Leo Laporte, Chris Pirillo and TechTV

This post is pretty much off the beaten path for me but I thought I would put in my 2 cents.  I can't say that I am a TechTV groupie but I've watched it a few times.  I don't care for all of the games oriented programming but I have really liked Call for Help and The Screen Savers when they have been on.  I've scoured their internet links for free files and stuff like that and as best I could tell they had a good thing going.

The first time I saw Call for Help, Chris Pirillo was hosting it and he was awesome.  He is the perfect techno-geek.  He's knowledgeable, funny, and has a great personality.  I think I only caught Leo Laporte for a few minutes, but I have enjoyed reading his blog from time to time.  I also bought his almanac last year and it's great.

So my question is "what's up with TechTV?"  I know they got rid of Chris Pirillio sometime last year or the year before then they got rid of Leo.  I think they have cancelled "Call for Help" completely.  I saw "The Screen Savers" the other day and the guys they had doing the show looked like a couple of kids.  In all fairness they seemed to know what they were talking about, but I felt much better about listening to Leo and Chris.

I thought of this today when I read Leo Laporte's blog.  He is apparently doing the Call for Help show for TechTv Canada.  He says there is some agitation to bring it back to America.  Does anyone know if there is a way to get Call for Help now, or do we wait.

Like I said, I'm not a groupie, but it has been nice to turn it on and get some good advice from time to time.  If Chris and Leo were on I'd love to watch it more.  Does anyone know any more about what's up with TechTV.

Comments

[Feeble Knees]

Hi Jolly,
I think the changes happened after TechTV was bought by Comcast. The link below provides more information.

http://www.compukiss.com/populartopics/tech_gadgetshtm/article1184.htm

cheers,
Feeble

[Dean]

I wondered the same thing. I really liked the Leo guy. I too didn't not watch it often, but I enjoyed watching The Screen Savers. I tuned in shortly after they got the guy with the wild hair on the show, and found it to be obviously geared to the younger crowd (sad for me to say when I'm only 39). I don't have the money to afford or the training in a lot of tech. stuff, but I enjoyed the look the show took at new gadgets and the like. I read the link mentioned in the comment before me, and I guess it was explained pretty well there. I'll miss the old TechTv.

[Tim]

I thought they got rid of Chris about the time he went through his divorce. He started to get a bad potty mouth on his blog. I figured his attitude changed and they dumped him. Maybe not...

[BR GirL]

"I can honestly say that, the OLD Tech Tv with all the ORIGINAL HOSTS:

Leo Laporte,(he reminds me of my dad!)
Patrick Norton,(he reminds me of my brother)
Chris Pirillo,(i love him!!! he's so adorable!)
Cat Schwartz,(she reminded me of my math teacher!)
Martin Sargent,(i liked his goofy-ness!!!)
Megan Morrone,(she's cool, always looked forward to the next T-shirt she'll be wearing they were awesome!!!)
Jessica Corbin,
Yoshi DeHerrera,(i loved watching his mods!!!)
Kate Botello,
Sumi Das,(i loved her show, she was awesome!!!)

WAS the BEST TIME to watch Tech TV, NOT G4TechTv, but "TECH TV!"
Tech Tv was all I watched, 24/7...From THE SCREEN SAVERS, to CALL FOR HELP, to FRESH GEAR, to EXTENDED PLAY, to all the shows...well...except ROBOT WARS or some show about fighting robots, never really cared for that one!!! However, I'm still glad Morgan Webb, and yes...even Adam Sessler is still crankin' it up with their show now called X-Play... But i truly, truly miss the old gang. I wish they all get together and make "THEIR OWN" Tech Tv-ish Show, that will blow G4TTV out of the water. Anywayz, I still watch G4TTV because I'm also a gamer. The only shows I watch nowadays is "X-Play" just because Adam, and Morgan is part of the 'old' gang and whenever i watch them both, it's like i'm still watching the 'old' Tech Tv. Plus i always enjoy their game reviews and opinions. Then there's "JUDGEMENT DAY" with hosts Victor Lucas, and Tommy Tallarico. I enjoy these two hosts because i think they have honest opinions because they don't always agree on certain games. Plus they're both funny, and Tommy is a nutcase that's why i enjoy watching them and their show. I also watch "FILTER" with Host, Diane Mizota. I think she's very pretty and she looks like the type of girl i can hang around with. And she always have interesting things to talk about in her show. I love the show "CINEMATECH" because it shows off all the CG Movies and clips of games i've played in the past and still playing in the present. Whenever i catch a glimpse of games like FFVII, RE, SM64, etc. it brings back memories!!!! I love watching the show "ICONS" because it talks about the Game Companies like: CAPCOM, SNK, NAMCO, NINTENDO, MICROSOFT, and all the other major and minor producers of games we all loved and played.
They also talk about the Iconic game programmers like Shigeru Miyamoto, and Yu Suzuki, etc... And lastly, another one of my favorite host of the "newG4TechTv" who host the show "CHEAT!" Cory Rouse, has been FIRED!!!! he was very quirky and he sounded like he knew what he was talking about whenever he would describe cheats, and hints to gamers. Plus, his outtakes at the end of his show are hilarious!!! CORY ROUSE :ANOTHER HOST that i will miss, certainly another casualty in the G4TechTv HostKillingfield. I managed to catch a glimpse of the new host of CHEAT! I think her name is Kristina Holtz or something, anywayz no doubt she's pretty, but she doesn't look convincing when she talks about games, or when she's giving tips and tricks, and cheats. It's like she's a runway model that G4 hired to host a show about a topic that she doesn't squat about! Just to cater to horny young boys! Please...the last thing i want is to watch a network that patronizes it's viewers!!! Doesn't G4 know that there are Girl-Gamers out there? What must we do to prove that we exist? N-E-Wayz...Why, oh why does the frickin' higher ups or whoever is in charge of G4TTV keeps firing Hosts that i begin to watch and enjoy??? I swear if they ever get rid of or fire, the following Hosts: ADAM SESSLER, MORGAN WEBB, VICTOR LUCAS, TOMMY TALLARICO, KEVIN ROSE, TINA WOOD, LAURA FOY, CHI LAN, DIAN MIZOTA....I will personally CANCEL my CABLE SUBCSCRIPTION to COMCAST, and I will also convince my friends and family whose Cable account is with COMCAST to Cancel all of their accounts, and get another cable provider. DAM YOU COMCAST who killed the Original TECH TV!!! I hope you ALL DIE, and BURN IN HELL!!!!!

just my 2 cents,
BR GirL a.k.a Kyoko

[Chas. Wilkes]

I too miss Leo and the gang. They were my only enjoyable source of tech information about my PC.

[Ryan]

Techtv to g4 because the original owner got bored. Now we are all bored with g4. G4's shows are hosted by immature teenagers who pretend to know what they are talking about. G4 fired all the people who knew what they were doing such as norton, laporte, and prillo. The entire channel is no longer about computers and tech but about gamers. First of all most gamers will agree with me when i say gamers want to play games not watch other people play them. The channel has useless programs. "Attack of the show" What in the hell kind of name is that. What demographic are they trying to appeal to with that crazy-ass show. It is boring and stupid. The only show worth watching is call for help but i rather listening to the twit podcasts. If any of you feel the way i do email g4 and give them a piece of your mind. I bombard them with emails everyday in an attempt to bring back the shows we loved. Long live techtv!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ollie Tabooger]

Sumi Das seems to be doing well... I see her on CNN all the time.