The Screen Savers Reunited

HABITcky writes "Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, and Robert Heron have gotten together and recorded their first podcast of The Return Of The Screen Savers (ROTSS) It's a 56kbps MP3Pro file weighing in at around 14MB. Join them for 34 minutes of Skyping fun as they discuss driving in the dust, cell phones, Kevin's new webcast, Systm, and the demise of TechTV. They plan to make this a weekly broadcast."

My only hope....

[Y-Crate]

....being that they can get Kate Botello to make a few guest appearances. Then it will be a true reunion.

Leo Was Good

[Anonymous Coward]

He was what made that show watchable. And, as far as I know, he was the only one with any previous experience in that field. Kevin and the new batch are kinda' out of their element on Live TV, in my opinion.

Leo knew when the guest was becoming uninteresting, and would switch the subject - fast. The new breed kinda' drag on, and commit the most cardinal sin of Live Broadcast: stand in silence.

But, they're prettier than the old ones, I guess. Have to keep the eyecandy on display for their new audience...

Re:Who are these people...

[Sebby]

here [g4tv.com]

Pretty much the only interesting information show TechTV had, and G4 wished it had.

MP3Pro??

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

MP3Pro??

WTF?

Yeah, I know it is backwards compatible with regular mp3 players, but who just about nobody uses it, or has the "pro" decoder part installed. They should have gone with regular mp3 for backwards compatibility and a second copy with a completely different, more efficient low-bitrate codec like wma.

(Now, who thought I was going to say vorbis?)

Nice to hear from them again

[boring, tired]

Leo Laporte was the only good talent on that channel. He was a technology fanatic first and a TV host second. He did a good job of hosting, he seemed like an average guy who knew his stuff, and not a phony TV personality. The others either tried too hard to be cool or were too nerdy. It's a shame he had to leave TechTV but I'd rather see him out there on his own than hosting the suckified version of Screen Savers that exists today.

Re:Nice to hear from them again

[Anonymous Coward]

i hated him.. he seemed dumb as a brick

patrick was smart but leo was always trying to be funny or silly and never got things right and was just really computer illiterate

Re: MP3Pro??

[bawdymonkey]

I'm assuming they didn't go with OGG since iPod doesn't support it (although plenty of alternatives do.)

The MP3Pro decision was probably based on the fact that it's supposed to have better sound quality than vanilla MP3, IIRC.

Re:Cool, I've missed them

[Anonymous Coward]

It is hard to understand the thinking at G4.

Why does G4 not relent and give us techie types just a little more tech than games and the fluff?

Why does PBS or some other channel not pick up on the concept. Seems like there might be a demand for a TSS like program (more tech and less fluff).

TSS is really missed!

Re:Leo Was Good

[_Sprocket_]

I could only take Leo in small doses. I understand that he has his fans. And he seems like he's a nice enough guy. But I cringed whenever he got the bit between his teeth and started on one of his kicks.

Having said that - I thought worked well teamed up with Patrick Norton. Patrick delivered the info. And when he was busy searching or otherwise occupied, Leo did a nice job at keeping everyone distracted. And, as you pointed out, Leo had a good feel for how (and when) to get the show moving along.

Re:Cool, I've missed them

[GeorgeMcBay]

US stations have such a knack for taking great channels (or TV shows), and totally foobar them in a vain attempt to 'improve' them.


The blame really belongs to the viewers, not the stations.

If these good shows were doing at all well in the ratings, the network execs wouldn't dare to change a thing. Generally when they "screw up a good show" it is a last ditch effort to try to find a viewership when everything else has failed. Since they aren't in the business of losing money, there is really nobody to blame but the masses.. for not tuning in to quality shows.

Thoughts on TSS/TechTV

[humankind]

When I first saw TechTV, I was very impressed. I especially like how one of the policies that Leo implemented on TSS was to go live and if the computer crashed, show it on TV, and using Windows, many times their OS would crash in the middle of demos. They felt it was important to let people know that this happens to everybody and not just neophytes, and that ideally it should be avoidable and that was their way of sending a message to the software developers that if their products weren't stable, at least TSS wouldn't cover it up.

One problem these days with product reviews is that the line between editorial and advertising is to narrow, you don't know who to trust. TSS and some of the other shows on the early TechTV were very good about calling attention to products that, well, sucked and didn't live up to their claims. This probably alienated potential advertisers but it generated hardcore loyalty among viewers like me who felt that many of the personalities on TechTV were honorable and trustworthy.

When the network started running all kinds of weird fluff/syndicated crap, things started to decline. More emphasis was put on gaming and less on technology, more on goofy gadgets and less on core applications and utilities. When G4 took over the network, it was nearly dead and I haven't watched since.

I agree with others that Leo has a good personality for television, but sometimes I felt he was a little too animated and "fatherly". In contrast, Patrick and Kevin and others were more peer-like in the manner in which they presented information and news. Leo had more of a slightly patronizing hyper-exagerated-enthusiasm that I felt was over the top and annoying at times. But I can't deny that he was very knowledgable and capable. I would love to see the old crew back together again.

Re:Who are these people...

[Sexy Bern]

Mod parent up.

Not all slashdotters are American, or are in America.

Same goes for the "politics.slashdot.org" masthead. Stars and stripes for an EU (Mandelson/Microsoft) story? FFS.

Re:Cool, I've missed them

[multipartmixed]

> there is really nobody to blame but the masses..

No... we can blame the Neilsen Families. I say we round 'em up and lynch 'em.

Re:Cool, I've missed them

[ekwhite]

I don't believe you are correct in this case. TechTV actually had HIGHER ratings than G4. Comcast Cable, the owner of G4, bought TechTV from Paul Allen with the express intent of getting rid of the competition. What I can't understand is why G4 did not keep the best shows,as it would have only improved their competitive position. They must have the WORST programmers ever.