I've bitched before about how G4 ruined The Screen Savers. It's an old topic by now. I hadn't mentioned it again, because I don't know many people who care about it, but what's going on now is really annoying me.
A few months ago, they morphed TSS into a game-oriented, poorly hosted shell of its former self (shell of a shell?) called Attack of the Show. Just one minor cast member remains and very little of interest otherwise. They're adding bizarro (usually crappy) bands as well and doing a gimmicky margarita Friday. The whole show has lost what it once was … a cool insiders guide to the world of online and computer tech. Now it's over-hyped, promoting everything and trying so hard to pass itself off as cool that it's obvious and pathetic.The shows hosts, a cute girl and two nerdy boys are always bashing Bush and bringing politics into the show. Bush is far from perfect and their right to have opinions, but c'mon!!! It's a show about technology. They bring him up at random times when it has nothing or little to do with what's in the context of the show. It adds nothing except some more shameless pandering to their theoretical demographic.
But here's the kicker: they keep doing features on America's Army, a video game developed by the US Army as what I can only figure to be a clever recruiting tool. These features show “real soldiers” playing this game. Then they describe what their life in the army is like … the good bits. The computer training they've received, how relaxed their schedules are. It's so shameless I was appalled.
This show is talking out of both sides of its mouth and I feel, trying to assure kids that it's on the level with the Bush Bashing and then simultaneously luring them toward the army with candy and puppies and video games. How dishonest and creepy is that?!??!
Sarah Lane, Kevin Pereira, and whatever lame guest host the've got this week should be ashamed of themselves. Get the hell off the show. It's probably not doing a lot for your career anyhow.
Congrats to Kevin Rose for bailing when he did.