Directv dropping G4

[Southzen]

When Sessler jumped off the boat; it was a sign the thing should be scuttled. I stopped watching the network sometime back after it became G4 and half the shows were cops, cheaters, cheesy car shows and the like became the programming norm. It didn't help when tech personalities like Sarah Lane and Leo Laporte left the network.

[TheDeviot]

When Sessler jumped off the boat; it was a sign the thing should be scuttled. I stopped watching the network sometime back after it became G4 and half the shows were cops, cheaters, cheesy car shows and the like became the programming norm. It didn't help when tech personalities like Sarah Lane and Leo Laporte left the network.

Eh, I thought after the merger with Tech TV things started going down. After scuttling everything but XPlay it then became an XPlay reruns with non gaming shows channel.
With all of the likable personalities gone (Although I found Sessler to be highly overrated) there's nothing left. I wouldn't be surprised to see XPlay get sold to Spike (A channel
even Comcast gives you on basic cable although that too has been getting exponentally crappier every passing year) since Geoff Keighley already plays that Gametrailers.com
recap show at 1am. The rest would probably be completely scuttled into oblivion. It's too bad because it really could have flourished had they left the TECH, and GAMING shows alone. Mix
in news shows centering around the big gaming trade shows in Japan, USA, and Europe. Perhaps CES coverage for those psyched about phones, appliances, and other non game related
gadgets, and it would have been fine. Hell, if they simply HAD to mix it up, at least shows about Comics, or Anime, or Toy Collecting would have at least left an impression that "Hey, this
is a channel for Geek subculture." I suppose it was all monetary decision making, but I find it hard to believe it costs more to have a few Games Journalism personalities talking about this
stuff around the clock than it does to buy the syndication rights for COPS, CHEATERS, MXC, and KING OF QUEENS.
But what do I know?

[TheShadow]

That network is really going downhill. Adam Sessler has left G4 on April 25th and it was abrupt.

I thought Adam Sessler should have been fired back when the network was still called ZDTV! I couldn't stand his voice, not meant for broadcast.

[Inhibitor]

Adam had biases but he never tried to hide them, the rating system was laughably soft on big releases, his cranky personality was grating when talking about anything other than games, but with him you got a fully informed and mature perspective on the industry. Sometimes I felt the final score had little to do with what he was actually saying... I assume they were under as much pressure as everyone else is to give a great score on paper.

G4 looks like it's about to go bye-bye for good. I kinda feel bad for Morgan now.

[wyldman11]

with how much they joke on both shows about 4 out of 5, and at least on AOTS only apple products seem to get a 5 out of 5 I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers were mostly meaningless.

[sportsandstuff777]

I like watching ninja warrior on this channel

[AnnnaMot]

That was the only enjoyable show on that channel

[theblock]

I didn't really care much at times with Sessler and X-Play, even though he did come of as obnoxiously self-important, the real reason I quit X-Play (other then Blair Herter being terrible) was after they moved the G4 studios to LA X-Play stopped being allowed to have fun in their reviews and gave AAA titles all the attention and lenient reviews. And pretty much kissed the industry's behind like it was Hollywood to them, then again with the current games industry trying to BE Hollywood I guess that only reinforces that.

But I'm surprised no here mentioned yet, was that Kevin Perera is leaving G4 come the end of May , now after loosing Olivia Munn (shut up I liked her on AOTS with Kevin, they were funny together and had chemistry, I know she's had less luck outside the network so don't bother bringing that up like EVERYONE on the G4 boards loves to do when anyone dares bringing her up in a positive light ) Kevin was the only redeeming quality on AOTS, Allison Haislip was still around but to a lesser capacity (yes SHE left too, so did Chris Hardwick), but Kevin's been around since the beginning of G4 on that dumb Arena show, but he got better as a TV personality and I wish him the best of luck on his new prodjects. His and Sessler's departure really leaves a major vacuum in the channel which I don't think they'll be able to plug up. Who's gonna fill in for Kevin on AOTS? Candace Bailey is terrible, she's not funny, pretty plain jane in the looks department, and she's a 7 year old trapped in an adult's body. One time she bragged about still peeing in swimming pools, she unironically told jokes form Laffy Taffy candy wrappers and thought they were great, and easily offended by any off-color joke Kevin makes in her presence, I just think she's wrong for the show. And her with Sara Underwood (by definition a snake-oil geek-girl, by that I mean she's totally fake, and has no interest in Diablo 3 even though she acts that way after the jeering trained seals behind the camera who cheer/react at anything she announces on that news segment) co-hosting together pretty much degrades into a slumber party on what was supposed to be a show dedicated to Geek Culture... I mean what a joke! The network clearly has no more budget, all they air other then XP and AOTS are cops and campus cops. American Ninja Warrior lacks the oddball charm of Japanese television, hell we can't even get Code Monkeys back. I really think they should just call it a day and stuff the pillow over the channel (putting it out of its misery)and make G4 strictly a website and nothing more.

