G4's "Star Trek 2.0" idiocy

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2006-06-02 02:31pm

G4 (formerly TechTV), the game/computer geek channel, recently began airing TOS episodes in a brand new and totally annoying format.

Star Trek 2.0 presents TOS "as you've never seen it" —or even wanted to for that matter. The video is squeezed into a centre-screen box framed by smaller displays of trivia factoids, interactive chatroom traffic, and quotes from the "Spock Market". This being their idea of making Star Trek a live interactive experience. The episodes, BTW, are in the 1990s syndication format, with around six minutes of cuts from the originals but nowhere near as bad as the butchered-up SciFi package —but that's only the least irritating aspect of this atrocity. Don't believe me? It airs on G4 weeknights at 11 p.m. EST.

I swear there must be a department of people somewhere whose sole employment is to devise new ways to make TV viewing as shitty an experience as possible.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-06-02 02:51pm

Remember when Sci-Fi did their whole Star Trek - The Original Series: Special Edition thing and aired the whole series twice through (first introduced by Shatner, then by Nimoy), uncut, with interview and trivia clips to pad out the slightly extended runtime? I miss that, and would love to see it again...

From how it sounds (I don't know if I get the station), what G4 is doing is completely unwanted overkill. Something like a semi-transparent trivia track running at the bottom of the screen for the duration of the episode would be a nice addition. As a viewer and fan, I just don't need things like chatlogs and other crap cluttering things up and detracting from the experience. I bet it all makes noise, too, doesn't it?

And what the Hell is a "Spock Market"?

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2006-06-02 02:56pm

Something like a semi-transparent trivia track running at the bottom of the screen for the duration of the episode would be a nice addition.

Or something like the trivia pop-ups on the SE DVD's - that was nice.

And what the Hell is a "Spock Market"?

If I understood it correctly from all the bitching I read about it, you can "buy" certain things Spock says/does and depending on when they happen in the episode their value goes up or down. Like a retarded crossbreed of bingo and Wall Street.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2006-06-02 03:33pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Remember when Sci-Fi did their whole Star Trek - The Original Series: Special Edition thing and aired the whole series twice through (first introduced by Shatner, then by Nimoy), uncut, with interview and trivia clips to pad out the slightly extended runtime? I miss that, and would love to see it again...

That was from a time when SciFi was run by people who actually gave a crap about their audience. Those days are long gone.

G4 introduced this atrocity with an initial marathon of uncut, ungimmicked episodes. I knew from the start it would never last. The first 2.0 presentation was that very day with "Arena".

And yes, there is the odd "beeping" sound effect.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2006-06-02 04:05pm

I've seen the 2.0 crap, and honestly haveing that much distraction just ruins it. Literally you're watching sub standard TOS with a tiny view, with the fun addition of 'net comments and a scrolling useless factiod, and a pointless extra of "How many..."

Oi, waste of an hour.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2006-06-02 04:32pm

Just put TOS on PBS. No commercials means they can run the entire length of the original episode without adding a bunch of extra after-the-fact/behind-the-scenes nonsense.

FedRebel · Post by **FedRebel** » 2006-06-02 05:21pm

What if they bundle it with a telethon?

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2006-06-02 08:34pm

I agree. It's horrible. Durring the whole show, they've got the bridge sound effects going in the background along with a whole boarder around the show of useless bullshit.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2006-06-03 12:36am

Ghost Rider wrote:I've seen the 2.0 crap, and honestly haveing that much distraction just ruins it. Literally you're watching sub standard TOS with a tiny view, with the fun addition of 'net comments and a scrolling useless factiod, and a pointless extra of "How many..."

Oi, waste of an hour.

Regarding the tiny view. If you think it's bad on a 36" screen, just imagine some poor slob trying to watch ST2.0 on a 13" TV.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2006-06-03 08:25am

I haven't even watched the thing but I'm already betting that many of the "net comments" are fanwhore

Jim Raynor · Post by **Jim Raynor** » 2006-06-03 02:11pm

Darth Servo wrote:I haven't even watched the thing but I'm already betting that many of the "net comments" are fanwhore

More like "fucking retard." I saw 2.0 once, and I couldn't even tolerate the stupid, pointless AIM-like chatting.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2006-06-03 02:32pm

Some mitigation: G4 is airing uncut, ungimmicked TOS episodes on Saturdays, prior to a 2.0 presentation; something I thought was just a Memorial Day Weekend marathon. But don't expect it to last for very long.

