G4 revisited

Well, it has been over 2 years since I last wasted breath on the merger of G4 and TechTV, and what a changed place G4 has become. Two years after Comcast bought TechTV and tried to merge it with G4, I can say that some of my predictions have come to pass, all except where they are out of business (but that does look to be right around the corner.

Has anyone else noticed the programming on G4 lately? Just looking at their website, there are only 4 shows that air regularly that are produced in-house: X-Play, Icons, Cheat, and Attack of the Show (formerly the Screen Savers, formerly cool).

They are running episodes of Star Trek TNG, Arrested Development, Street Fury, and Ed the Sock. While I could go into detail on each of these shows, I will spare you the horror and only give a brief description of each:

Star Trek - seen it, multiple times, to the point where I can recite a lot of the dialog
Arrested Development - canceled 3 years ago, no new episodes being made, and there will soon be reruns of reruns
Street Fury - dated car culture series I had never heard of before - rather light my eyelashes on fire
Ed the Sock - inspiration for Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, except that Triumph is actually funny

What about the shows being produced in-house?
Well, X-Play has been neutered to the point where they average more silly little sketches than actual game reviews. And if that isn't bad enough, the sketches used to be shorter, fewer, and funnier, and now they are just longer and irritating....and neither Sessler or Webb will be winning roles in Oscar contenders anytime soon. More reviews and less acting needed.
What about Attack of the Show? Kevin Rose (remember him, the original host?) found an escape clause in his contract and bailed. Sarah Lane, well, I wasn't paying attention, but she stopped sleeping with Kevin, and was there one minute and gone the next. Alex Albrecht was terrible, and was canned quickly. The Asian girl who's name I am afraid of mangling so I won't try, is gone as well. There must be a revolving door in their casting offices. Kevin Pereira is good, engaging, and better without a script and when he is not trying so hard to be cool. The show itself has sucked every ounce of goodness that was in it from the TechTV/Screen Savers days and is almost a mockery of what good TV is all about.
Cheat.....well, they got rid of the squirrelly little guy who looked like he had tried to unlock everything and they put in eye candy. Did I say eye candy? She isn't as hot as she thinks she is, and I don't believe for a second that she has ever used a controller for anything more than self-satisfaction (they do vibrate, ya know).
And last there is Icons, that shows biographies of the pioneers and innovators of the video game industry, complete with the cheesy narration and the talking head "experts" a la the Discovery Channel. That isn't to say it isn't informative, but I look at it the way I look at the History Channel - only if there is nothing else on.
There is also CinemaTech, but hey, I can hook a VCR to my Xbox too.

Is the end near for G4? No, I don't think so, but if I was to subject myself to watching a whole programming day, I think the nearest comparison would be a local cable access channel with flashier graphics and nationwide distribution. Production quality is still in the toilet, at least for the shows they actually produce. I'm unclear if it is cheaper to buy the license to air an episode of Picard and Crusher's romantic tension than it is to rent studio space and record your own show, or if it was a case that more people would watch a 10 year old rerun than the mindless dribble being produced.

If the latter is the case, then maybe the end is closer than they think.