# Why is G4 cancelling all its most popular shows?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2013, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278 "2013-01-25T00:58:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/1 "2013-01-25T00:58:50Z")
I’m sure the nerd-o-sphere is awash with furious debate on the subject, but I’d rather use the more civilized forum of the SD. First, after three successful seasons of _Web Soup_, including for season three building an actual set (the only Soup show to have more than just a green screen!) they cancel it. Now they have simultaneously canceled both _Attack of the Show_, and (what at least used to be) their highest rated show _X-Play_! Had their ratings significantly declined? And although they did a nice tribute to AOTS’s progenitor\* The Screen Savers\* at the end of the finale, why was Adam Sessler no where to be seen for X-Play’s? He was in 99% of that show’s episodes (including its first seasons as _Extended Play_). Did he leave/quit/get fired on bad terms? G4 did the same thing with _Code Monkeys_. It not only got good ratings it got really good reviews as well! Yet it too was gone after only one (or maybe one and a half?) seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/2 "2013-01-25T01:00:53Z")
It’s cheaper to show COPS reruns… seriously… ---
**Author:** ![RetroVertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@RetroVertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RetroVertigo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/3 "2013-01-25T02:29:28Z")
I shall miss Morgan, most of all. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/4 "2013-01-25T03:46:40Z")
I believe they’ve stated that they are going to re-brand G4 as the GQ Network. Those types of shows don’t seem like the types of things that would fit. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/5 "2013-01-25T04:08:33Z")
> [@RetroVertigo](#): > > I shall miss Morgan, most of all. Me too. And Sara Underwood’s boobs. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/6 "2013-01-25T04:10:04Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > I believe they’ve stated that they are going to re-brand G4 as the GQ Network. Those types of shows don’t seem like the types of things that would fit. > [@](#): > > In its bid for the largely untapped metrosexual viewership, NBCUniversal is set to rebrand G4 channel as the Esquire channel. > > Sources tell [_The Hollywood Reporter_](http://thr.com) that the NBCUniversal-owned cable network has closed a deal with _Esquire_ parent Hearst Corporation to shift the former gaming network to a destination more in line with the modern male. The effort is designed to capture a growing, upscale demographic that isn’t being reached through other male networks, including adrenaline-heavy Spike and History. [NBCUniversal, Hearst Corp. Close Deal to Rebrand G4 as Esquire Channel](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nbcuniversal-hearst-corp-close-deal-399481) ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/7 "2013-01-25T04:20:44Z")
I read about them killing all these shows and the network a couple of weeks ago. Sessler quit when he got the news (I’m guessing his contract allowed for that). ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/8 "2013-01-25T04:51:59Z")
Yeah, this was all announced back in October. I thought AOTS became pretty much unwatchable when they hired Candace Bailey. Kevin leaving last year was the nail in the coffin for that show. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/9 "2013-01-25T04:56:22Z")
AOTS died when Olivia Munn left. They might as well have shut it down then. Sara Underwood sure is fun to look at though. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/10 "2013-01-25T05:39:22Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I thought AOTS became pretty much unwatchable when they hired Candace Bailey. Sorry, but the words ‘ **unwatchable** ’ and ‘ **Candace Bailey** ’ are like matter and anti-matter, they do not go together! 😃 I figured it had to be something big like this. I mean, what the hell do \*COPS \*& _Knight Rider_ reruns have to do with games or technology! And I thought video games generated more revenue than music & movies combined?! Still not enough to have at least one network devoted to them? And _metrosexual?!_ Like the old Web Soup bit, _ **Is That Really A Thing?!?** _ I thought that was just a joke fad that peaked after _South Park_ did an episode about it (“Crab People!”)… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/11 "2013-01-25T13:24:21Z")
Video games generate a lot of revenue, but that’s because the gamers are watching monitors, not televisions. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/12 "2013-01-25T14:41:30Z")
There go the last picked over and marrow sucked bones of the once great Tech Tv. Are there any straight guys who would identify themselves as “metrosexual?” If it was just about fashion and didn’t have a bi-curious aspect it wouldn’t have “sexual” in the name. It would just be “metro-style” Frankly, I’ve come to think “metrosexual” is the western version of “Yaoi.” Have fun with that G4. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/13 "2013-01-25T14:50:21Z")
Because everybody knows there is nothing a metrosexual guy likes more than staying home and watching reruns of _Knightrider_. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/14 "2013-01-25T16:50:08Z")
> [@RetroVertigo](#): > > I shall miss Morgan, most of all. Morgan and Munn forever! AOTS started to die the day Comcast purchased the network. Then Munn left, and when Bailey\* was hired over Chobot that pretty much killed it for me. When does a Sunday School teacher beat Jessica Chobot? I guess when hell froze over. \*I love me the tall skinny ladies but her personality didn’t match the show at all. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/15 "2013-01-25T16:59:41Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Now they have simultaneously canceled both _Attack of the Show_, and (what at least used to be) their highest rated show _X-Play_! \ 😕 ☹ :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/16 "2013-01-25T17:04:19Z")
Adam Sessler left X-Play quite a while ago (last June I think). I used to like watching their reviews. It seems a real Video Game channel like G4 used to be is a good idea. You would think someone else will fill that void. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/17 "2013-01-25T17:10:35Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > [NBCUniversal, Hearst Corp. Close Deal to Rebrand G4 as Esquire Channel](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nbcuniversal-hearst-corp-close-deal-399481) Wow, that’s terrible. Just terrible, christ I want to be sick… ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/18 "2013-01-25T17:21:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Some of the new programming – which will focus on such genres as cooking, travel and fashion – already is in production as the rebrand is expected to take place during the first half of 2013, according to sources. Well, that’s a relief. Too long have I had to go without without a cable TV source for cooking, travel and fashion! ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/19 "2013-01-25T21:23:55Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Adam Sessler left X-Play quite a while ago (last June I think). I used to like watching their reviews. It seems a real Video Game channel like G4 used to be is a good idea. You would think someone else will fill that void. The internet did. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278/20 "2013-01-26T01:40:16Z")
Jeez, _Esquire_?!? Really?! I thought that magazine folded like 30 years ago! Wasn’t it sort of your great-grandpa’s soft core \*Playboy \*in the 40s or something? Then didn’t it become a black magazine in the 70s? And for those who didn’t see it, [**here’s the neat little tribute Leo & Patrick got to do at the end of the AOTS finale…**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVcBj_37Umg) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-g4-cancelling-all-its-most-popular-shows/648278.md?page=2)