TotalDrama has received hundreds (if not thousands) of tips the past few days alerting us to the announcement that three more TWiT shows have been euthanized on the network (thank you tipsters)
We would like to send out our heartfelt condolences to Know How, This Week in Law, and The New Screen Savers for not being good enough for even TWiT’s most courageous sponsors. The cancellation of TNSS hits this writer particularly hard because it was segments like the UGM PC build that turned me into a savage die-hard TNSS fan.
You may recall we previously covered show cancellations in past articles Hurricane Lisa will not stop until TWiT is destroyed and the Francis Ford Crappola’s cinematic masterpiece In Memoriam 2: Remembering those we’ve lost at TWiT.. This time around CEO Lisa Laporte insists the cancelled shows are simply “on hiatus”. But we’ve seen those words used before with Marketing Mavericks. In a follow-up post Lisa Laporte advised us of new start times for the remaining Thursday and Friday shows. At this time TWiT is not merging all the remaining shows to Thursday and giving the slaves a second day off.
It’s possible that these late-2018 cancellations are simply a stopgap measure to ensure there is adequate money for the 2019 Vacation Fund™. But several writers on the TotalDrama editorial team were not satisfied with this simplistic conclusion, insisting Occam’s razor did not apply in this case.
So staff took it upon themselves to spend days analyzing every show video looking for possible explanations. After crunching the numbers they came up with the following hypothesis:
And while we were finally able to reach Hilton Goring for comment after all these years, our fucking journalistic standards do not allow us to print what he said. But Hilton wanted to thank TotalDrama for giving his name enough Google juice to offset the institutional racism that exists in the video production every industry. You’re welcome! Say hi to Bigg Pwee for us.
From everyone at TotalDrama… Merry Christmas and Happy New Year… and stories will be coming more frequently in 2019.
Thanks go out to Johnny_Drama and the anonymous tipsters who provide a lot of the story leads for this website. If you see anything newsworthy please (1) visit our chat room, or (2) leave an anonymous comment below, or (3) submit a tip by clicking on “Feedback & Tips” to the right.
RIP in peace to these amazing netcasts.
Bravo TD for your wonderful investigative journalism. It makes perfect sense, they kept those shows going because of free work provided by Fr. Ballsack. They would have to pay someone else to take his job, and well, Leo would rather send his mom an IoT toilet.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
TWIL was the last one I watched. I have no further use for Leo, his wife, or his “network.”
Chas Chadwick» Quote comment
Out of curiosity, what shows are left?
David» Quote comment
basically 13 shows left and his radio show. He said hes adding a new show next year, but I can see at least 3-4 shows on the list right now that will be cancelled in 2019.
IOS Today
Macbreak Weekly
Security Now
All About Andriod
Floss
Windows Weekly
This week in Google
Ham Nation
Tech News Weekly
This week in Computer Hardware
Triangulation
This week in Enterprise
TWIT
and his radio show
english gumbo» Quote comment
Jason Howell probably doesn’t have long before unemployment.
David» Quote comment
TwiT dead pool.
I call:
Ham Nation
Triangulation
Floss
iOS will probably be rolled into Macbreak
Security Now is safe because Steve probably works for free
Abby Laporte» Quote comment
Steve’ll use any lazy avenue to sell his scammy antique 500MB disk repair tool. Might as well be male ED drugs, same concept.
Joe» Quote comment
Yeah, Ham Nation, Triangulation and This Week in Enterprise seem destined for the shit can. IOS and Macbreak or IOS and Android seem destined for a merger.
Tech News Weekly, This Week in Google, Floss and Security Now are all tossups.
The others are their bread and butter, and likely would fold only if this PoS Leo has created for himself: An actual pile of human excrement, in podcast form – ends up going under for good. Which, honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens sometime before 2020 (God how weird it is to think that 2020 is now less than a year away! Jeez!) arrives.
I mean, at this point TWiT is a confirmed failure to launch: He tried to corner the market on Podcasts when pure audio only was still a thing, then half-assed it to the video conversion that should’ve been what he (and this) started as and revolved around. ZDTV and TechTV were both “things” that existed solely because of… TV. Meaning video.