[Inhibitor]

I knew things were beyond repair when Kevin Rose left and when G4TV was gone (and Tina Wood with it).

Props for Pereira though, he turned out to be a great interviewer. Candace has no real hook once the bubbliness gave way to prissiness. Kevin actually got fed up with her on air during one of their weekend specials in November. That was fun to watch!

The network stopped trying a long time ago, we're just watching a crumbling ruin.

[wyldman11]

Perera leaving was mentioned on the previous page.

My problem with Candace Bailey is I am not sure how much of that is her and how much is supposed to be her on screen character. For example I know they took Kevin to extreme perv and creepy when she came on.

I think the real problem is the same general issue with most networks that start off as niche, they either try to become more and more mainstream and then end up faltering somewhere in between or retain what they original started off as. The first look at Cartoon Network (actually it was planned this way the whole time), Spike (oddly was originally a country music station, and Syfy. The second look at Lifetime and BET (this I assume is still functioning the same).

I do think Underwood has gotten better, Candace still feels just the same. I never really thought most of the girls on the show were all that geeky, at most they had that one thing they liked and would use it to make themselves sound geeky. I remember a segment where they gave Haislip an Xbox controller and she couldn't play the game, like at all. Munn constantly checked he prompter with the more geeky things, I loved how her review part of gadget pron was it's too heavy, or I almost cut my face on it.

CBS has American Ninja Warrior in their fall line up that was just released. Which doesn't look good for G4.

About Kevin and Candace, at first I thought much of it was just played off but there was the Nook Tablet thing where Kevin threw it on the console. That was a time I didn't understand why he reacted like he did.

Both Bailey and Webb don't wear their wedding rings, common thought is the producers want them to appear single to increase their desirability. Which not like that really stops most guys from lusting after a woman.

[theblock]

I will also admit that Candace has gotten better to a point, I mean I gave her a chance in the 1st month she started co-hosting, I thought she was off to a good start. But for some reason she stated acting like a major spazz, and not in an endearing manner. What really stated to grate on me was how she'd stumble on a teleprompter read and just crack up like it was hilarious to her, even though you could see it on Kevin's face how much her wanted to smack her upside the head IMO. It only took her a year but she's gotten better now, but now she just likes to play the "holier then thou" next to Kevin which was equally annoying. Or how when Kevin mentioned how an Alyssa Milano teen workout videoclip reminded him of Night Trap, Candace just said, "I don't know what that is", really did she ever watch G4 back when they had original; programing? They reference that game a lot, not just on Cinematech or X-Play, but they aired this old documentary about the making of that game and all the political firestorm it and Mortal Kombat initially sparked (FOR SOME REASON). It's just a glaring example of why I think she's wrong for AOTS.

Now Sara's another beast altogether, outta curiosity I looked up her Wiki entry, and wow, Hooter's Waitress, Playboy Centerfold, star of a bunch of stupid reality TV shows revolving around Heff's Harem, dated Ryan Seacrest.... expect me to believe she's a geek? It really made me appreciate Layla Kayleigh more so then when she was doing what Sara does, Layla was gorgeous and exotic, AND shocker, was far more professional about reading the news Feed without trying to get attention so blatantly, she was classy! The thing that bugs me about Sara (other than her shrill warbling Hamptoro voice) is how she clearly doesn't care about whatever AAA game is coming out, or when a trailer to, say, the Avengers is shown she always has this "forced" enthusiasm about it. Or when she read an announcement about how Guitar Hero was being discontinued (of the first two games I really enjoyed, the 3rd not so much), she made a joke among the lines of, "I guess y'all will just have to learn to play a real guitar!" and I know she didn't write that joke from the prompter, but coming out of her it felt SO much more emasculating then it would being said by anyone else. And then there was her dressed up as Wonder Woman reading the news one time (which I won't complain about on principle) but I thought they were gonna bring up the Pilot not being picked up or something since it was around that same time, and nothing. I made a comment below the videoplayer about why was she in the costume when the failed pilot wasn't even mention, or to that extent as I recall. And the drooling just-hit-puberty Sara worshiping straw men brigade immediately assailed me with every possible homophobic insult that they could sneak past the bad language censor ..I mean ***! After that I was pretty much a marked man, EVERY comment I'd make (whether it was critical or making a snarky joke) it get a bunch of thumbs down or some reply by some brat sniper with a "Everyone Hates You" remark! I'm serious, the same guy actually told me to go, "Troll on 4chan you virgin!" at one point, y'know the same thing he was doing at that moment . So yeah, that was my experience in the post-Olivia Munn era of G4, which is why I support a scorched earth tactic after Kevin leaves.

