First they fired Content Czar Joe’s ass from Tech News Today, but today the other shoe drops: Lisa Laporte put Mike Elgan’s pizza oven baking, middle eastern traveling ass out on the Peatluma curb.
Mike Elgan no longer works at TWiT, LLC. The malfunctioning robot will no longer be seen smiling while reading tragic murder stories, smirking for no reason at the camera, or saying “how the heck are ya?” to various guests before asking where they’re geographically located.
Was it because:
- He can’t close a box?
- The “Wearable Banana” incident?
- Sexually harassing coworkers?
- Inability to read a simple promo?
- He said “taint” over and over on-air?
- He insults people for making healthy lifestyle choices?
- The disasterous Mobile World Congress coverage?
Whatever the cause, we knew there was trouble in paradise once Leo started openly insulting Mike on one of TWiT’s flagship shows.
Possibly-racist Megan Morrone will be hosting Tech News Today for the rest of 2015, including today — which had no accompanying announcement on-air — which should be terrifyingly boring, since Megan can’t even use an Apple TV remote and certainly knows nothing about tech.
As of January 4, 2016, Jason Howell will join the show and TWiT will attempt to recapture the energy of Buzz Out Loud and later the Tech News Today that didn’t suck with Sarah, iYaz, and Jason. Megan will ruin everything, but it can’t be worse than Mork Elgon, right?
Right??
@MikeElgan Why?
— John C. Dvorak (@THErealDVORAK) December 9, 2015
Yay, and more yay.
YouGuiseAreMeenies» Quote comment
This. All day, every day.
krisguy» Quote comment
If he was fired, they wouldn’t have him on TWiG or TWiT, you dumbass. He clearly decided on his own to leave. If you’re going to slant the story, slant it in the right direction.
Cup O’ Needles» Quote comment
Didn’t renew contract. Or fired. He’ll still take the stipend or free publicity of TNT/TWiG/TWiT
It’s pretty obvious that more cost cutting and show cutting happening.
Soon the move to the ‘New Shithouse’ will be put on hold for unspecified reasons.
Then the announcement that the move will be to Leo’n’Lisa new TWiTAtHome Studio.
Podcasts from the tub. By the tub.
YouGuiseAreMeenies» Quote comment
This is baloney. HE WAS FIRED. Because he has nothing else going on, why would he quit just like that with no on-the-air goodbye?? Nobody just walks off the job.
The sad thing is he has to still be gracious on G+ until the last check clears.
Here is the deal. Mike was probably getting over 100K to be the news director and represents the over-paid minority. Lisa knows that they can get people on the cheap or for free. And these big salaries are not paying out in increased income. Gum was a money loser. It would have come sooner if he had actually become a true news director and gone to more than one or two events and racked up the expenses and hired a real news staff.
The whole news director thing was a complete sham.
And, of course, Leo never helped Gum improve his performances with any sort of training except to tell him to give us that grizzled smile. How about some make-up for the guy? He was shiny and greasy-looking on the air. Powder would have helped.
The two-year GUM era is now over. What next for these a-holes?
Lance Boil» Quote comment
Good points. All probably true. But remember Leo doesn’t really care if anyone else does a great job. It only strokes his ego when they look bad. He comes in to save the day.
Elgan was useless. Overpaid. Brought nothing to the table (I love that expression). Who would actually listen to that pile of shitty rehashed news they put together
YouGuiseAreMeenies» Quote comment
Iyaz walked off the job without notice and just having signed a contract for work so yea people do walk off the job. It does seem odd to quit a job just to work on writing and traveling though after only two years there but whatever.
specie8470» Quote comment
Iyaz got a new contract AND THEN walked off the job, giving L&L a taste of their own medicine.
Even Gum isn’t stupid enough to leave a paid position just before Christmas with nothing to go to.
Carlos» Quote comment
He’s still writing columns and getting paid for that. He will probably just write more.
Anon» Quote comment
I seem to remember others in the past say “don’t worry you’ll see me as a guest” and then nothing.
OhHai» Quote comment
So true. Don’t look back, Mike. Live life Leo-free.
The Patrick Klepto» Quote comment
LOL! So true!
Nina» Quote comment
Y’all think Jason what’s-her-last name will remain at DTress or whatever-the-fuck he is.
Thurrott’s blue shirt» Quote comment
Sad that the news was snuck out quietly at the end of the day. Almost like CEO Yoko LaPorte was ashamed of her decision.
I hope the remaining staff take the opportunity to look elsewhere for their future, because clearly TWiT is sinking fast. Better to move to new pastures on your own timetable than get dumped as an early Christmas present.
Carlos» Quote comment
TWiT is a career dead-end. You have to leave to achieve anything. Everyone starts their jobs at TWiT with high hopes, then the years pass and they’re still exactly at the same place they started.
If someone needs employment TWiT is passable, if they need a career they’re in the wrong place.
DaDa» Quote comment
Not only that but Leo bad-mouths everyone (Tom being the best example) or anyone who quits or was fired. That’s not a plus for anyone wanting to work there.
Lance Boil» Quote comment
Both an arrogant blow-hard, and slimy low self-esteem dipshit, Leo Laporte thinks everyone is out to get him and treats people like empty Nature Box ™ packages after he’s sucked the life energy from them.
