Next Life

What happened to TechTV is highly debatable. But not to dwell on a topic that has been beaten to death (pun), I have wanted to see some sort of revival of tech-related programming on television.

It's the entrepreneurial spirit that drives enterprise and innovation, and it was hoped that Leo Laporte and other personalities from ZDTV and TechTV would be at the forefront of this revival.

I never got around to meeting with Leo Laporte. For one, I was busy (surely likewise for Leo), but mostly because I wasn't sure how I would have been received--if at all.

Nevertheless, here are a few things I would like to see on a TV network dedicated to technology.

• Mac Show - Co-produced with Apple. It would be like a combination of popular shows Call for Help and The Screen Savers, but for the Mac platform.


• Home Theater Show - The home theater industry has exploded since the early 90's. This informational show could be co-sponsored with one of the popular home theater magazines, like Home Theater, or Sound & Vision. Segments would be about properly setting up a system, calibration, installation, THX, interviews with filmmakers, movie soundtracks, new audio/video formats and technologies--basically anything covered in those magazines.
  


• Hack/Mod show - A show about hacking and modding, featuring Kevin Rose, Yoshi, and Dan Huard. It could be an import of Systm to TV with a lot of how-to type segments and gadgets.
  


• HDTV - High Definition is the future of television. Even though the official switchover to digital TV has been delayed to 2009, the current NTSC system will become obsolete. Most televisions being sold today are widescreen HDTV's and HD-Ready TV's. If seeing imperfections in people's faces is a concern due to the higher resolution, then how different would it be if audience members saw them in real life? With extremely limited High Definition programming, people are thirsting for quality HD content. Once High Definition appears on movies in some consumer video format, people will not want to go back to Standard Definition. The transition to HDTV is analogous to going from black & white to color TV.

There is an opportunity not to be missed. Somebody should being offering more tech programming in the U.S., because, even if it's only a niche, there is a demand for it.

Bringing back Call For Help on G4, owned by Comcast, was one of the best things to happen to tech fans since the G4/TechTV merger, and a huge step forward. Comcast upper management finally got rid of G4 CEO Charles Hirschhorn, who, ironically, had become a detriment to his own creation.

G4 has undergone a lot changes in the past several months, particularly its programming line-up. With shows like Call For Help, Fast Lane, G4TV.com, Attack of the Show!, The Man Show, and Anime Unleashed, it's not clear as to what category this channel should fall under. I'm waiting for them to add a cooking show.

With financial backing from Comcast and some direction, maybe G4 should just become that gaming and technology channel that was promised to millions of viewers:

"This merger is a win for G4; a win for TechTV; and a win for our advertising and affiliate partners. The result will be one compelling TV channel that showcases the smart and edgy side of games and technology with the distribution necessary to achieve broad appeal." -Charles Hirschhorn, 2004

And now back to our regular scheduled programming . . .

Movie Pic of the Month

In The Next Life

Midnight Run, a classic action comedy with a lot of heart. It's Robert De Niro in his comedy debut and doing one of his finest performances. Directed by Martin Brest (Beverly Hills Cop, Scent of a Woman), the movie also features one of the best music scores by Danny Elfman. The story is about a bounty hunter who gets chased by the mob and the FBI while trying to bring in a score. But there's nothing special about that premise. It's De Niro's character, Jack Walsh, and the comical relationship between him and his captive that truly hold the movie.