Guests and co-hosts of TWiT shows are finally beginning to see the light of truth shining on Leo Laporte’s perverted actions and are bailing on the fat host and his failing network. It’s like the USB-enabled rats are fleeing a fat sinking ship.
And in further evidence that the once mighty network is showing foundational cracks, technical director Jason Howell had to yank Leo back from the brink last week from a disastrous ad-related decision and remind him that per the signed contract with advertisers, Leo can’t just move ad placements around from show to show. Thus, Leo is recording “iPad Today” with zero ads. Tada!
“iPad Today” had to run early to take the place of a guest cancellation on the boring “Triangulation” show (which was originally intended as a three-way interview format between guest, Leo and the chatroom…but Leo long ago dropped the pretense of involving #twitlive in the show). Leo then proceeded to badmouth the guest, sci-fi writer Ernest Cline. Thank God for Ernest that he didn’t appear on the show. Who needs that kind of negative publicity of Leo Googling you during the show to figure out what the hell he’s going to ask. You can only talk bout the weather and where you born for so long.
Why didn’t Leo ask me to be a guest? I would have LOVED to drone on-and-on about my undying love for Apple.
Rene Ritchie» Quote comment
Or at least my upper lip? Which by all accounts, like notorious B.I.G. Is blowing like a bubble.
Rene’s Apple Jizz filled Lips» Quote comment
Or talk about your mom as a layperson tech user.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
“…technical director Jason Howell had to yank Leo back from the brink last week from a disastrous ad-related decision and remind him that per the signed contract with advertisers…”
The downward spiral continues…
Steve James» Quote comment
Desperation Guest – Lance Ullanoff
Then he went on to kiss his ass like he ran a respectable web site
GhostDog» Quote comment
What happens when Jason is not there to yank back The Yanker?
Zon» Quote comment
Dick pics and sex swing news happens when Jason hasn’t got Leo’s six.
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
Liar LeWhore was six minutes late for MBW today, and the chatroom called him on it. He whined, “the chatroom is on me for being late, and they wonder why I come down on them? We weren’t late, we got here on our Segways five minutes ago.”
Sigh. Dipshit, it doesn’t matter when you fat-fucked your way to the studio, nobody cares. The show begins at 11 AM, so be in your chair and ready to begin at 11 AM. How hard is that? Have you EVER been on time for a show, you goddamn narcissist pig?
Next, Leo blathered on about a future trip to the south of France, as if anyone gives a shit.
So, I don’t think it’s any surprise that guests are canceling. If Leo can’t be bothered to prepare or even show up on time, why should guests show up at all? Leo doesn’t even pretend to care these days.
macsimcon» Quote comment
amen fistbump.
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
in the morning!
Ryan» Quote comment
Which reminds me, when has the last time JCD has been on?
Ryan» Quote comment
Shut-up! Slave!!!
justthisguy» Quote comment
That time when it was him and Jolie O’dell… the week before the much touted episode when the giant shill Jason Calacanis made his cumback and name dropped for 2.5 hours.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
May 10th 2015.
Robert Greene» Quote comment
TYFYC disgruntled citizen!!! So as I have been putting this together, it seems that JCD has not been on since right after Bershire Hathaway shareholders meeting which would have been May1 or May8…..so let’s say May.
During the week after dickgate was the first time Leo said “we were gonna have John on but…”. This has since happened 2 or 3 times. Then this past weekend, Leo said this again then the chat asked “Will John EVER be on again?” Leo said “Yes”.
Adam has been asking JCD almost weekly, on Sundays, if he is doing TWIT. On Sunday July 12, JCD almost laughed at Adam when he asked. I do think that is telling.
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
I get the feeling that “off air” Leo and JCD don’t really communicate via phone or otherwise. I’ve noticed that many guest requests go out from show producers via Twitter and many of those tweets go un answered. John and Leo go way back and it’s hard to determine exactly what happened but it’s not looking like JCD will return ever. The further away JCD last appearance goes, the more active the chat will be on drilling Leo for his return.
