g4techtv

G4TechTV Late Nights

Appealing to all your base instincts

Originally published in the September 2004 edition of Take ONE, as written by Hank Brockett

    And while G4TechTV’s efforts have freed the topics from the two-minute segment on the Today show, the Comcast-owned network has adapted its message into warped forms of our familiar television genres.    Two shows, “X Play” and “Unscrewed With Martin Sargent,” create enough new energy on the late-night dial to both enthuse those looking for a new voice in the media and provide ammunition for those who believe the world will end shortly.
      “X Play” scores points on the strength of its co-hosts, Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb. A video-game review show at its core, the energetic duo connect glimpses at the gameplay with a constant barrage of tongue-in-cheek perspectives, keeping their sarcastic six-shooters warm in the process. With the co-hosts standing in what looks like Jack Palance’s dank lair in “Tango and Cash,” this places increased emphasis on the sharp writing. Both hosts place featured reviews in both comparative and historical contexts.
      In what’s no surprise to anyone who reads the thousands of Internet posts debating Webb’s “hotness,” adolescent males who make Sony and Microsoft rich also want a little skin … or polygons looking like skin. “X Play” obliges. One recent show featured a review of a Japanese porn game, a segment requested by fans on the Web site.
     This theme is picked up by “Unscrewed,” a late-night variety show that one night featured two off-job strippers in the audience and a “Girl Gone Wired” pictorial -- a regular feature highlighting one of the Internet’s plethora of Web models. As absurdist ringleader for this cyber-circus, Sargent balances interviews with crackpot alien abduction authors and the sighs of co-host (and supplementary eye candy) Laura Swisher.
     G4TechTV may be unwieldy, but the name is shorter than “Pale Fifteen-year-old Message Board Flamers And Halo Lovers Who Like Breasts TV.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Which title will fit best when the network reaches for mainstream acceptance, though, remains to be seen.

X-Play (above) and Unscrewed both serve the "young, techie and horny" demographic.
X-Play (10 p.m. CST) - A-minus
Unscrewed (10:30 p.m. CST) - B

    Let’s get the name jokes out of the way first.
     * G4TechTV? I think I chatted with him last night on MSN Instant Messenger! LOL!
     * G4TechTV? That fits as well as a Firewire cable in a USB port! (This kills in Silicon Valley.)
     A merger of two rival networks created this monolithic mouthful earlier this year, bringing with it a programming docket dominated by computers, video games and gadgets.