Back before the video feeds came around, I know I’d listen to TWiTs first few episodes when I’d ride the Metro to and fro baseball games – I always felt like something was simply just missing from it all: I watched The Screen Savers and whatnot for the video aspect as much as anything. It just didn’t “work” as pure audio/Podcasts – and I think TWiT’s general/overall failure kinda proves that point. Leo should’ve waited a couple of years more and begun as a video/YouTube endeavor first and foremost.
Then, Leo should have been something… anything…? besides the absolute Horse’s Ass we all now know him to be. He’s “accidently” posted more private images of the Laporte couple’s genitalia and acted boorishly more times than I care to even bother counting anymore.
That said, TWiT as a YouTube circa 2007-8 resurrection of the glory days of ZDTV/TechTV could have and should have been a “thing” – instead we were left with a Podcast tech network in an age of video on demand/streaming. Seriously, the very idea of a podcast today is so outdated it isn’t even funny – and the fact TWiT still pushes/brands itself around the idea of being a Podcast content creator in 2019 is utterly laughable. YouTube has been a thing for *over* a decade already: Invent a time machine and Google it back in 2008, Leo – you might’ve very well had a hit on your hands. Especially if he’d focused on rebranding around the New Screen Savers over This Week in Tech: Squeeze every last drop out of the Tech/ZDtv nostalgia memento, and use said brand as the launching point for a brand new, separate endeavor.
What could have been… and now, apparently, what will simply never, ever be: Not as the USS Leotanic continues plummeting to the icy depths of the ocean. It’s almost literally on borrowed time now: Not a question of if this whole project goes under, but instead only a matter of *when* – and from appearances outlined in this here post, that “when” is as imminent as it is definitive.
Time for Leo Laporte to sail off into the golden waters of retirement, and stop pissing all over the fondness/nostalgia that I look back on ZD/TechTV and remember positively all the entertainment I derived from TSS, XPlay and Martin Sargent’s various late night comedic entries. It really was a special little network during a special little. Heck, I remember back when… I think it was Windows 98…? was released, and they did this special live 24 hour broadcast. Going mad. For Windows *98*!!! Oh, those were the days!
And I know that I’ll never forget how I got a free Netcam from them way back when, then used it to record one of those “You’re watching Netcam Week 2 on ZDTV – amaze yourself!” I even managed to catch them airing my promo a few times. How crazy is it to think I was broadcast on national TV several times because of that – sh!t like that is precisely why ZD/TechTV *was* so special. It really was a television network like no other, with a level of fan engagement matched by very, very few others. That same fan engagement is also something missing from TWiT: Half the fun of TSS and whatnot were the audience participation/calls. Having an often “round table of talking heads” as the hosts for the shows quite literally just “phone it in”, as it were… it just ain’t the same.
And hell, I’ve even *still* got that Netcam, too! (Psst: See, Leo – digital video and streaming was a thing, even way back in 1998! I’ll never change my mind that the Podcast over video content and Leo’s belated and halfassed entry into including video streams for some of the shows is what sealed his fate, and that, had he begun with and fully embraced video content with a nascent YouTube, he could’ve very easily had something *FAR*more successful than what TWiT now knows as its sad, paltry and pathetic reality.)
Mind you, I never even really got into TNSS at all – I was all super excited for the loooooooooooooooooong awaited Leo and Kate reunion, and Patrick, to boot! But as the show became more of the same of the same “Tech News of the Week” presented by a *constantly* rotating cast – just This Week in Tech with a different name and set, really – I drifted away. Quickly. Ten episodes in an I’d already stopped watching.
And really, one more thing I thought to comment on regarding TWiT’s demise as a network, is that same *constantly* rotating cast. TSS worked because Leo and Kate had a certain kind of chemistry. Really, I watched it more for Kate Botello than I did Leo. Then, she got replaced by Patrick, who was likewise for me: I watched it *far* more for Patrick Norton than I ever did for Leo Laporte. Really, Leo was always more of the guy you just tolerated/put up with for everything in the show that wasn’t named Leo Laporte.