The Patrick Klepto» Quote comment
Jason posted this on his G+ account for those interested…
https://plus.google.com/+JasonHowell/posts/1kYf7ZTJCHu
Esch» Quote comment
The only on air person left there that I care about.
loquacious» Quote comment
Oh boy. His friends aren’t going to be answering their doorbells anymore. Who wants him crashing in the guest room for a month?
Oinker» Quote comment
They all have Ring video doorbells, so they’ll see him coming a mile away.
Franchise» Quote comment
This is obviously a firing. Gum couldn’t even say goodbye, deep connection with audience.
Save more money, let staff host.
Who is News Director. Padre is announcing it next.
Yike» Quote comment
Exactly, if he was leaving 100% on his own, for his wonderful fans, he couldn’t work a couple more weeks?
yabbazabba» Quote comment
i feel bad for jason being paired with megan i dont see it working in the long run. gum is finally gone. he was fired i think he ddint get a last episode even like tom did. either that or he said screw you to leo lol. DTNS will still be better
FINALLY» Quote comment
Yeah, poor Jason, he’s a TD and a better host than all of them that are supposed to be pros.
loquacious» Quote comment
but he’s still a family man with kids who knowingly works for a pervert who sexually harrasses his employees. He’s no better than Megan.
thisisntwhoweare» Quote comment
Hallelujah! Proud to say I never watched a single TNT with him.
This pretty much confirms that the operation is a sinking ship. The whole fiasco that started with the firing of Tom is still going on.
Oh, and Lisa is a cunt.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
I am also proud that I have not watched a single episode of TNT with GUM as host.
I agree, the fork has been stuck into the TWiT network and this turkey is done. All the real talent left the building months to years ago and now the 2 bit a$$ hacks have been fired as well. Maybe Leo and the CEHo can live off the money they make from the ArtIsAnal Agency……
Nobody» Quote comment
Christmas time at twit is always dangerous. For employees
Yike» Quote comment
Yup. There’s no love lost between me and Gum but man the Laportes have got to be the vilest pieces of shit around. Who routinely fires people two weeks before the holidays?
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
My (ex) employers just shit-canned 40 staff (incl me) last week.
Startups. Just say no.
Bill» Quote comment
Sorry to hear that, Bill. Hope you’re able to get something sorted.
evilpants» Quote comment
Tell me about it.
Jeff» Quote comment
“I like to fire people at Christmas, it has more sting that way.” —Soup
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
Who?
NativeInExile» Quote comment
I know that totaldrama isn’t really the best place for nonbiased opinions, but as somebody who didn’t have a seething hatred of Elgan here’s my theory. When Mike was hired he legitimately thought tnt would be 20% of what he did and he would be more like an anchor who introduced other reporters/stories. And the other 80 percent wpuld be some coordination for covering events, and having some oversite of TN2 and the news portions of other shows.
That makes sense for a couple of reasons. 1 Leo pretty much said that was what he wanted from the news operation. 2 Mike’s columns are pretty good. 3 his previous experience at windows magazine gave him the skills to pull this off. I remember some of the preshow with Sarah at the very beginning where he would explain stories he decided to kill. My wife is a newspaper editor and she said he was making reasonable calls etc. Reformatting tnt to talking to journalists was not popular here but was probably the best use of the resources he had. So Elgan had some sense of what he was doing.
He didn’t just sit on his hamds either. He did things like setup a studio in his office, create the twitbreaking twitter account, and try to create a headline ticker on the bottom of the live stream. I doubt he did all that just to not use them. I think Leo killed each idea off. So I don’t think it’s fair to say he didn’t try.
But it was clear that Sarah did not like him on a personal level. Who knows. Maybe she projected her anger of Tom and iyaz leaving onto him instead of Leo. I remember Mike tryimg to engage her about surfing and GTD when he first started and her being sort of rude to him. That killed the chance of him news directing other staff members. By the time Meghan came on the precedent was set.
Now Mike was obviously not cut out for this style of broadcasting. I’m absolutely not going to defend his performance. But it should have been up to Leo to work with him and possibly send him to an anchor intensive or make some other resources available to him. It was also absolutely not fair for Leo to give up on his news agenda just a few months after Mike started.
I don’t think Mike is stupid either. I think he caught on pretty quickly what had happened. But his son was about to get married and he had been away from his other extended family for a long time while abroad. So he decided to renew his contract and stay in the US for a year. With that year over I think he’s decided to travel again.
Anonymous» Quote comment
“…create the twitbreaking twitter account…”
LMAO? So he registered a new account and posted less than 100 tweets? Which are all links to other news outlets?
A salary well earned, I say! A real loss!
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
And Leo said Mike was going to travel the world reporting on site, bwahaahaa.
loquacious» Quote comment
“But it was clear that Sarah did not like him on a personal level. Who knows. Maybe she projected her anger of Tom and iyaz leaving onto him instead of Leo. I remember Mike tryimg to engage her about surfing and GTD when he first started and her being sort of rude to him. ”
I remember Mike not only being completely out of his depth, but also completely oblivious to this obvious fact, and putting his ‘no-idea-what-the-hell-I’m-doing’ stamp on a working show.