[mbaker]

Now Sara's another beast altogether, outta curiosity I looked up her Wiki entry, and wow, Hooter's Waitress, Playboy Centerfold, star of a bunch of stupid reality TV shows revolving around Heff's Harem, dated Ryan Seacrest.... expect me to believe she's a geek?

And we're suppose to believe that Comcast in general, and E! in particular are actually 'down' with 'geek culture'? HA! These are the same 'jocks' who 'high five' each other over the success of 'Fast Five', and the same 'cheer leaders' who gush over glittering shirtless vampires. Not to mention the same media empire who gave The Kardashians their own reality shows!

[wyldman11]

I think anyone who thinks Underwood is geeky is deluding themselves. She plays Angry Birds and at most doesn't mind doing the dress up because she is a model first, and probably has some passing knowledge about something like Star Wars. I find her attractive enough but I am not stupid either, but she at least tries.

Munn was good about at least doing a bit of research before opening her mouth and at least looking like she was having fun. But her role was mostly chick, ask the geekier people questions, and be eye candy when needed. She also at least played along with many of the jokes, but reluctantly.

Candace, while she has gotten better with the teleprompter and seems more comfortable her problem is she doesn't try to come off as geeky, she also doesn't at least play along with the jokes. And I think that is what bothers Kevin the most, she frequently shuts down interaction before it goes somewhere. She can be the moral authority but still play along, it's what Munn did. I at least thought she was going to try with Candace's Cthulhu Corner, which we haven't seen in forever probably cause she nixed it.

Compare the lady driving thing they do, Munn at least got in a power wheels as part of the joke Bailey on the other hand just says NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, then gives some story that proves the point, then says something about circumstances.

When I 'started' watching AotS more regularly Haislip was doing The Feed most of the time, so I can't say much for Layla. I do wonder if G4 was expecting the channel to start to go under and this was why the pushed Haislip, Hardwick, and the half dozen off air staff out in the last year. Off that I think the brought in Sara at least cause she was easy to get as she was wanting to do more then just modeling and this would give her a jump start. They needed someone easy to get in, because if the only thing you real do for a show lasts all of 5 minutes and you are on set the entire time it's going to be a bit more difficult to get someone who has more experience. I think they just threw Candace in there because she had some experience hosting a show and they wanted a more permanent fixture while the network slowly faded out.

I give Kevin credit for at least giving a two weeks style notice, unlike what Munn did who just pretty much up and left. I think that is the problem they have with her on the show. I know many fans felt like she was selling out, but as I said I think it was just a stepping stone for her she wasn't into the geek stuff as much as people thought she was. Which I also think the show plays off of when they talk about her. I think the only people who expected her to blow up where those who were against her leaving, and only because they thought that's what she thought.

I do think a large part of the problem, which is a similar problem with Big Bang Theory, is they try to make the shows hosts into Super Level Geek People. Geek is like a college specifically at a liberal arts school. You have your primary field of study, then other topics you have a passing knowledge based on what classes you took. There are those who took a general arts or liberal arts degree who have no real field of specialty but are spread thin. The somehow make the hosts and characters on the show the second but with the knowledge of the first. They do this to appeal to all geeks but it ends up causing problems when people see through it.

[MegaGearMax]

