I will never watch G4TV again.

Back when they were seperate from TechTV I thought they sucked. The shows were so lame–mostly about consoles. They always featured a couple of absolute jackasses for hosts.

But I always loved TechTV. I remember when the network began… they had the best shows! The Screen Savers, Silicon Spin, Fresh Gear… ahhh, such geeky tech shows. TechTV really seemed to cater to the true geek. It was for guys like me.

Then G4 bought TechTV–that was a very dark day. I could see all my favorite shows being canceled. I could see my favorite hosts getting fired or moving on to better things. It all happened.

One show surivived the merge however–The Screen Savers. This was probably the best show either network has ever had. I even liked it back when Kate Botello was co-host with Leo Laporte. She could be obnoxious at times, and sometimes contradicted Leo’s advice… and yet she’s better than anything G4 currently has going.

The Screen Savers went though some changes and finally settled with two very personable and likable guys–Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton–who also happened to be uber geeks. TSS featured advice on upgrading to Linux or Mac, tech book reviews, stuff on NASA, cell phones, gadgets… these guys covered all the best toys for the tech loving geeks that made up their audience, like me. And TSS had some great moments! Remember when Kevin Mitnick got off parole? He used a computer for the first time in YEARS on the show. TSS was truly a show for geeks, by geeks.

So G4 buys TechTV. First, they shut down the San Francisco studio and moved the remaining employees down to SoCal. Patrick left the show. Leo left soon after. TSS moved away from the geeky tech stuff and more towards lifestyle bullshit. TSS was renamed to “Attack of the Show”. Finally, last week, the last geek at G4 left TSS, Kevin Rose. Now all that’s left is a creepy guy and a cute girl–she’s nice enough, but hardly a geek.

I no longer have any reason or desire to watch what the show’s become. There is nothing tech about AotS. Today I watched one last time, and was disgusted with just how much the show has changed. Today’s show featured a seg on the sport of drifting, where car enthusiasts slip and slide over a track, barely in control. Uh, what’s tech about that? Finally they moved on to the seg where the hosts take calls from viewers. The first caller asked when was the right time to break up with his girlfriend. The idiot hosts gave some horrible advice, and they hemmed and hawwed and stumbled through the call. The second call was about a guy who liked to play games and wanted advice on how to get his girl interested in playing with him.

OK that’s it, I’m done. I’ll never watch that fucking network again.