But really, that show worked because of that chemistry between cohosts, something which was only possible with consistency: I’m sure Kate’s first few episodes were a mess, and I know I remember thinking Patrick would never work at first. But eventually, they grew comfortable and knew how to… “handle” having Leo as a cohost, and so both versions ended up being wildly successful. But then, with this abomination Leo took to calling TNSS, he literally reversed that aspect fuelling TSS’s success in every way conceivable: Having a constantly, permanently rotating body of cohosts centered around the singular consistent part of the show from one week to the next: Leo Laporte.
Really, one could write a book about how Leo’s done just about every single possible mistake or wrong choice he could. It’s almost as though one could say “Here’s what Leo Laporte would do” and you know with absolute certainty that the correct choice is the polar opposite of whatever he’d come up with.
But really, the fact the idiot took the Screen Savers name, then ignored the singular defining aspect of it: Two *permanent* cohosts developing a repertoire and bantering back and forth, as he instead made TNSS into yet another Leo Laporte show. Really, that guy is so full of himself it’s absolutely nauseating.
Okie dokie, /rant pining for nostalgic days of ZD/Tech is now over… for now!
Coladar» Quote comment
Best. Leo. Rant. Ever.
ScrubsMalloy» Quote comment
Just those ? LOL
JOHN T COKOS» Quote comment
I will do anything to increase the amount of time I can devote to taking Dick Pics and making fine soups of the world…
The New Screen Savers was a flop, I wouldn’t admit to it while clinging to the dream of bringing back my glory days, but my CEO talked me into converting that time into time that could be spend living the illusion of affluence.
This Week in Law wanted to discuss my failed legal case again Twitter, my CEO and wife was itching (no it’s not crotch critters causing the itch) to silence them before they managed to slip in an autopsy of the failed case!
What can I say about Know How except to Blame the Padre. After all it did great until he took over and then it turned into a festival of watching a narcissistic priest who I seriously suspect is on a list in the Vatican of being flirtatious with the choir boys. We had to cut the food and drink bill he did consume so very much and any time he is not here is good for my wallet. Soon to be dropped is his other show, nobody cares about CAT 6 cables or whatever event he did the wiring for. Talking about events, my good woman and CEO was quite blunt and said that she can never forgive or forget that awful CES show he did, it made Mike Elgan look professional.
Anyway, Happy New Year , Leo and Lisa thank you for all the hate viewing that has taken place, we need all the show views we can get!
Leo Laporte» Quote comment
And damn it, I’ve got so many domains even my password storage gets confused !
Leo Laporte» Quote comment
“living the illusion of affluence.” Really, that sums “you” up to a tee, Leo – “you’re” like the poor man’s Donald Trump: Always pining to be something more than what you are or could ever be, and always the running joke of the very same circles you run around in with people who actually *ARE* successful, rich and affluent.
Yes sir, Leo Laporte is the poor man’s version of Donald J. Trump. What Trump is to billionaires, Leo dreams of being to millionaires… but in reality… well, is “thousandaires” even a thing?
Coladar» Quote comment
My 95 year old grandma in the hospital is “on hiatus” too.
Abby Laporte» Quote comment
Fuck that. If they are forced to cancel even TNSS, then just shut the doors for good. That should/has to be their #1 property – fail at that and what’s even tthe freaking point anymore? If you suck that hard you can’t keep a dedicated and existing fanbase for a popular property around, give it the fuck up already. You’re a failure.
Problem #1? Leo tried to make this show *his* show by having a constantly rotating cast of hosts next to him every GDed week. TSS succeeded because of the continuity and the chemistry between hosts. There’s no fucking reason he couldn’t have gotten Patrick every week – if not in studio, then by video chat. He should have made a point to have more Kate guest stints, too – twice a year if nothing else.
TNSS should have been the ZDTV nostalgia show: Martin Sargent should’ve been a mainstay with a weekly comedy segment/bit aside. Tried to have gotten every TechTV face he could, not for the whole show, but for their own segments built around their own particular niches.
Stuff like UGM builds should’ve been greater mainstays, as should a more particular focus on hardware nitty gritties. He also should’ve included a weekly gaming segment ala XPlay. Instead, he’d tried to rip everything apart and build a devoted show to that niche, no matter how goddamned small and insignificant it was. Meanwhile, the original TSS worked because it was a Jack of All Trades general tech interest show – a one stop shop for all your tech news and update information.
