Rather than believe in the old adage that the geek shall inherit the earth, NBC Universal has decided to officially announce that they are killing off G4. Okay, we all knew that this has been coming for a while seeing as they’ve been slowly axing G4 anchor shows like Attack of the Show and X-Play. However, now it’s official that G4 will cease to exist and NBC will launch The Esquire Network in its place on April 22.

NBC says that the new Esquire Network will be an “upscale Bravo for men.” That’s far kinder than the metrosexual demographic that The Hollywood Reporter slightly comically suggested was the target of NBC’s planned relaunch of G4 back in December. Adam Stotsky says that the target is “a more educated, affluent, sophisticated male viewer.”

I want to sound unbiased but that whole last paragraph should be dismissed with a wanking motion. It’s a load of marketing bullshit that suggests that the people at Esquire think that there are more people interesting in putting ona front for picking up women by seeming sophisticated than there are people who are truly passionate about video games and tech and geek culture. That’s part of the reason why this blog was created.

Two original shows have already been announced. There’s “Knife Fight” which will is an “after-hours” culinary competition between two young chefs. It sounds like Iron Chef but lacking the well-known chefs and personalities to give it credibility. There will also be a celebrity travel show called “The Getaway” because nothing says Bravo like a pointless reality show and nothing says Esquire like aspiring to be a celebrity.

While this won’t be the magazine on TV, there will apparently be some crossover. The only one noted so far was “Funny Joke From a Beautiful Woman.” And there Esquire hits on its most popular feature. If I hear about something in Esquire, it’s not fashion advice or travel tips or in-depth political commentary. It’s always something along the lines of “Kate Upton wore a bikini in this month’s Esquire” or “that Megan Fox feature was the worst thing ever written” (and it was).

I don’t think Esquire ever aimed to be what Spike TV set out to be but one gets the feeling that the marketing department’s aspirations of “cars, politics, world affairs, travel, fashion and cooking” carrying the channel might be misguided. I can find all of that elsewhere and probably better done.

Still, they’re going to be showing Parks and Recreation. I guess Esquire isn’t all bad… Even if they do employ Chris Jones.

Via: The New York Times