We didn’t call him Gumbot for nothing, his attempts at social interaction were actually gringeworthy, and that’s completely ignoring the shitstorm situation he put himself into by taking the job in the first place.
Two years ago, I was willing to give Mike the benefit of the doubt. I watched him fail so hard that I no longer have any doubts about his abilities, professionally and personally.
I hope he finds fulfilment writing his nonsense clickbait stuff. All’s well that ends. Finally.
NormansThirdNipple» Quote comment
I think Sarah expected Leo to offer her Tom’s position. That’s why she resented Gum.
thisisntwhoweare» Quote comment
Firings are always December at TWiT.
“News Director” was a title that had no legitimacy. He was a victim of Leo. I think Leo realized right away he made a mistake and hired someone who was not a broadcaster. Leo’s pride prevented him from rectifying and he has no one else at his company, a CEO or otherwise, to disagree with him.
The guy came in as boss over subordinates who were smarter than he and worked in the industry for years. Sarah was probably pissed he was her boss and Leo unilaterally ruined TNT. Jason is not passionate about podcasting so had no bad feelings and rolled with it.
The studio in his office was never used. They never did any breaking news after oculus announcement. They literally did one. Watch the video.
http://youtu.be/YkBWpexm-0A
Richard Yes» Quote comment
Richard Yes
You have provided another laser-focused analysis of this whole shitty situation.
If Soup wasn’t such an egotistical prick he would have FIRED MIKE!!!! after 2 months as by then it was clear gummy sucked.
You will never find a more vile shithouse of disfuntionality .
JungleBunnyJim» Quote comment
2 months? How about Mike never should have made it in front of a live camera? His lack of skill and aptitude for this job should have been clear by the first screen test.
Wait, what are you saying? They didn’t even do a screen test?
Oh.
NormansThirdNipple» Quote comment
Maybe its hope springs eternal, but… Tom is supposed to be on the next TWiT. Could it mark his return?
J29Sailor» Quote comment
Leo can no longer pay him enough. Tom is making more money on his own and this invite is to make amends at best. Or to just make the dummies who watch this crap think that all is well. Dvorak will get talked into showing up eventually despite all the bad-mouthing from Leo. This is all to cover up the fact that the whole network is going down the tubes like a turd in the shitter.
Lance Boil» Quote comment
So is Leo going to give him the fictional 200k, Leo lies about? That’s the only thing that would bring Tom back.
loquacious» Quote comment
Holy cripes. The 2015 train wreck continues unabated.
I’m happy for him. Who is their right mind would give up traveling the world to work with Fatso LaGross? The man is a writer, not a fucking game-show host pseudo-personality, unlike half of the fairies on frogpants.
The Patrick Klepto» Quote comment
I followed him on G+ until he started working there.
loquacious» Quote comment
“Over time, I intend to explore this medium further with my own Mike Elgan Radio and possibly other shows. ”
Wait what?
yabbazabba» Quote comment
I bet it’s stuff about food and travel. Not tech
Anon» Quote comment
That’s who Mike is and his wife can cook for me anytime, but I never watched a single TNT since he took over.
loquacious» Quote comment
This just boggles the mind. How can someone do this poorly for months (I stopped watching after a couple of weeks of relentless trainwrecking) still believe his place to be in front of a camera and/or microphone?
This is delusional. Like the rotund lady with a foghorn for her voice insisting to torture a microphone, technical director, editor, and all 3 cats that unwittingly signed up for her show delusional.
NormansThirdNipple» Quote comment
I really hope it’s bout dubstep and wardrobe choices.
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
If folks think Mike wasn’t fired think again, Le Cunt and LeHo are spending mo money on trips that = to canning someone’s ass to pay for them.
WTF, Jason is ok but his days are now numbered as well
the LaCunts will work and spread him so thin his family life will suffer
and Leo LaCunt won’t give a fuck so long Jason is slaving for 1/2 the pay other talents were getting.
also if folks start liking Jason too much
baby LaCunt will see him as a threat
Leo LaCunt I know your in here creeping what we are writing about u and your horse face tranny u call a wife
so here’s my monthly salutations
Fuck you you fat fuck!!!!
too bad you almost 60 yet your life and health are so fucked up you’ll be dead before you can retire
OhNoYetAnotherTroll» Quote comment
If your talking about Jason Howell, that will be personal and there will be consequences.
loquacious» Quote comment
Jason’s another employee totally up Leo’s arse. Plus he’s fugly and has big ears!
Holden» Quote comment
You miss the point.
It’s unfortunate that Leo will put two people on the show for the sole reason that they are already payrolled so it costs him nothing. He simply doesn’t give a crap. And crap is all the audience gets. Jason and Megan will not be good. Daily is hard. The rotating hosts getting $50 a day are gone. No more spending money.
I have a feeling Padres days are numbered too. He is free but all the editors and bandwidth, no. This is one more step towards Leo doing twit with a staff of 4. All they do is cancel shows and fire people. No new hires, no new shows.
Losing JCD from the money maker show cost them. Losing pixel Corp hurts. Nature box, Casper etc are gone. Times are not good.
Jennifer Laporte» Quote comment
And they keep bringing in new advertisers that nobody wants.
