I still watch The Screen Savers, but the network as a whole is so much less than it was.
What a bad move.

[Maciej]

Do you remember back when it was called ZDTV?

[SKMDC]

i listened to david lawrence's radio show saturday night and he said G4 has been telling people (eg. people emailing them to complain) that they are in negotiations for him to have a larger role, which leo claims is a bald face lie.

he's starting a new CALL FOR HELP for a toronto station which they hope to syndicate.

[windowsblowsass]

did u guys hear that patrik i leaing screen savers when they move to la :wow:

[NosferaDrew]

Yeah, this sucks that Patrick Norton has left too.
Kevin Rose is good I guess, but I can't stand Sarah what's her name.

And yeah, Sh0eWax I do remember ZDTV, but as I remember it, that was just a name change, right? Not such a drastic programming change.

Ah well, I've taken it off my DirecTV favorites, so it's dead to me. :)

[Bones3D]

ZDTV was probably my favorite period in the TechTV timeline. Everything was geared directly toward geeks like myself and was practically commercial free. They had some great shows in the mix back then too... stuff like Internet Tonight and Silicon Spin. (John C Dvorak not withstanding.)

Of course now, it's been toned down so much, even the lowest of lifeforms can follow it, complete with an attention span deficit.

On the other hand, one could have a fun time using the Trojan condom and Fanta ads as a sort of drinking game. :p

[Maciej]

No, the ZDTV days were somewhat like this, but when TechTv broke off and was no longer part of the ZDnetwork, they maintained the high quality of programing. Shows like I.T. and Silicon Spin, were very good, and I particularly enjoyed "Big Thinkers" as well. Ahh well, a good chapter of television is now dead.