This PoS failed because he made the show utterly pointless and schizophrenic – wildly different from one week to the next, with the only mainstay being his mug on the screen. And so did it fail. TWiT is done for at this point – it is only a matter of time, and appears downright imminent. Such a shame, as this whole thing could have had such potential and opportunity for wild success if it had been done right.
In this YouTube and streaming video age, there’s absolutely ZERO REASON for an endeavor such as this to fail – no excuse whatsoever for it to be anything other than a wild and smashing success that gets everyone involved mad $$$. And yet L&L turned it into bankruptcy shutdown central. Yay, good job, you two!
And this pisses me off to no end because I needed that sense of nostalgia in my life. It was nice to be able to return anew to the days of ZDTV and have a decent hour-two of video on tech to watch each week. So screw everyone involved for destroying that opportunity and idea. You suck.
Coladar» Quote comment
TNSS was the SS in name only. It was the SS for 3rd graders. But I would scan thru it each week and maybe once a month catch a segment of any value. But, this was the last remaining show that I even bothered to check. TWIT became so political (& just boring) that I haven’t even looked at a lineup in 3 years. Twit just has nothing that interests me.
Brad» Quote comment
Lol employing your son as a “sales representative” at your fake advertising agency
https://www.linkedin.com/in/henry-laporte-520679b7/
evilpants» Quote comment
Another lol: this “our networks” page on the fake “art is anal” advertising agency website has a pic of Leo with every post as you scroll down. Scroll at a medium speed for maximum fun https://www.artisanalagency.com/our-networks/
evilpants» Quote comment
Another good laugh from site…”Artisanal Agency, LLC is founded and wholly-owned by Lisa Laporte..” Wholly owned? Really? You have one client and that is your husband…
Brad» Quote comment
You’ve gotta be shitting me here. Lisa actually named her company Artisanal Agency without ever stopping to think… gee… artisanal? Art-is-anal? I mean who the fuck is that goddamned stupid as to *never* stop and consider that maybe some other name -literally, like, *any* other name, short of the IFuckFuckandSuck Agency- might be a better idea than the Art is Anal agency.
Jesus. It’s just so painfully obvious that it’s just downright shocking how this is even a thing. Like, I honestly thought/still wonder if this isn’t just some parody website. I mean, I’m sure businesses just flock like crazy to the Art is Anal Agency – beating down their doors, even!
The *combined* brain power of these two is… frighteningly low. Like, so low you wonder how their brains have enough juice as to carry out autonomic functions such as breathing, heart rate and digestion.
Coladar» Quote comment
Perhaps the name was intentionally chosen as a dogwhistle for likeminded people. These two certainly seem to have no shortage of kinks.
Padre Hamburger» Quote comment
What was Fr. Fatso doing on TWIL? I used to listen to that and everyone on it was a lawyer.
LeoLess» Quote comment
I remember when Maxwell’s House went “on hiatus” – Ray was supposed to still be involved with the network in some capacity. I’m pretty sure he never made another appearance.
WiBB» Quote comment
Ray looked much better in real life compared to the photo they used…
https://twit.tv/people/ray-maxwell
WiBB» Quote comment
Leo really missed the boat. The long-form video shows just aren’t making it in this youtube world. TWiT should have been up there with Linus Tech Tips and MKBHD by releasing short daily videos. Instead they tried to do tv shows. Time for a permanent vacation.
bigbigbison» Quote comment
A lot of focus on the negative here. Check out the AAA promo for their 2018 wrap up:
We take a look at 2018 and showcase some of the best discussions and moments from the year including:
That time the Oreo cookies were crushed by Amazon
That time we shared the contents of our Google Feed
That time we tried to guess the name of Android P
That time we learned about Canadian Tire money
That time we used a Pop Tart to show off Google Lens
If this was the best discussion from the year, what was the worst? Compared to this dreck, Mr Buzz Machine is a public intellectual.
Jibbering Jeff Jarvis» Quote comment
Not a lot of talent while glomming onto obvious/boring news… not surprised at the anemic youtube views even after many years. Maybe youtube/viewers not that dumb after all!