Leo often crows about how many advertisers they turn down. But given the current crop, I can’t imagine how bad those that didn’t make it must have been.
macsimcon» Quote comment
He declines local businesses, because he has to pretend to be important. He declines tax lawyers, because he’s a tax fraud writing off purchases that he then gifts to other people. He only accepts ads from carpet bombing advertisers that advertise everywhere. He’s important, don’t ya know.
loquacious» Quote comment
And what was the deal with those “man box” or whatever they were called? That had to be the most bizarre advertiser they have had. I laughed every time Leo attempted to make it look like he actually used that crap.
Kevo» Quote comment
Farewell Gumbot aka Marc Elgum. You ignorant, bumbling fuckwit.
I can only imagine how many loyal googleplus “fans” will be tuning in to your El Gum Radio podcast.
Ahmed» Quote comment
I’m on the El Gum-mo Rad-ee-O
The El Gum-mo oh oh Rad-ee-O
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
TWiT feels like we are 10 years into a failed marriage, just going thro the motions.
The quality of the staff is at an all time low, and its not looking to getting any better.
The shows are getting worse and worse.
TWiT is turning into the Huffington Post of Podcasting.
Mike was a lowsy presenter, he had no natural talent infront of the camera, however it is clear he put far more effort in researching his subjects than anyone else at TWiT. Is it fair to sack one of your most conscientious and hard working employees?
It is going to be sickening to hear Leo say how much he misses him.
Total Drama, will you start a thread called “What Show Should TWiT Kill Next”, it would be interesting to read the comments. My vote is “All About Android”.
Peter Parker» Quote comment
I vote for all of Padre’s shows or everything except before you buy and ask Carly to host BYB.
Also can TNSS.It’s really dumb.It was a nice idea but he timing was terrible. It should have been launched three years ago with real talent.
LaCunt is allowing both money and nostalgia to drive all his decisions now. Frankly I’m surprised he hasn’t TNSS yet. No one wants to be near that burning pile of shit.
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
Also wonder if the reason why Mike left is a possible salary disagreement as I think moving to a new studio after spening a million dollars on a studio a few years ago then moving out after 5 years means Lisa has to cut the fat somewhere and it’s not going to be cutting back on her trips and lifestyle.
specie8470» Quote comment
It’s possible they tried to squeeze Gum down on the contract renewal at the very last minute. It’s an all too common trick shysters like L&L wouldn’t think twice about using to finance their NYE cruise.
I can imagine Gum balking at a cut but staying on unless they used a demotion to justify the cut (no more News Director for you!), and that might have been the step too far.
Pride before a fall.
Either way, an engineered situation from the Yoko of Tech.
Carlos» Quote comment
Yoko of Tech. Love it!
Prolapsed Anus» Quote comment
The sunk costs of a studio they’ve run for going on four years have nothing to do with current expenses or revenues.
NormansThirdNipple» Quote comment
You missed by one year, close. I learned the word “wanderlust” in this blog post. https://totaldrama.net/2014/12/mythbusters/
Close, change wanderlust for nomad. I will be impressed if Leo talks about how great Mike was.
Sansabelt Slacks» Quote comment
I almost suspected the year of noteworthy TWIT stuff had come to an end, I guess it’s down to the wire, who knows what might happen next.
The Patrick Klepto» Quote comment
WooHoo! I might get my job back.
BTW, Leo, please ignore my earlier comments about you being a fat fuck and about Lisa’s saggy tits I’ll still do her though if you need a break.
Tom Merritt» Quote comment
You would still take a bullet for us? BRAVO!
y0y0» Quote comment
Gum was the main reason I started disliking TWiT.
I’m VERY happy he’s gone, and IMO this is the smartest decision anyone at TWiT has made in about 2 years.
TboneGreen» Quote comment
Haha – Mike’s response to JCD’s tweet…
“John, I was born a ramblin’ man.”
TboneGreen» Quote comment
I’ve heard many times how great the team is at TWiT. But really if they are so great than why does the network produce such poor quality content?
What is poor quality about it?
1. Almost everything reported by TWiT is a rehash of some other news organizations stories. So TWiT brings no value to the table. We’ve read the stories ourselves, gleaned what we needed to glean.
2. The delivery is either silly, off base, or dry as a bone. The culture at TWiT is so toxic, there is no passion in anyone. Including the guests hosts.
3. Too much advertising. The entire network has turned into a parody of itself. The ads are not relevant to the audience, and there are too many of them.
So if you take un-origional content, deliver it in a bad way, and abuse the audience with irrelevant advertising, what kind of experience does that leave the user?
The user experience for the TWiT audience has spoiled exponentially in the last few months.
With regard to TWiT News, and the “New Department” and the “News Director”:
TWiT runs a “Do everything sitting on your ass” operation. Anything that can be done sitting on your ass is done, and nothing more.
Here is what TWiT never did well:
Why not go out and interview people at their place of business? This changes the scenery and gives a real reporting feel to the news. Can you imagine if news reporters never whet to the scene of the news happening, and just sat in a new studio reading their competitors news?
Why not cover tech news in real time? Having a morning tech news show does not make any sense. Cover new with news briefs, as they happen throughout the day. That is what a real CNN of tech would do.
Why not create Tech documentary pieces. 60 mins. of Tech if you will. In depth Vice News style pre-produced pieces that delve into a story documentary style.