John» Quote comment
“John and Leo go way back and it’s hard to determine exactly what happened but it’s not looking like JCD will return ever.” …Leo’s a psychopath and has no friends. He’ll USED JCD as much as possible until JCD realized Leo’s true nature….
“The further away JCD last appearance goes, the more active the chat will be on drilling Leo for his return.”…and Leo will Lie and Lie and Lie until he can fabricate a good bullshit story about how JCD fucked him and dissed his TWIT empire….
Steve James» Quote comment
During the live netcast prior to TWiT (#520), Leo mentioned that JCD declined the invitation to appear on this week’s episode.
As John C. has pointed out numerous times, the ratings for the program go up every time he’s on. This just reinforces the theory that people don’t tune in to hear what Leo has to say, only his guests.
Real_Geek» Quote comment
Now that I think of it – IIRC John C Dvorak has huge beef with Calacanis.
Belmont’s Fake Geek Glasses» Quote comment
Six minutes would be a huge improvement. That’s almost an acceptable degree of lateness. He used to waddle in for every single first show of the day at least 20 minutes late and sometimes more than a half hour late. He used to apologize with some lame excuse, but then he stopped even mentioning that he was late.
At some point more than a year ago, he started being on time for WW but remained very late for the other shows. When someone asked him in the chatroom why he was all of a sudden punctual for WW, he admitted that Paul had read him the riot act about being late and Paul may have even threatened to quit. Leo continued to be on time for WW but continued very late for the other first shows of the day. Whatever Paul had said proved very effective.
Leo used to say that the start times for behind the scenes recording of podcasts were flexible and shouldn’t be considered like regular TV shows’ starting times.
What he failed to realize in his selfishness and narcissism was that he was stealing valuable time from his co-hosts’ busy day by requiring *them* to be sitting at their computers staring into a webcam for the better part of a half hour every single week waiting for him to finish his workout at the gym or whatever.
The fact that Leo either didn’t realize or didn’t care that he was squandering his co-hosts’ time every day was the first and main thing that disgusted me about Leo and made me realize he was nothing more than an affable creep.
Robert Greene» Quote comment
^^^ this is exactly what happened between Leo and Paul. It didn’t happen on the live stream but Paul must have called Leo on the back channel and read him the riot act . If you go back and look at the recorded This Week in TWiT shows that Leo and Lisa used to do on a fairly regular basis, Lisa was always making a big deal about how she was “re jiggering ” the show start times. Over time you now see she was covering up for Leo and his inability to arrive on time for a show start. Why publish a show schedule with start times if your ever growing lover can’t get his ever growing lard ass into his chair and get the show started on time.
John» Quote comment
Well Paul Thurrott is an actual tech reporter, not a tech news repeater. Paul has original thoughts and knowledge, Leo just reads what other people say.
Mark Harry» Quote comment
Is Heather still working for this creep? I’ve not listened to the “Tech Guy” for ages. If she’s still working there I’d be surprised. I’d go and check but I don’t want to give TWIT urls hits.
Steve James» Quote comment
Well, Heather was not there on Sunday as producer Kim filled in for Heather. Not sure about Saturday as I did not watch most of the show.
soupslurper» Quote comment
I didn’t get the reasoning, but Heather will only be on Saturdays from now on. I think Leo said she works during the week so she was working 7 days a week.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
Seems I don’t believe much if anything Leo says. Maybe Mrs. Laporte is slowly moving Heather to an off-site call screener.
Harkonnen Mentat» Quote comment
The appointment of death.
Belmont’s Fake Geek Glasses» Quote comment
The call screeners used to be off site before Heather came on board then poor Luis and and the other call screen were what Leo said put out to pasture on greener fields whatever fucked up way he wants to put it for being laid off.
specie8470» Quote comment
Luis quit before Heather came on, no need to start rumours.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
Heather pulled back on her TWiT schedule, only one show per weekend , with Kim S taking on the remaining show. Remember , the screeners work for premier radio, Leo gets to hit on then at no cost to Lisa.
