G4 2021 Relaunch…
Can you imagine a G4 2021 Relaunch? As I sit with my first cup of delicious Nespresso Intenso coffee, I began to reminisce about traveling to San Diego for a long weekend to catch Comic-Con International. I recall walking throughout the enormous exhibitors’ floor while reviewing my list of Must-Haves while watching my budget. Put it this way, you’ve never been to a true comic book convention until you’ve been to The San Diego Comic Book Convention! What makes this and any other comic book convention throughout the world is the fan base, whether it be comic book enthusiasts, Cos-Players, and the excitement comic book conventions bring with their panel of guests you can meet and take pictures with!
G4 TV Live @ Comic-Con
Here’s the thing, my cup of heaven also had me reminiscing of the times I couldn’t make it to San Diego… Back in the day there was an alternative and it was G4 TV with hosts like Kevin Pereira, Morgan Webb, Candace Bailey, Olivia Munn, and Sara Underwood not only interviewing celebrity guests but walking throughout the Con’s floor! I would get to see Cos-Players, exhibitors, and attendees, which made me feel I was there. That was the whole point of their whole thing of being at Comic-Con International, and that was to make us all feel we were there, and that’s what I miss! One of the most memorable G4 TV moments at Comic-Con was when they had John Barrowman (Syfy’s Torchwood & CW’s ARROW) as a guest host. I’ve never seen anyone so excited to be at Comic-Con interviewing other celebrity guests! The passion John Barrowman exhibited, just made the experience that much more memorable.
G4 Gaming Shows
In addition to providing amazing live coverage at Comic-Con International and at E3, G4 was doing their thing when it came to gaming & tech, with shows like ATTACK OF THE SHOW with Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira who were two of the (if not THE) most brutally honest and real tag team on television. This was all possible by way of their love of gaming and tech, which was made evident in every one of their episodes. Their substitute hosts, who were Chris Hardwick and Sara Underwood were just as entertaining. In addition to Attack of the Show, G4 also hosted X-Play, with Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb as the two main hosts of the show. Series cast members were also Kevin Pereira and Blair Herter as well as guest hosts like Cliff Bleszinski of Epic Games.
G4 Programs & Entertainment
Let’s also not forget about the programs broadcasted by G4 TV, which include:
- Ninja Warrior
- Code Monkeys
- Filter
- G4 Sports
- G4 Underground
- Game Makers
- Human Wrecking Balls
- Hurl!
- Invent This!
- Nerd Nation, and many more…
G4’s acquired programs were just as entertaining, these included:
- Blade
- Fastlane
- The Jamie Kennedy Experience
- The Man Show
- Robot Wars
- South Park
- Thunderbirds
- Totally Outrageous Behavior
Why Was G4 Canceled?
G4 TV or G4 Media was owned by NBCUniversal & Dish Network and ran from 2002 to 2014. There were many reasons thrown around as to why G4 TV was canceled, but its downfall began in 2009. G4 was intending to cut back their biggest shows, X-Play and Attack of the Show. As a result of the cutback, staff and crew were laid off. By 2010, DirecTV removed G4 from its lineup. Both X-Play and Attack of the Show aired their last episodes in January of 2013 and that was it for G4. There were a few possible opportunities to bring G4 TV back from the brink of annihilation, mainly UFC & WWE who were in separate talks to buy G4 in 2011, but the deals fell through respectively. By 2014 G4 TV was no more, but the painful part was watching its slow demise, which started in 2009.
For those of us who supported G4 TV since the beginning, have come to realize that G4 TV was in fact ahead of its time as it pertains to gaming in general. Just look at how far gaming has come as an actual sport, not to mention how streaming has made millionaires of gamers like Tyler “NINJA” Blevins, Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek, Herschel “Dr. Disrespect” Beahm, and many others. Can you believe the gaming coverage G4 TV would provide today?
G4 TV Is Coming Back In 2021
Well, hold on to your seats, because this past July, more specifically on the second day of Comic-Con International’s virtual convention, a visual teaser was released!
G4’s YouTube channel (still entitled Esquire Network), which only shows the one video, has garnered over 200,000 subscribers! Its Twitter profile seems to have been scraped of all tweets prior to July 24th and its Instagram account only has one submission and over 9,100 followers.
News has been circulating by very well known sources like DEADLINE and BLEEDING COOL that G4 is making an actual comeback in 2021! The biggest of circulations is that Olivia Munn is already in the works of finalizing a deal to join G4’s relaunch!
So Who’s Bringing G4 Back?
According to unknown sources quoted by eSports reporter, Rod “Slasher” Breslau, G4 is being brought back by Comcast! This kind of backing may mean not only an overhaul of G4, but also some big doors for them to walk through when they arrive! I’m hoping the same level of coverage they provided during Comic-Con & E3 will continue when they return. As for the gaming side, you know it’s gonna be hot!
As excited as I am, I have to wonder if G4’s relaunch will succeed beyond its initial 7 year “real” run. I believe it will, but what do you think? Please post your thought in the comment box below.
I loved g4 it was a great channel with so many shows to enjoy. Let’s hope when it comes back that it’s as good as the original
EXACTLY!!! Their coverage of E3 & Comic Con unparalleled and never duplicated by anyone including IGN. No one ever covered those events like G4.
Can’t wait to see what G4 does now. Code Monkeys was my favorite and wish the creator would have done YouTube or something like that to keep it going. As for Munn coming back, boo! She didn’t want to be there the last time she was there. All she wanted to do was be famous and hang around actors. She is the only one really to not anything to do with gaming and AOTS content after she left. Webb did a few E3 conferences along with Sessler. Chobot works for Nerdist, which was started by Hardwick. Most of the G4 hosts or staff stuck with gaming, comics, and nerd culture. Munn tried to completely shake it off. The only time she was on sites like IGN was because of her role in Age of Apocalypse. Which was an awful role.
Funny you mentioned Nerdist, because Hardwick started it in 2012 after things began looking grim at G4. The point is that everyone you mentioned – Hardwick, Munn, and Chobot, all started at G4. Unfortunately, G4 was a bit ahead of its time, which begs the question, “did NBCUniversal & Dish Network really know what they had with G4?” Their marketing was mute to say the least and those watching either found G4 by accident or were already following Munn, Sessler, Chobot & Hardwick on social media or clairvoyant! I can’t wait for G4 to come back, I just hope they bring back the same level of coverage on events like E3 & Comic Con.