I could go on and on and on.. but to wrap this Assessment up, I will tell you why they don’t do any of this:
I TAKES WORK, MONEY, AND ENERGY.
THERE IS NO ENERGY AT TWiT
IT IS A LAZY MONEY MILKING OPERATION.
Lisa and Leo are in pure cash cow milking mode. As people who cost the network money leave, they will not re-invest in the company for the sake of making anything better.
AS A CEO LISA LAPORTE HAS NEVER MADE ANYTHING BETTER AT TWiT.
SHE FAILED!
An Honest Assessment from The Lips of Jizz» Quote comment
Honest: your comments are right on point, sir. I would add get rid of guests like that dick from Taiwan, Girly McCracken, that drunk Wilheim, that guy Myriam, shit_girl, that ape Norton and the rest of the trailer trash he has on the show. Get real Tech reporters and not some fucking blogger who writes from his kitchen table.
Speaking of which, have the people who Skype on do so from an office or home office. Not their bedroom, kitchen, rec room. I cannot take seriously any guest who Skypes from their home where we see record collections, family photos or a bed.
Maybe if that fat fuck took of the some suggestions we are making, his product may improve.
holden» Quote comment
And about the ads. Cut them down by at least 50%. Soup is too stupid to realize that too many ads makes people tune out -especially ads that are not tech related.
Keep all ads to a one minute length – no exceptions.
When you say you need to break, break!! Don’t say you need to break, talk another 10 minutes and really break.
Finally, here’s a radical idea. Instead of the live reads, create and run pre-recorded ads. That is, create one for each sponsor and run it a finite amount of times. Then do another prerecorded and so on. That’s the professional way.
Of course, if soup would read this, he’d call us all trolls!
holden» Quote comment
And something else: don’t come back from an ad, and then derail the conversation for five or ten minutes by talking about yourself or your next trip.
Don’t bore us for 15 minutes and then say, “time to take a break” because then your audience feels ripped off…and we have been.
We don’t care about you, Leo. Stay on topic.
macsimcon» Quote comment
Of course. Twit could actually do the live shows without ads. Insert them later. Who cares about a 1000 or so live listeners.
But Leo is too lazy to pre-record ads, unless he has a hot travel date.
The late starts , endless shows, pointless rambles, and the new hot topic “What can leo buy today” have totally lost me as a listener. Forever.
I only listen now to participate in the TD IRC. Where we have a pretty good time.
DumbNuts» Quote comment
Well said. TYFYC.
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
Honey, advertisers pay jack shit for pre-records. The one thing Mr Laporte is unquestionably good at is doing right by those who finance his lifestyle. (no surprise there, else he wouldn’t be around after 40 years)
And yes, you will suffer -gladly- for it!
NormansThirdNipple» Quote comment
I would be happy too if I had paid for a two-minute ad that turned into a four- or five-minute jizz fest about my product being the best thing since blowjobs.
But as a listener, that sours my experience. Does Leo think people listen for the ads?
macsimcon» Quote comment
LĂŠo (rightfully, btw) doesn’t care for what you listen to the ads, only that you do and in a way that is counted and can eventually be invoiced.
As such, I’m sure he’s perfectly fine with hate-watching/listening to Twit’s output, and could probably best be described as the (capital-t) Troll he so feverishly railed against on many programs I no longer subscribe to.
NormansThirdNipple» Quote comment
Yes Holden, I agree. I understand the need for ads & don’t mind then (to much). But way to much time is wasted on them and not on the content of the program. Two minutes max on a advert with no continuing talk about it after the ad.
Also pre-recording the ads so they are at a set time lenght. Great idea, and it gives LaPortly a chance to shovel down a couple more bites of food.
Yuki» Quote comment
I agree with everything you said.
The whole operation is unprofessional and light years away from ever being considered anything that closely resembles the CNN of tech. What professional news organization do you see broadcasting where the host is late for his own show?
LaporkeOnAFork» Quote comment
One thing you are missing is : Leo Laporte is neither a business man, nor a TV personality.
He is a radio show host (by the grace of god at the time he started, nothing more) who fell into the ZDTV pot, again by accident. Now the continuation of radio on the internet today, is podcasting. He thinks that his *bubbly* personality is making him good on TV but he is not.
If you don’t watch his program TWIT and just listen, when the guests are engaging, it is actually good (has not been for the past two-three months but I digress) entertainment.
His L’yoko on the other hand is nobody. I am not even sure what her background is, but it is not an easy feat to be the CEO of a public facing (not publicly traded) organization. And we all know she is the CEO, because hubby owns the company. Big mistake on the fat guy’s part. If he wanted this company to be successful, he would have hired a professional to be the CEO.
But they are just ‘playing house’ while the few advertisers were footing the bill, hoping that they get some return for their money. With the exodus of really entertaining people, the viewership and listernership will dwindle soon. For instance, I stopped watching the TNT after watching the first episode where this dipstick was the main host instead of Tom.
Leo needs to have a come-to-jesus moment and decide if he really wants his company to be successful and take the helm from his family members and give them to someone who can actually do something or in the next 2 to 3 years time, we’ll all be saying “Twit ? What’s that ? You mean Twitter ?”