Joe» Quote comment
WHERE IS Mike_B jumping in to huff and blow Leos wrinkled wang in this time of grievance? Leo lied his ass off for so many years telling new guests on studio or panel that “millions are watching” WHAT A load of shit. The most viewed show of any shows that popped up on Tube was 500+.
First time in months, I looked at the live feed, its Leo, Stacy the hard left schill and Jabling Jarvis with a WHOPPING 310 people watching live for TWiG.
The gigs up Leo, once Megan the Moaner and Jason bolt, you’ll fold like a homeless tent.
And fuck you long ago for banning me, your nazi mods have gassed out nearly everyone, you all GO CHOKE ON A DRIPPY LAMMA COCK. I STILL cherish the day when Trump won and the first cast was TWiG, at the beggining everyone moaning and holding their shaking heads.
FUCK YOU
CreamyCornCob» Quote comment
I can’t understand why you were banned….
Charlotte» Quote comment
It’s unfortunate he has to sell his Segways now. Don’t panic Lisa is just reorganizing. I hope Leo didn’t spend a lot of cash building his rental studio., thinking he was going to make a big comeback. He’s done.
Milton Bradley» Quote comment
$100 says he’ll default on the lease. I know they are bleeding money, Sacajawea says next step is firing some more people, then more shows. in that order. I’d say the pc hardware shows neck is on the chopping block along with ham nation and Security Then.
CreamyCornCob» Quote comment
Does anyone know if the Beautiful Kim Komando is hiring?
ScooterX» Quote comment
Never heard of him.
Joe» Quote comment
No, but try Pixel Corps. Jesus, I just saw a picture of Alex Lindsay. He looks like a geriatric gay gnome with Down Syndrome now.
Abby Laporte» Quote comment
You all don’t get it do you? This so- called “train wreck” as TWIT sheds employees and shows is Leo’s exit strategy. He expected and wanted a big buyout check from some SillyCon Valley unicorn, but none saw any value in his “network”.
So now he’s milking the sponsors as TWIT slowly fades away. The ex wifey is likely getting a 25% cut of anything he earns, so instead of banking it outright, he expenses as much as possible on lavish toys and vacations. Lisa will eventually dump his fat ass and claim her 50%, but until then it’s any port in a storm for little Leo (the only brain that still functions).
Toby» Quote comment
Why do so many of his circle walk away from Leo? He acts from the imaginary point that everyone is with him to get ahead off his back, and he’s only allowing you the privilege from his good graces. You are not doing it to help out, his narcissism will never let that occur to him. He’s always thinking he holds the keys and you are lucky to be there and he will tolerate your mooching as long as you bring value. And lots of us eventually have the TWIT magic ware off and end up saying fuck off loser, you deserve what you end up with.
Sumi Dos’ Mustache» Quote comment
Dropping TNSS was no surprise. Look at the empty studio every week. Almost nobody ever went to see it in person, and not many more even showed up to “co” host. The cold open using anybody (and sometimes everybody, all one of them) they had in studio was just sad. But TNSS is hardly alone! Look at any average TWiT, with guests monitor, and monitor and monitor (that is, when all three monitors even remember they agreed to answer Skype for no good reason), oh and The King Leo all alone on his throne, playing with his folding wank, I mean Surface, and again an empty studio. The rows of empty chairs is like a webcam into a funeral home visitation where nobody shows up. They used to have audiences. Not any more. That pretty much sums up the whole ‘network’ right there. Used to. And funeral home. RIP Twit. Hey at least the Priest can do last rites.
ZeeeD Tweed» Quote comment
Hey guys, I haven’t been on TWiT for 2 months. Do you miss me? (Yes, Leo fired me too.)
Briana Wu» Quote comment
Shouldn’t you be scamming people on Kickstarter?
Abby Laporte» Quote comment
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsM3P_zg6ab/
Great job as defensive back this season Abby!
Joe» Quote comment
Shows like The Screen Savers and Call For Help worked well for ZDTV back in 1998, but today’s computer geeks are light-years ahead of anything TWiT is doing today.
Couple that with the fact that other organizations and websites do a better job of presenting the same information than TWiT, Leo’s network just looks like a dinosaur.
Google has made Leo’s radio program obsolete.
TWiT may never retire, but it will go extinct.
The Real Geek» Quote comment