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Attack of the Show! (commonly referred to as AOTS) is an American live television program shown weeknights on G4, G4techTV in Canada and Fuel TV in Australia. Attack of the Show! is hosted by Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn weekly on G4tv. Attack of the Show! reviews new technological items, parodies daily news, and gives exclusive previews of upcoming and highly anticipated video games, movies and digital media.
History
The program is known for commonly having segments where viewers can call, chat, and e-mail questions which are answered live on the show. It is also the only form of media to advertise most Internet fads. The show premiered on March 28, 2005 as the replacement for The Screen Savers. The show originally aired live five days a week; the week of January 2, 2006, the show was truncated to air for only four days a week. Fridays formerly featured a "Mash Up" which compiles the best segments from the week's four live shows. However he show returned to the air live, 5 days a week, as of September 2008.
Personalities
Host Kevin Rose, one of the holdovers from the TechTV days, left the show in May 2005. The show announced a search for a new host among the shows audience, and for several months various candidates auditioned on the air. In the end none of the candidates were actually selected, although, puzzlingly, this was never actually announced on the air. Sarah Lane, who had previously been a co-host and segment contributor, gradually became the shows official host. She continued in this capacity until Thursday, April 6, 2006, when she and Brendan Moran announced their engagement and stated that they would be leaving the show. They married in late May 2006 and had a thirteen-month honeymoon traveling the world and documenting their adventures online at Sarah's website.[1] The Morans appeared on the show, via satellite, on July 13, 2006 to talk about their adventures. The couple had been involved with TechTV and G4 since 2001, and their departure, like Rose's, was greeted with distress by the shows fans.
Olivia Munn was hired to replace Lane and began hosting on Monday, April 10, 2006. Zach Selwyn, the runner up on ESPN's Dream Job, was hired to replace Moran and started his hosting duties a week later on April 17, 2006. Wil O'Neal, a CNET senior editor who was one of the hosting candidates following Rose's departure, appeared on the show semi-regularly as a technology correspondent until 2007, when O'Neal departed from the show under suspicious circumstances, and was replaced by Chris Hardwick, former host of Singled Out and currently a writer for Wired magazine. Kevin Pereira is now the sole remaining host from the AOTS launch in 2005.
Segments
Below are segments that appear on AOTS, listed in alphabetical order.
| Title |
Synopsis |
| Around the Net |
A daily profile of websites featuring the top five online videos with unique or bizarre idiosyncrasies. Videos are usually accompanied by a mock interview with an "expert" or them acting out the circumstances of the video, if possible. Sub-segments includes: Women on Wheels (when videos portray women drivers doing ditzy things) Monk Shot (When a video includes something sounding similar to "Monk Shot", and Shenanigans Lab (Debunking fake videos). Before and after certain commercial breaks an ATNesque segment called "What Happens Next-" (Formerly just Around the Net) airs, where part of a video is shown with 3 possible options, the correct answer and the rest of the video are shown after the break. For a brief period in 2008, Around the Net included non-video content, memes and phenomena from the Internet, mixed with videos. |
| Asian Underground |
|
Attack This!
(formerly The List) |
A daily showcase of various things that the G4TV hosts recommend the viewers to buy, download etc. Presented by Olivia Munn |
| ATN After Hours |
Same as the Around the Net segment, except that after the five videos, more adult content is shown in uncensored form. Airs on the early morning repeats only. |
| Blog Watch |
|
| BREAK! Moments in De-Evolution |
Kevin and Olivia review several online videos from BREAK.com of people doing ridiculous stunts, which usually end in bodily harm and/or property damage. Each video is rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with a different satirical value for each segment (e.g. "Out-of-control tire fires", "Rolling meth labs" or "Gun-totin' grannies"). |
| DVDuesday |
Chris Gore-s reviews and picks for DVD releases and rates them as: buy, rent, or pass. Shown each Tuesday. |
| Epic Fail |
Usually the last segment of the show, Kevin and Olivia single out one online video in particular that has poor content, a contrived setting, or people who are clearly trying too hard. The term is derived from the Epic Fail meme perpetuated. |
| The Feed |
Pop culture and technology news delivered in blurbs, presented by Layla Kayleigh, Kristin Holt or Alison Haislip. Also the branding of the program's news ticker. |
| Fresh Ink! |
Blair Butler reviews upcoming comic book titles and rates them as: buy, browse, or burn. She also visits comic conventions. |
Gadget Pr0n
(formerly AOTS Hardware) |
Contributing host Chris Hardwick joins Kevin to review and showcase the latest gadgets and gear. |
| Go Hack Yourself |
|
| In Your Pants |
Sex columnist Anna David and Olivia Munn give intimate relationship advice and opinions. After the segment, Kevin Pereira makes a joked sexist statement followed by a rooster crowing and the quote "Cock-a-doodle-doo! BITCHES!" Occasionally, this segment is filmed in New York, where David is usually based out of. |
| Its Effing Science! |
Kevin or Olivia explain a science experiment, usually with a satirical effect. |
| Kings of Dot Comedy |
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| Military Tech |
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| Robot News |
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| The Loop |
A daily forum hosted by Kevin Pereira featuring different opinions on the latest tech related news usually with one to three guests appearing live via satellite. |
| Video Viewer Mail |
Viewers send in videos of themselves, asking questions, giving opinions, etc. Olivia and Kevin usually introduce it by saying something along the lines of "Let's talk to you guys over in the army of monitor heads." |
| Virtual Audience |
Kevin and Olivia talk with viewers via webcams about various topics. |
| Web Tools |
|
| What's Up with Japan- |
Kevin talks about the strange occurrences within Japan, from tech to popular culture. In relating to Japan, the segment's title is also given in Japanese as (Gendai Nippon Jij-), a rough translation of the English title.[2] |
| Whos Who on Youtube |
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| Women of the Web |
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| WTF-! |
Kevin discusses strange things on the web. |
International broadcasting
In Australia, the program has experienced a short but turbulent broadcast schedule. In September, 2006 long-time broadcaster of the show, HOW TO Channel in Australia stopped airing the program after the format no longer suited the channel's D.I.Y. format. However, in November 2007 Fuel TV (a sports channel) began airing the program. The program also films special episodes outside of the states; during certain times of the year it will travel to settings like Japan, Comic-Con, or Amsterdam and Jamaica for 4/20.
Attack of the Show is also available in Canada on G4techTV. In the Philippines, episodes are aired with a one-week delay on Maxxx.
References
External links
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