But I'm surprised no here mentioned yet, was that Kevin Perera is leaving G4 come the end of May , now after loosing Olivia Munn (shut up I liked her on AOTS with Kevin, they were funny together and had chemistry, I know she's had less luck outside the network so don't bother bringing that up like EVERYONE on the G4 boards loves to do when anyone dares bringing her up in a positive light ) Kevin was the only redeeming quality on AOTS, Allison Haislip was still around but to a lesser capacity (yes SHE left too, so did Chris Hardwick), but Kevin's been around since the beginning of G4 on that dumb Arena show, but he got better as a TV personality and I wish him the best of luck on his new prodjects. His and Sessler's departure really leaves a major vacuum in the channel which I don't think they'll be able to plug up. Who's gonna fill in for Kevin on AOTS? Candace Bailey is terrible, she's not funny, pretty plain jane in the looks department, and she's a 7 year old trapped in an adult's body. One time she bragged about still peeing in swimming pools, she unironically told jokes form Laffy Taffy candy wrappers and thought they were great, and easily offended by any off-color joke Kevin makes in her presence, I just think she's wrong for the show. And her with Sara Underwood (by definition a snake-oil geek-girl, by that I mean she's totally fake, and has no interest in Diablo 3 even though she acts that way after the jeering trained seals behind the camera who cheer/react at anything she announces on that news segment) co-hosting together pretty much degrades into a slumber party on what was supposed to be a show dedicated to Geek Culture... I mean what a joke! The network clearly has no more budget, all they air other then XP and AOTS are cops and campus cops. American Ninja Warrior lacks the oddball charm of Japanese television, hell we can't even get Code Monkeys back. I really think they should just call it a day and stuff the pillow over the channel (putting it out of its misery)and make G4 strictly a website and nothing more.

I mentioned it last page. It's one of the reasons why this thread was resurrected. Adam and Kevin were 50% of G4TV to me, the other 50% being Olivia and Morgan. Now they are just down to Morgan.

[theblock]

So SDCC 2012 is underway, and funny enough a photo cropped up on Flickr which speaks volumes for my disdain for Sara Underwood which should stifle a chuckle for MOTUC fans here as well: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38376245@N04/7554555106/
7554555106_4a822ef67f_z.jpg
Guess she's a Rainbow Bright girl But seriously, those guys behind her are probably trying to convince her on how coll these are and you know she's just calling all of them"virgins" in her head with an expression like that. I already have low expectations for the ComicCon coverage @ G4 without Kevin around anymore, but I cringe at an all Candace/Sara covering the Con .
Sorry to trudge this up again but this was too much an opportunity not to share.

[MegaGearMax]

Although I like Sara, she is not from our generation and isn't a geek; she probably wouldn't understand the appeal. Now Jessica Chobot (or is it Hertler now) might be more of a "Geek Goddess".

[theblock]

Although I like Sara, she is not from our generation and isn't a geek; she probably wouldn't understand the appeal. Now Jessica Chobot (or is it Hertler now) might be more of a "Geek Goddess".

Agreed, Chobot is hotter too IMHO, why she wasn't picked for the Co-host I have no idea, I mean they asked her back on regularly enough after Candace was picked and is now just doing what Alison Haislip was before she left.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Although I like Sara, she is not from our generation and isn't a geek

While you are probably right about her not being a geek, she isn't that far off from our generation. She is 28. That's 4 years younger than me, and only about 2 years younger than Pixel Dan (for a random, but high profile example). Granted, sure those of us on this end are probably pushing the end of the age limit for MOTU fandom, and she probably just missed the He-Man and She-Ra craze, but it's not like she's only 20 or something.

Plus, in all fairness she does seem to be looking in Vykron's direction. She might be thinking that he is a really lame exclusive like many other fans did.

[Nemisythe]

Well sadly you can't blame poor Sara for sometimes revealing her true colors. First and foremost she was a Playmate, 'nuff said. Now some careers after Playboy go only so far and she needed to find a schtick and work. And what's one of the most growing trends these days; hot chicks who claim to be nerds at heart! I mean it's all you see cause you don't see any plump, robust nerdy girls on these shows or sites. Chicks sell, I mean look at all the news channels nowadays!!!

And what's sad is that there ARE true hot geek chicks out there (and this would be based on your own personal biases as well) that are placed into this category due to the few (like Underwood) that swoop in try to tag themselves as such to steal some thunder and celebrity. But hey, it's what sells and gets those ratings so like any other business model.....

[wyldman11]

Not being there don't know the context.

I love Star Wars and many other geeky things and I can get into some conversations about the topic, but when if I am with a group of people who pull ship schematics, or how many times a man walks by in the skirt uniform in the back of a Next Generation episode I start getting bored also.

I am also not saying she is some kind of fan or anything. The guy holding Skeletor's Ram Staff could be going on the history of the staff in the toys and which one was the best and worst and doing so in his best monotone drone.

I have also seen many of the names both celebrities, writers and cosplayers look quite worn out because they don't get much sleep during the whole thing and are often dealing with a high bulk of people in a fairly short period of time. They have bags under their eyes, they look ready to snap in half the next over obsessed fan who has a problem with issue 47 page 13 and a coloring mistake and how that ruined the issue for them.