TrueNomad» Quote comment
Tech news should be a once a week deal.
Using the words journalist-tech is laughable.
Gumbot» Quote comment
You Nailed It.
One hour once a week and only allow 5 minutes per week for soft tech stories. Also, no fucking talk about devices—let reviews shows do that (in leo’s case every show is “let’s talk about our devices” = NOT NEWS LAPORKE.
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
Thank God! Gumbot the Dumbot is gone!
HelloWorld» Quote comment
I am so relieved the Gummy era has ended.
I still have no hope the great days of Tom merritt, Sarah, Iyaz and gang will ever return.
3 years ago TWiT on Sundays was gold…. Friends and family would get engaged with the show while it was playing in our home on Sundays and they no interest in tech… Now I can’t even stomach an entire show myself.
How far you have slipped, Soup
JungleBunnyJim» Quote comment
The great thing is that Tom and Sarah are still doing the same thing they’ve always done, no Twit needed.
NormansThirdNipple» Quote comment
Do you think Tom, Sarah or Iyaz miss working at Twit?
Mach» Quote comment
You mean the constant harassment, innuendo and touching? And that’s just Iyaz.
The Patrick Klepto» Quote comment
Yes, poor Iyaz. Schlepping out his family across the country for a job opportunity only to get physically attacked by the CEO’s assistant. Repeatedly.
What a nightmare.
NormansThirdNipple» Quote comment
Norman: physically attacked?
holden» Quote comment
to be fair he left them there and went back to the other side of the country. I find that hard to be praiseworthy.
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
His former family? Nah, they left him and his new squeeze and went back first.
NormansThirdNipple» Quote comment
Me ikee!
Tom Merritt» Quote comment
I am pretty sure gummy got fired, but read his brown nosing post on google+
“My big news today is that I’m no longer going to be anchoring Tech News Today! (I’m returning to my feral, nomadic lifestyle to travel and write — er, write more than I currently am.)
For my fellow TNT fans, fear not! The show will be hosted by the two best possible people to host it: My friends +Megan Morrone, current host of Tech News 2Night (and other TWiT shows), and +Jason Howell, original TNT gangsta (and host and producer of other TWiT shows).
I’m filled with nothing but admiration and gratitude for podcast legend +Leo Laporte and TWiT CEO +Lisa Laporte for letting me be part of TWiT for two incredible years. And I’m going to miss working with the amazing TWiT staff every day — what a great bunch of people.
I’m looking forward to appearing on TWiT’s This Week in Google and This Week in Tech shows, and also continuing to enjoy Tech News Today and all TWiT shows as a subscribing superfan.
I’ve long believed that podcasting is the greatest medium in the history of mankind, and it’s been a privilege to learn from the world’s best podcaster — and best podcast company.
Over time, I intend to explore this medium further with my own Mike Elgan Radio and possibly other shows.
Last but definitely not least, I’d like to thank all my fans and followers out there who make it all so exciting and rewarding every day. ďťż”
Gummy is sure willing to publicly eat a big bowl of shit on Leo’s behalf to try and put a positive spin on this.
JungleBunnyJim» Quote comment
“and +Jason Howell, original TNT gangsta”
RIP Eric.
NormansThirdNipple» Quote comment
I’d bet most of that copy was written by Lisa and exchanged for final buyout of Mikes contract. No sane person(even gum) would come up with a pile of wordsmithed crap as that statement is presented and claim it as their own crap!!!
Carley’s Cunt» Quote comment
Check out the negative comments on Soup’s and the CeHO’s Google+ pages before they delete the shit out of them…
Something stinks at TWiT and EVERYONE smells it.
JungleBunnyJim» Quote comment
Notice how leo shares it and adds “An update from the boss…”
As if he’s trying to deflect.
TboneGreen» Quote comment
Even I must admit. Twit sucks. I turned on the stream to see security now. After that was tech news tonite. The energy level was just not there. The whole area looked empty. As I watched I could only think how lively those shows used to be. Now they are an empty tomb. It all started with Erik. Having a better show then Leo was a huge no no. He also did the show for little to no budget. Rip erik
Jorge» Quote comment
So instead of ejecting the clearly unqualified Elgum at the start of his tenure, Laporte gave his audience the middle finger and wasted almost two years on this broadcaster wannabe. Besides the plastic smile, Elgum only managed to learn how to step over his guests to inject his sarcastic / moronic opinions. I’d like to say our long nightmare is over but now we get the insipid Mommy Morrone.
Mark Byrn» Quote comment
TNT went to shit the minute Tom was gone. Gum came in and did a horrible job. He was void of any of the emotion and personality that is required to be a broadcaster. I listened to TNT for the first couple of months after Gum took over hoping that the show would have improved over time but that didn’t happen so I stopped listening.
The ship is sinking and it’s just a matter of time before it goes under. Soon it’ll just be L&L in their lonely TWIT shit house.
If I were Gum I would be thanking the LaCunts for adding years back to my life now that I’m no longer working for the idiots.
Any bets on who is the next out the door?
LaporkeOnAFork» Quote comment
I would pay money to see that fat bastard Padre thrown to the curb.
JungleBunnyJim» Quote comment
FMCP
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
As the saying goes … “Another TwiT ! is in the can !”