John» Quote comment
That last picture is Peter Griffin (from Family Guy) when he was young!
Pibb» Quote comment
How did I miss this article? She failed to mention the Dick Pic!! http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/blog/techflash/2015/06/how-internet-trolls-closed-down-a-popular-podcast.html
Hugh Jassole» Quote comment
….also notice their is no commenting method provided, if their were one I’m sure one of Leo’s many fans would have trolled her The TD link to Leo’s dick pic or the Gwaker story .
John» Quote comment
Also Also check out Francine’s LinkedIn profile, she lists as one one of her current ‘jobs” as a executive producer on No Agenda . https://www.linkedin.com/in/francinehardaway
John» Quote comment
Yup, her name is familiar to NA listeners. She’s a ‘dame’…
Let’s hope she gets a clue.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
Also, she’s Glasshole…
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
yeah but she’s a sweet old lady. I met her at a Hot Pockets Tour Meet-Up. I busted her eggs about wearing her fucking Googleglass. She’s just a “tech horny” angel investor.
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
Yeah, I wrote mine first and TD reported on it first…
http://digidyn.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-de-evolution-of-twit.html
Digital Dynamic» Quote comment
I just emailed her:
Ms. Hardaway:
Leo chose to close the chat rooms after accidentally showing a photo of a penis in his photo library during a broadcast.
Rather than admit his embarrassment (as the chat room demanded he do), he simply lied about being the victim of someone “photoshopping” the video, and declared that he was closing down the chat room in response.
Furthermore, the public has yet to see any proof that TWiT employees were threatened or doxed. If such proof exists, why didn’t Leo publish it to bolster his case?
Wait, don’t guess, I’ll tell you: because the whole scandal was a lie dreamed up by TWiT so Leo wouldn’t have to admit he showed an inappropriate photo on his “family friendly” network.
You really should have researched this incident further before you wrote about it. By not doing so, readers may rightly question your objectivity where TWiT is concerned.
macsimcon» Quote comment
Another brilliant post HelloWorld. TYFYC
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
“the boring “Triangulation” show (which was originally intended as a three-way interview format between guest, Leo and the chatroom…but Leo long ago dropped the pretense of involving #twitlive in the show).”
Where did you come up with that totally bogus info? From the usual source, I guess: Your own “fertile” imagination.
Triangulation was originally co-hosted by Leo and Tom Merritt who together interviewed the guest. That is why it was called Triangulation. When Tom left and was never replaced, they should have changed the name but didn’t.
Robert Greene» Quote comment
While Tom was the co-host on Triangulation, Leo quickly began to monopolise the conversation. I found listening to poor Tom trying to get a word in and thus add value to the interview both sad and embarassing.
This was the time I began to realise that Leo might not be the nice guy I thought he was.
I can only assume that Tom chose not to be on the receiving end of Leo’s insulting behaviour and gave up on the show, ceding his corner of the triangle to the chat room.
OZ123» Quote comment
Nah, Tom Merritt just wanted to work as little as possible.
I know those are distant and now beloved days, but I always found it odd that Tom was the only full time employee who did one show. Whereas Sarah and Iyaz jad other stuff, Tom just did TnT and filled in for Leo. When he started to do that one show remotely, I didn’t really blame Leo for letting him go. Not saying Tom is a bad guy, in fact he was probably too smart to be enslaved by Leo.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
To Tom’s credit, TNT was a daily show, not weekly, he produced. The amount of prep work he did was so professional. From the moment he got to work until time to go on air, he and the TNT crew prepped for that day’s show. That’s why those shows were kept close to 30 minutes and packed with info.
Jeff» Quote comment
Only one show?
TNT (x5)
FrameRate
Fourcast
Current Geek
Triangulation (until he moved to LA, if I remember correctly)
East Meets West was also briefly on TWiT.
