Sorry for the skipping in these videos, again, we're working to get a new capture unit going. Stop by the forums if you know of any good USB capture cards or capture programs.
Free Stuff, Part 2? Well, it looks like it. This once "one time event" seems like it's making a comeback. Looking at the Free Stuff website, G4 will be holding another Free Stuff event again on Friday, April 6th at 10pm ET AND 10pm PT. In response to the overwhelming reaction from the first Free Stuff event, G4's learned from its mistakes and "upgraded" their hardware to cope with the likely increase in traffic to its website. Hopefully everyone will have a fair chance now, including those who griped about the fact that the previous Free Stuff aired at 4:30pm PT, a time when many are still at work.
So go ahead, the cat's out of the bag, and get ready for the next Free Stuff. It's happening next week so get ready to win, win, win. Or atleast, I hope I win. ;)
Leave us your feedback in the Comments section or in the Forums. (Free registration required to post).
This week it's new school clipage. My capture USB appears to be on it's last legs, I'm thinking about getting another one, if anyone knows of one with a good quality/cost ratio (it has to be USB, I'm running a laptop right now) feel free to let me know via the forums.
The Lab with Leo's site is now live at www.labwithleo.com. Right now it's just a production blog with a submission form on how to appear on the show and links to production members' blogs as well. There's also a link to the show's setcam but it appears to be offline or not working yet.
Better late than never. This week we're Pulse packed, two classic Pulse segments. The first segment is an old E3 MMO review featuring none other than Portal Dave! The second, a piece about machinima awards. Both also feature Patrick Clark for added win.
G4 renews Brainiac and Ninja Warrior; shuffles its schedule | Updated 3/19
Update: Since this entry has been posted, G4 has decided to change its schedule again. Click here to read more.
In spite of the shakeups regarding the G4 offices and potential layoffs, programming initiatives seem to be moving ahead as usual as G4 has decided to bring back import shows Brainiac and Ninja Warrior for all new seasons, the latter for a whopping total of 16 (seasons, that is)! The large amount can be attributed to the fact that the Ninja Warrior competiton has been running for several years now in Japan so there's quite the amount of backlog episodes not shown in the US. According to G4 Press Releases, the new seasons of both shows will premiere on March 19th, 2007, with Ninja Warrior running weekdays at 6:30pm ET with a same day repeat at 10:30pm ET, while new episodes of Brainiac will premiere during its former time slot of Mondays at Midnight (Tuesday mornings at 12am ET) during the Midnight Spank late-night block. According to G4's schedule, reruns of the previous seasons of Brainiac will continue to air weekdays at 9am ET. Also, Ninja Warrior will continue to air Tuesdays at Midnight (Wednesdays at 12am ET) during Midnight Spank.
In the past, acquired G4 shows were always initially handled by the Acquisitions department. With the recent layoffs of said department in December 2006, you can't help but wonder how it's being done now (and it's not likely that these are the last shows G4 is going to acquire in 2007).
Schedule Changes
And of course, with any programming changes comes revamped schedules. Here's a quick rundown of time slots that will be affected with the new seasons of Brainiac and Ninja Warrior (this does not include already listed time slots) :
Something else that comes to a bit of a surprise is a recent TVWeek.com article on Ninja Warrior stating that the show has risen to become G4's most popular show in its demographic, males ages 18 to 34 years old. While it's not too sure if they meant it as one of the network's most popular shows instead of "the network's most popular show", this is big news as it has been figured that either X-Play or Attack of the Show has been topping the charts for G4.
- NEW: The double airings of Cops from 6 to 7 and 10 to 11 are now at 5:30 and 6pm ET and a full hour at 9pm ET. Cheaters will continue at 5pm ET.
- NEW:Star Trek: The Next Generation will now air weeknights at 1am ET, giving up its former 9pm time slot (something which it had held since January 2006) to Cops. The Man Show will move from weeknights at 1am to 3am ET, while Cheaters and X-Play will continue at 2am and 4am ET, respectively.
-Attack of the Show will be repeated the same day at 11pm ET, replacing the 11pm variety shows (a mix up of various G4 shows such as Brainiac, Cinematech: NE, Cheaters etc.) and the primetime airing of Arrested Development at 11:30pm ET (you can continue to watch AD weekdays at 2:30pm ET). This move does not seem to be caused by the new seasons, but more of a general programming decision. NEW:Arrested Development will now also air weeknights at 10pm ET.
-The Block, which was airing Mondays at Midnight, has wrapped up its season and will continue to air on weekends.
- NEW: Star Trek: The Original Series has been put on a short break from its Sundays/Saturdays 3 and 4am time slots. It will return to the schedule soon with the 2.0 interactivity.
- NEW: G4's Video Game Mash-Up block, which consists of X-Play reruns and Cheat! reruns and premieres (aka new episodes), will now air once again from 3 to 5pm ET.