Soup Dragon» Quote comment
The next show that needs to go is Ham Nation.
Me» Quote comment
Me: I’m not a ham, but I watch that show occasionally and it seems to be free of soup’s influence. Although they have harry Shaver ads…..
Holden» Quote comment
That piece of shit show is still on?
JungleBunnyJim» Quote comment
Gotta keep the free microphones coming.
Oinker» Quote comment
And the ham show is full of ads as well!!
Holden» Quote comment
But that show is so wonderfully anachronistic! Where else do you find people unironically calling everyone with a vagina, regardless of age or education or expertise a “girl”?
The Hambonies and NSFW were the original power Tuesday, so sad they never did a proper crossover episode!
NormansThirdNipple» Quote comment
Ham Nation is one of Laporte’s coffee-table books that he keeps around to impress others/himself. That said, it’s a completely harmless show with some hosts who seem to be nice people.
The Patrick Klepto» Quote comment
Also I am sitting here at the moment listening to This Week in Google, and yet again Jeff has no idea how to use the tech he supposedly lives and breathes. If what you talk about is Google and you don’t know how to do a filtered search, you’re a hack, not a journalist.
Me» Quote comment
I stopped watching TNT when Mike was hired. I stopped watching Twit entirely when Sarah left. Out of curiosity I watched iOS Today and saw Megan. What a waste.
Back to not watching Twit ….again.
Nina» Quote comment
Finally. Enough said.
Snorlax» Quote comment
He’s on twig right now you twits.
Twit commander» Quote comment
Yes, and if you had actually watched or listened you would’ve heard them repeatedly say he was visiting and that they hoped he’d come back to visit some time.
The biggest indicator of his being out was Soup’s NOT mentioning any other twit shows that he was on. No mention of the news or anything else he was involved in. Everyone else was mentioned. That, and there was never any eye contact with the human garbage disposal. He’s toast and well deserved.
Yuki» Quote comment
Are you that thick?
That’s just LaCunt’s tactic to save face. It’s the exact same story as Chad’s offsite producing or Shannon Morse coming back to do reviews on ByB.
It’s that amazing business training the Cunt learned at University of River Phoenix probably.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
Yippeeiocayah!
Tom Merritt» Quote comment
Well, first I should say that I actually don’t hate Leo Laporte’s Twit network.
I just come here for a few laughs, and some inside-scoop gossip. But often some of the comments here kind of freak me out… I didn’t realize that people could be that cruel!
But still I have to resort coming to this website sometimes, essentially because Leo now tries to hide a lot of the office politics… so I think it’s driving and forcing a lot of people who want that gossip to come here instead.
Anyways, in terms of the topic at hand: Mike Elgan… I have to say that the last full episodes of Tech New Today on the TWIT network that I watched was back with Tom Merritt, Iyaz, and the original gang.
I loved that news-show back then!
They were whimzical… complete with those “cutesy” sound effects (that worked for me), and yet they still had some pretty good insights (especially Tom).
But then when Mike took over, it seemed to develop an over serious tone, that just doesn’t work for a show like that, on a network like that.
I tried for several episodes to get through a Mike Elgan hosted news show… but just couldn’t do it for some reason.
So I quickly gave up and never looked back. I’m actually surprised that Mike lasted 2 years in that mismatched role for him!
I should also add that I don’t hate Mike Elgan or bear him any ill will… I actually like him… (he did a far better than someone like me could ever hope to do hosting a podcast!)… but it’s just that his hosting style wasn’t right for that show somehow… and the chemistry, vibes, and mix was all wrong.
Steve Anderson» Quote comment
“cruel” you ever hear of a guy named Hitler? There a few folks here that make him look like Mr. Rodgers. Welcome to the real world asshole.
Spudboy» Quote comment
Waddup chickenhead!
Gumbot» Quote comment
Now, can the rest of him leave too!
Kneejerk» Quote comment
Once again this raises the question of why Jason is still around. Hopefully it’s because he can actually stomach working with tubby LaCheese but more importantly that he’s well paid in dollars and not in “all the Big Island Pineapple you can carry”.
The Patrick Klepto» Quote comment
I can just imagine the proposition as he’s slogging through all of his ‘best of’ shows… “Hey Jason, you’ll never have to TD and do all of this stuff again if you do our news show every single day – but we’re not going to pay you any more…
TboneGreen» Quote comment
But we WILL give you a “title”.
The Patrick Klepto» Quote comment
Hopefully, Jason’s just biding his time until Tom has built up his company enough to hire him on.
Seriously Considering Salads» Quote comment
Whenever there is an announcement like this, YOU post the article from “The New Jeff Jarvis” and put 500 links to your own website. The webmasters at Google changed that weakness year ago and it does not help with rankings.
dumb
ABCDE» Quote comment
It’s unfortunate that you’re so mentally challenged. A relative of Megan, perhaps? Do you see ads on this site? We make no money from it and it’s an entirely volunteer effort. The links aren’t to game Google. We wouldn’t pretend to understand their algorithms enough to game them.
The links are present to remind readers of previous related stories or to share those stories with newer readers who may not have seen the prior articles.
Please eat a dick, kind sir.