The saying a picture is worth a thousand words isn't exactly true, because I am sure there are pictures around where she looks genuinely excited about some of this stuff.

[theblock]

Well I'd say that were true wyldman11 if it weren't for the fact that this was only from the 1st day of the Con technically. And yes perhaps she is in fact confused about Vykron and who he is, and someone explaining to her the guy who originally pitched He-Man used these prototypes that he's all bitter about not getting any credit about em' nowadays and and there's a whole documentary on the affair and she want cross-eyed !
BUT, what bothers me is how inevitably all her baffling legion of adolescent fans who scream FAP every time they see her in a G4 video, will see that pic and laugh cause they'll just say crap like "even Sara thinks those are g*&!" Y'know, reinforcing the reasons I felt the need to not even bring up that I had a nostalgic revival of my love of MOTU during my High School years (when this site was in its infancy BTW 1999) Because EVERYONE was making the same jokes about He-Man, also thanks to that stupid I Love the 80s segment parroting that same jooke .
And I won't deny that there are genuine geek girls out there, Felicia Day, Aisha Tyler, Rosario Dawson, the Great Valerie Perez: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dtjaaaam/7560709974/, hell even Tanya Tate seemed more genuine of her love of She-Ra in her Power Con coverage. It just bothers me how it's now sheek to pretend your of the nerd culture when before 2002 in High School for me, I could never find a girl who would even admit to playing video games casually.

[wyldman11]

I know watching AOTS this week she has had a cold, so another explanation could be cold medication. BTW I don't condone this action but a lesson learned in highschool, don't decide to over do the recommended dose. I did that with robotussin before it became a thing, I was day dreaming and lacked the ability to focus all day.

I know at most she has that typical I like Wonder Woman, and maybe a few other comic characters or something but that's about it. She also did play along fairly well when she was auctioned off to the fan for the Japanese Relief last year. But I don't think she is doing anything more than playing a role.

I understand why you brought it up, and I could see others taking it another way all together. But I also remember a picture of I think Summer Glau where the fan asked her to look like she was creeped out, which they have said you would be surprised at how often they are asked to do some of that stuff. This obviously isn't one of those situations.


On the show, Chris Hardwick has been the only fill in I could stand and since Nerdist got bought up by someone else we are still looking (doubted he was in the running anyways). I do wonder if they are trying to change the format of the show since he is the only one who isn't just a comedian. The monologues aren't fun to watch, they are bad at reading teleprompters (sometimes worse than Candace), have less of a clue what is going than Candace.

[grinningidiot]

Adam's gone, now Kevin. When Morgan's contract's up, if she's smart, she'll be bailing out of that sinking ship of a network too. The problem is that G4 had those veteran hosts and relied on them so much for credibility that they never really spent any time grooming anybody new. Now that their stars are gone they've got nobody left that anybody cares about. Just a bunch of nobodies that no one has any emotional investment in, and the network is suffering, even more than usual. Anyway, why does Comcast keep wanting to hang onto this network until the bitter end? Why don't they do the right thing and put G4 out of its misery, taking the one or two shows their few fans actually care about and put it on one of their other networks? Take Ninja Warrior and put it on SyFy or something? Put AOTS on another network. X-Play too.

[mbaker]

It's becoming more, and more apparent that Comcast wants nothing to do with 'geek culture'. They'd rather cater to the jocks, and cheerleaders of the world instead.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Not being there don't know the context.

I agree with you (and the many points that you made). There could be many possible explanations for that pic. It's even possible that she really wasn't even as disinterested/disconnected as she appears in that picture. During a conversation or while listening to others, people's facial expression may change slightly here and there. She may have just been listening to what someone was saying to her, and she was listening, and this just happened to be the look on her face the split second that picture was taken. Had the picture been taken a couple of seconds earlier or later, she might not have appeared as disinterested as she does here. I'm not saying that she is some big MOTU fan or anything (she likely isn't), but it doesn't mean that she's as bored and disconnected as she appears to be in that pic.

It's becoming more, and more apparent that Comcast wants nothing to do with 'geek culture'. They'd rather cater to the jocks, and cheerleaders of the world instead.

Comcast? Do you mean DirectTV (which this topic is about, and it also the service on which channels like MTV, VH1, and Nickelodeon when dark on)? I have Comcast and they still have G4, and they haven't been dropping any channels of any type as far as I can tell. So, I'm not sure what you are talking about.