And to ease the pain of this huge text wall, check out the video below for a preview of the new season of Ninja Warrior:
As always, leave your feedback in the Comments section or in the Forums. (Free registration required to post).
G4TechTV Canada's "The Lab with Leo Laporte" is looking to launch this April... you can check out some behind the scenes photos on the show's flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/labwithleo/
On a recent episode of TWiT, Laporte mentioned they were trying to do a TechTV reunion on the first episode. Cat Schwartz, Chris Pirillo, Kevin Rose, and Patrick Norton are mentioned to possibly attend.
UPDATE: Due to the large amount of interest in this story, I've clipped out the segment where the reunion was talked about. Digg users, stick around. Feel free to discuss this story in the Comments section or in the Forums. (Free registration required to post).
G4's newsletter has spilled the beans on the "Free $tuff" promotion/show we reported on earlier. It appears it's going to be a one-time experiment where they'll review various gadgets then give them away, through some type of online component (the ad mentions to "keep your laptop handy"). They'll air it this Friday at 7:30 PM EST. Prizes include camcorders, Nintendo Wii, and PS3 right now but they also mention artwork, clothing and other various gadgets.
This sounds similar to TBS's Midnight Madness, which was really a money making scheme where viewers texted, called in and went online to appear on a gameshow and were charged per call/text, but the ad mentions nothing of phone use. Maybe it's a moving sale of sorts? Or maybe G4 is just feeling really nice?
Discuss the Free Stuff you want in the Comments section or in the Forums. (Registration required).
Confirmed: G4 studios to close; Operations moving to E!; Layoffs ensue
Mecha, our flamboyant reporter from Canada is once again dropping the megatonz. He has given us confirmation that G4 Studios in Santa Monica, CA will be closing as of April 15th and many employees will be laid off, especially those in production. The remaining operations will be merged into E!'s studios in Los Angeles, CA.
Former G4 hosts Laura Foy & Scot Rubin confirmed this, once again, on the All Games Interactive netcast. I've clipped the part of the show where they talk about it. You can catch the whole interview starting at timestamp 1:36:49 on the Feb. 23 2007 show of AGI.
What does this mean for production of all G4's shows? At the very least, expect new sets, but more drastic changes are surely coming. We'll report more as we hear it, but get ready for another round of major changes, perhaps more so than ever before.
Feel free to discuss this news in the Comments section or in the Forums. (Registration required).
UPDATE: According to Capt. Immy himself (aka Kevin Pereira): As of right now, it means a new set. That's about it. Oh, that, and I'll be delivering Seacrest's morning coffee.
Soy-Chai-Latte. For the record.
You can also follow other G4 viewer's feedback at the G4 Forums (Registration required).
Mega G4 fanboi Mecha sent/clipped a few G4 interviews from Scot Rubin's All Games Interactive so here they are.
Interview #1 with Gringo - The real meat starts about half way through the episode; Gringo works on the G4 web team. During the interview, he mentions that he is still working on getting episodes of Portal on the web, however the delay is due to the fact that it's mostly a side project. They touch on a lot of general G4 history and even more All Games history. Gringo also states that Jim Downs left on his own accord, reasons not stated.
G4 has an ad for a new show on their site called "Free Stuff" which says it will give away gadgets they review live, Fridays at 7:30PM EST. However clicking on the ad gives you an error.
So how do you win? Through the chat room? Through call ins? Random drawing? We'll let you know when we know.
Update: You can read more about Free Stuff by clicking here.
Feel free to discuss this news in the Comments section or in the Forums. (Registration required).
G4 wants you to "Stay Plugged In"; G4 Mobile launched; G4 shows legally distributed on BitTorrent.com
<
G4 has updated its graphics package for the third time since 2005 (see new logo above), adopted a new slogan, TV That's Plugged In (alternated with "sub slogan" Stay Plugged In), launched G4 Mobile, which allows the ability to watch G4 shows on your phone, and has also inked a deal with BitTorrent Inc. to legally distribute many of its current and past shows for about $2 a pop on BitTorrent.com
What this all really means, we dunno yet.
Has anyone bought any shows off of G4's mobile service or through BitTorrent.com? Tell us how it went in the Comments section or in the Forums. (Registration required).
A little late (again) but today we bring you tidings from E3 of yore. RIP oh Holy Ground of Gaming.
The Lab with Leo's site is now live at 
Update: Since this entry has been posted, G4 has decided to change its schedule again. Click 
Mecha, our flamboyant reporter from Canada is once again dropping the megatonz. He has given us confirmation that G4 Studios in Santa Monica, CA will be closing as of April 15th and many employees will be laid off, especially those in production. The remaining operations will be merged into E!'s studios in Los Angeles, CA.
G4 has an ad for a new show on their site called "Free Stuff" which says it will give away gadgets they review live, Fridays at 7:30PM EST. However clicking on the ad gives you an error.
<