All that plus being Leo’s fill-in for his quarterly, 2/3-week vacations.
If that isn’t enough, as Jeff said, Tom produced TNT, too. It wasn’t just going in and reading stories. He posted a vlog once that showed his process. Started super early in the morning, created the entire rundown, chose voicemails and emails to read on air, booked guests , etc. Much more daily work than Sarah and Iyaz, who could pretty much open up the rundown an hour before air and get caught up.
But to say he only did one show is ridiculous. Leo and Lisa drive people like Tom out by slowly reducing their workload. It’s true that most of the shows Tom did were off the network by the time is contract wasn’t renewed. But even then, he still had TNT and Framerate. The same thing happened to Sarah — She was booted off of TNT and became the sole host of TN2 (a sad demotion. That show is terrible by design, I think). Then they cancelled The Social Hour. Then the Reddit show. Then I think she got the hint and started looking for a new job. But she was going to keep doing IPT. I think her first episode after taking the new job, Leo said something like “in a few months, you won’t want to do this.” Then a few months later, she filmed her last show and revealed that SHE did want to keep doing it, but Leo and Lisa told her no.
Leo and Lisa work in patterns. They don’t want to seem like dicks, so they slowly reduce hosts’ responsibilities until their services are no longer required and they can hire an Elgan, Padre, or Megan at half the cost of actual professionals.
(Note: I have no beef with Megan. She seems sweet. She was great as a call screener on TSS. But she doesn’t have the on-air chops that someone like Sarah has. The other two I named are literally the worst on-air “talent” I’ve ever seen. )
JAS» Quote comment
Tom stayed with Triangulation until he left TWiT at the end of 2012. The first Triangulation was recorded Dec 22, 2010. Tom co-hosted ‘til at least episode 77 (Nov 7, 2012) and possibly a couple more after that. The latest Triangulation is 210, so Tom co-hosted around a third or a little more of all the Triangulations done to this date.
My memory is that Tom did a lot of talking when the subject was one he knew more about than Leo and talked less when it was, for example, a nostalgia show with a veteran tech person.
Two things stood out when having a look at those early episodes.
They were done in the cottage. I was reminded of why I ever liked TWiT in the first place. That odd little room with the guests crammed in in a helter skelter of chairs and Leo sitting behind a cluttered desk running everything like a one man band was so much better than the sterile brickhouse. It was really special and a special time. It’s probably better, though, to let it go and move on rather than devoting mass quantities of one’s time in a rage about how it all got trashed by greed and a skanky gold-digging woman.
The other thing I noticed is that ALL references to Tom have been expunged from the Triangulation webpages of the nearly 80 episodes that he co-hosted. The webpage text reads for those shows, “On this episode Leo talks to…” But if you play the video, Tom is there. This really stinks.
Robert Greene» Quote comment
I forgot about those shows because they sucked.
Kidding aside, by the time he moved to LA he was pretty much only doing TnT. The other shows were his pet projects that moved to TWiT officially but he kept doing them from home, or they fell under Kuntsmell’s axe. Either way the #2 host at TWiT was usually out by 11am. He was supposed to be this big hire but he kept doing less and less and then nothing at all… as far as TWiT goes.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
The original Triangulation was Guest, Leo and Tom Merritt. Leo changed the definition to include the chat room after Tom was fired / quit.
Ex-Fan» Quote comment
I haven’t watched an episode since Tom left.
Mark Harry» Quote comment
Triangulation was conceived as a Leo + JCD show, but that configuration never materialized while Leo planned vacations and inhaled whole hams. Leo’s fat ass sat on the idea until JCD and others lapped him in the format until finally Leo capitalized on the idea for himself to bolster the lagging show offering.
The Patrick Klepto» Quote comment
Originally Triangulation was supposed to include JCD, Leo, and a guest. I have the audio pilot saved someplace.
Scott» Quote comment