18-Till-I-Die · Post by **18-Till-I-Die** » 2006-06-03 08:28pm

G4 has done many retarded things recently.

Now they're on this "G4-The Next Level!!!" crap.

Meaning...X-Play gets a new set, so does Attck of the Show, Arena still reruns twice daily, Cheat is the only video game show and may not even be in production anymore, and Filter is back hosted, instead of by that hot asian chick, by some huge blonde woman in a shiny dress that reads her lines like an iliterate trying to read Dickens, I.E, veeeery slowly.

Oh and best yet, we get shit like Cheaters

, what that has to do with a video game i can scarcely imagine; we get Ed The Sock Puppet's Midnight Party (i am NOT making that up); we get Triumph the Insult Comic Dog who is wearing thin.

The best fucking show is Fastlane, and thats just cause its mindless action and thus can be entertaining if you turn your brain off and watch.

Otherwise i dont even watch it anymore unless its like E3 coverage or something.

Oddly enough i used to watch it 24/7 when it first came on, but now its just another Spike TV.

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2006-06-03 08:51pm

18-Till-I-Die wrote:G4 has done many retarded things recently.

Now they're on this "G4-The Next Level!!!" crap.

Meaning...X-Play gets a new set, so does Attck of the Show, Arena still reruns twice daily, Cheat is the only video game show and may not even be in production anymore, and Filter is back hosted, instead of by that hot asian chick, by some huge blonde woman in a shiny dress that reads her lines like an iliterate trying to read Dickens, I.E, veeeery slowly.

Oh and best yet, we get shit like Cheaters , what that has to do with a video game i can scarcely imagine; we get Ed The Sock Puppet's Midnight Party (i am NOT making that up); we get Triumph the Insult Comic Dog who is wearing thin.

The best fucking show is Fastlane, and thats just cause its mindless action and thus can be entertaining if you turn your brain off and watch.

Otherwise i dont even watch it anymore unless its like E3 coverage or something.

Oddly enough i used to watch it 24/7 when it first came on, but now its just another Spike TV.

I actually don't mind X-Play, but they're moving away from what made the show good in the first place with the new revision.

That and the commercials for Midnight Spank. Not the show, just the commercials. They're amusing in a grim sort of way.

BloodAngel · Post by **BloodAngel** » 2006-06-03 08:54pm

Don't forget...The Man Show!!!

And here's an update on Star Trek 2.0: apparently they are replacing their former Star Trek "1.0" lineup with all 2.0, in a row. I'm saying this because on my DTV program guide I'm just seeing 2.0 from now on until infinity. So, start getting used to this folks; Next Generation may be next!

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2006-06-03 09:07pm

Patrick Degan wrote:Some mitigation: G4 is airing uncut, ungimmicked TOS episodes on Saturdays, prior to a 2.0 presentation; something I thought was just a Memorial Day Weekend marathon. But don't expect it to last for very long.

I'm awaiting the day I can get the set cheap from a friend. The days of watching ToS on the telly are long dead.

LongVin · Post by **LongVin** » 2006-06-03 11:28pm

BloodAngel wrote:Don't forget...The Man Show!!!

You know the best thing about G4 showing "the Man Show" is that only about a year ago they stopped producing "Unscrewed with Martin Sargeant" because they claimed it wasn't the type of show they wanted representing the network because it was too adult.

Then the replaced it with that "Girls of the web" or "Gaming Girls" Whatever that stupid show was about female characters in video games.

Now they replaced that with The Man Show which is just as adult if not more so then Unscrewed.

Got to love G4. Is there even any more Tech in any of their programs? Last time I saw Attack of the Show all they talked about was video games and movies. I didn't get one tech factoid out of it.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2006-06-04 12:43am

Patrick Degan wrote:Regarding the tiny view. If you think it's bad on a 36" screen, just imagine some poor slob trying to watch ST2.0 on a 13" TV.

I did once, as a matter of fact. It was dogshit. Not only was the show I was trying to watch tiny, but the bells and whistles around it were so compressed I couldn't read any of it. So even if the 2.0 stuff wasn't stupid bullshit, I couldn't appreciate any of it.

It's too bad Paramount is run by thieves and prison rapists who think over $100 is a fair price for a single season of TOS, when everyone else sells complete seasons for under $60 (I just got Lost season 1, with 25 episodes, more than any TOS season, for $45.95).