Lady Bird Johnson» Quote comment
I’ll not eat any dick. Not my thing but feel free to enjoy them, you are quite the dick-head anyway.
-Insert link- said what reminded me of -insert link- which sounded like -insert link-. Maybe it is because -insert link- or -insert link- but it sure is no -insert link-.
It’s frustrating to read. You should make jokes or be serious, but enough with the links. It is close to as bad as the enduring header-link to -dick pic timeline- which frustrates us too.
We like the site so please stop trying to inflate numbers, you’re as bad as the gross priest getting off on having fans.
ABCDE» Quote comment
What don’t you understand? We don’t need to inflate any numbers. We have no incentive to do so. It only inflates our bandwidth costs absorbed by our members. The links are for the purpose I stated: to share related stories with readers who may not have seen them (or haven’t seen them in a while). We have no one to answer to where we’d need to “inflate numbers”. I’d love to know what you think our incentive for doing that would be.
If you don’t want to see links in stories to past stories, leave and never return. We don’t need you. You’ll save us a few bytes of bandwidth and a few cycles of CPU and a few bytes of RAM.
Eat a dick.
Lady Bird Johnson» Quote comment
Q. What is the priest incentive to be at twit?
A. To feel like a star.
Everyone wants fans, you want metrics!
F TWIT & FU
ABCDE» Quote comment
LOL. This entire discussion made coffee come out my nose.
TYFYC.
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
You should tell that to the people who keep posting links to this place in the twit irc. They have no idea it’s harming you through these extra costs.
Fauxjournalist» Quote comment
I happened to catch an episode of TN2 a few days ago, and I remember Megan mumbling something was happing, I guess this was it. I would say he is no longer the “News Director” I suppose it was bound to happen. bahahaha
As The Twit Turns» Quote comment
You all are jealous losers.
Mike will forever remain in our hearts and Leo is the kindest soul you’ll ever meet.
Lisa deserves him and is a great person too, I dated her long ago.
I found this site and still can’t believe just how immature you little idiots are.
Don’t worry, you’ll get what’s coming to you.
Bill Gates’ Dog» Quote comment
Topkek
Leo from pork» Quote comment
Leo is a FAT FUCK! He didn’t give me my job back. FUCKING asshole.
Tom Merritt» Quote comment
How the fuck has he got over 5 million followers on Google +?
29k on Twitter seems much more realistic.
BigBernard» Quote comment
The 29K on Twitter are very inflated. There is a trick you can do to get followers. A lot of people ‘follow back’ people who follow them.
So Mike will follow 1000 people, he will get about 120 followers of the 1000 and then he will unfollow those 1000 people. Of the 120 maybe 30 will notice and unfollow you so you get 90 followers. Then you start up again. This works best on people in your area so Mike will follow all of Nilay Patels fans or Leo fans etc.
It is a common trick, Brushwood, Amber etc do. I think it is what the automated services do as well.
Hey» Quote comment
The question is: how does G+ have 5 million anything.
The Ihnatko Kerouac» Quote comment
True đ
BigBernard» Quote comment
I think I may hate El Gum more than #Soup and Googlebutt Jarvis combined.
This video is so worth a re-watch
http://youtu.be/YkBWpexm-0A
“We uh really want to invent what a uh news program for uh technology enthusiasts, should be”
-Marc Elgum
Ahmed» Quote comment
The whole mess stems from Leo’s pathetic maxim that no one can do this job but him. Now, he’s said that when referring to TTG, but I think he genuinely believes that no host but him is crucial to TWiT’s success.
It’s absurd. If Tom or Sarah or Iyaz are hosting shows, and those shows’ numbers increase, you pay them more money, dummy!
Leo is only now beginning to understand just how difficult it is to create shows people like, and how deeply he fucked up by letting all these talented people go.
And the worst part: some of them went on to compete with TWiT! That’s right, asshole: you actually created more people who are vying for the same audience you are, and there are a limited number of hours in the day for a listener’s attention. It’s a finite and precious resource for you.
macsimcon» Quote comment
First of all, it’s clear Elgan quit. Leo said a while ago that he’s against goodbye shows. He won’t let another happen. But Elgan was on twig after it happened. If he was fired, that wouldn’t be the case. During that show, Elgan offered to be a fill in host for twit shows over the holidays if twit needed the help. This also wouldn’t happen if he was fired.
Second of all, Elgan quit. He won. He outlasted twit and won.
Fauxjournalist» Quote comment
I am delighted that the entire ânews directorâ initiative has been a complete, abject failure.
Neil Peart» Quote comment
Some really mean comments here about Leo and Elgin etc. C’mon guys these are people with families imagine their kids reading, stop the hating.
Damage control right now to kickstart 2016 would be for Twit to hire Adam Curry to do some shows he’s broke and is a hoot to watch just no conspiracy shows but tech wise he’s up there give him a 3 month rolling contract so you can boot him at anytime after 3 months if he strays off tech to UFOs and shit and insults Neil Armstrong. Adam Curry is a rock star in the podcasting world or was 10 years ago but he’s still cool just needs the right show and not the Jesse Ventura conspiracy stuff I liked it when he did tech. Adam Curry is a ratings winner Leo I realise you loathe the guy but second chances man.
Jasper» Quote comment
Fuck off you tool.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment