News

TWiT to Fire Shannon Morse During Her Honeymoon

30 Comments

The full scale purge at the TWiT seems to be continuing. During the live stream of Leo Laporte’s The Tech Guy show, less than an hour ago, he showed his Gmail inbox. It shows an email conversation with subject “Re: Shannon” where TWiT CEO Lisa Kentzell seems to be discussing a new co-host for “Coding 101” programme with Robert Ballecer, show’s other co-host.

As it was the case with Amber Macarthur’s show cancellation, Ms Morse is probably going to be the last person to know. Kentzell is most likely waiting for an opportune moment when Shannon is not around to drop the news.

Our best wishes to @snubs in this difficult time.

Update 1:

Unsurprisingly, Shannon Morse is not privy to the conversation about her:

Update 2:

I might be difficult to see from that video, but our forensics team has been able to decode the part of conversation visible on screen:

Oct 10 Robert Ballecer, SJ
RE: Shannon
We've got some runway because I had already altered the schedule to account for Shannon's (honeymoon)

Oct 10 Lisa Kentzell
RE: Shannon
I don't want to lose the audience we have but I think the content needs to be relevant to grow

Oct 10 Robert Ballecer, SJ
RE: Shannon
Lisa & Leo, Understood on all points. 1. Will ask Lou to co-host 2. Will work over the weekend to
Misc

TWiT comeback on the Horizon

7 Comments

Viewers of the Dropcom, TWiT’s mechanical eye in the sky, were greeted with an unusual sight on Saturday. What was first thought to be a spontaneous game of Ring Around the Rosy, turned out to be the often anonymous sales team holding hands and dancing around the studio. What caused the glee?

Needs help keeping track of his money.
Needs help keeping track of his money.

Inside sources reveal that a milestone event was achieved. For the first time in nine months a viewer used the forgotten offer code TNT. The viewer known as Chickenhead was unavailable for comment, but TWiT founder and propaganda connoisseur had this to say, “I could not be happier with the job Gum is doing, he is knocking it out of the park.” Could this be a sign that the troubled network is poised for a comeback?  Not likely.

Misc

Stresslemania

23 Comments

Well it sure was a stress ridden week. Just as Moses was cast from Egypt and his name stricken from the books of the great kingdom, so too B&J were banished from twit.tv

In order to lessen the burden and relieve some tension, Cap’n Juno ended his one week retirement. I was placed on sound duty so I pressed more buttons to help the headphones people. My skillz were weak but I did all I could.

A fact to note: Since I was tasked to help with sound, I forsook my duty to fix spelling/typos. There are often many such errors. But do not think less of the Captain, he never had a country to call home or language to call his own.

Without a roar from the MGM lion I present, for your viewing pleasure, a deep dive into lies:

News

Setting the Record Straight

16 Comments

As Leo Laporte continues to escalate the conflict with most every former TWiT host, it is important to take a step back and and set the record straight about what exactly has happened.  And this is exactly what the hosts of the Night Attack show, Brian Brushwood and Justin Robert Young have done last night in the Episode 32 of the programme.

The events unfolded in the following order:

  • Robert Ballecer wanted to invite Brian Brushwood and Justin Robert Young to his TWiT show “Padres Corner”. Lisa Kentzell, the TWiT CEO said “no”, they are not allowed back on the network.
  • Ballecer asked one of the following days and was told “no” again, and to not bring this issue again.
  • At this point there was only one source confirming that they were banned from TWiT.
  • Baratunde Thurston got an invitation to appear on the “flagship” TWiT show, and as Brian and him have always been a good match on that show, a suggestion was made to invite Mr Brushwood. Show’s producer Chad Johnson went to Leo Laporte with this idea and was told that, no, the hosts of Night Attack are not allowed to appear on TWiT shows.
  • Having heard the exact same thing from two different TWiT staffers, during Night Attack 31, the hosts expressed their sadness (butthurt in their own words), that despite their best efforts to maintain a good relation with TWiT, this was the treatment that they were getting.
  • Returning from one of his numerous vacation, this time in London, Leo Laporte hears about the mention and goes into blind rage. He sends a series of messages to Brian and Justin, that we have covered earlier. Judging by the level of rage we can only conclude that he didn’t actually see the Night Attack episode in question but that he was told a much exaggerated version by one of his minions.
  • Night Attack 32 is published that features “The Statement to End All Statements”, which outlines this series of events.
  • Leo Laporte in another fit of rage, orders his staff to erase any trace of Tom Merritt, Brian Brushwood and Justin Robert Young ever having been part of the network.

Here is the clip from the Night Attack 32 where Brian and Justin explain what happened in two minutes,

News

TWiT Trying to Erase History

18 Comments

Following our disclosure of his stream of rage triggered profanities, it would appear that Leo Laporte has ordered a full scale history rewrite. Shows featuring Tom Merritt, Brian Brushwood and Justin Robert Young are being deleted from every location on the internet under control of TWiT.

This morning, visitors to twit.tv/nsfw page were greeted with a big “access denied” warning, and every attempt to look at the archive of the show on that site failed.

Denied by TWiT

Further investigation showed that the NSFW show was not the only victim of this purge. Frame Rate, Current Geek Weekly, Tech History are also gone from the twit.tv web site. The attempt to erase these people from the internet did not stop there. TWiT staffers were ordered to delete all Youtube uploads of this content as well.

Efforts are under way to restore archives of these shows. Mr. Laporte is probably regretting his decision to release TWiT network content under a Creative Commons license as that makes it impossible for him to take a legal action and prevent the restoration of the show’s archives.

News

The Real Laporte

54 Comments

As it has become his custom, Leo Laporte went to his chatroom to to vent. Early this morning he posted this:

05:18 <~Leo> shoow and JuRY spent an hour on Night Attack last week (while we were on vacation note) slamming me and Lisa
05:18 <~Leo> *shwood
05:19 <~Leo> It was particularly hurtful because we have bent over backwards to accomodate them, and I've never said a word against either

He’s referring to episode 31 of the Night Attack show. It is clear that he has not listened to the episode in question and that he probably got trolled by one of his minions, telling him how they were being “attacked” and “slammed”. Mr, Laporte then goes on to demand an apology:

05:21 <~Leo> and it was particularly hurtful to Lisa - they called her Yoko and other stuff
05:21 <~Leo> shwood seems to be getting a lot of mileage out of it and although we've written to him neither he nor JuRY has apologized.

The investigative team here at Total Drama managed to obtain what exactly it was that Mr. Laporte was writing. Here is his message to Brian Brushwood:

Leo Laporte's conciliatory message

To Justin Robert Young he had similarly kind words:

leo_to_jury

You see how in the chatroom he pretends he was civilized and demanded an apology, while in fact he was spewing insults left and right without even knowing what he was talking about. But that has unfortunately become Mr. Laporte’s modus operandi.

But this is not where the insults stopped. No, Laporte went on to Twitter to tell his half a million followers that Brian Brushwood was “a drunk” and an “asshole” and that he was attacking him and his family. Those “attacks” never happened.

And another public attack on Brian Brushwood:

This just adds to mounting pile of evidence that Leo Laporte is one of the worst kinds of cyber bullies, using his great number of followers to spread lies and baseless accusations without bothering to check any of his facts. And if you point out this, you are being called a “troll” and he will send his army of minions against you.

For the internet to thrive, we need to find a way to stop bullies like Laporte from contaminating the public discourse.

Misc

Mike Elgum lies about his favorite music

2 Comments

What a shame that Mike Elgum can’t seem to tell the truth about what kind of music he enjoys. On a recent episode of “Before You Buy” he busts out with a ridiculous answer that even Leo Laporte doesn’t buy. What a joke this “news director” has turned out to be. Why should we believe anything he has to say if he can’t even bring himself to be honest about his personal tastes?

Misc

That’s your job

17 Comments

Image006There was a recent tweet, pictured below, that brought to light another example of the mismanagement of TWiT. When you see Laporte telling the host of a show (Sarah Lane) how much money he sinks into her show it is wrong on so many levels. TWiT is not “old media” it is actually worse than old media. By the way, this maniac attributes the money spent on iPad Today  to Sarah and the money earned to himself….And Laporte claims that two people at #TotalDrama are mentally ill?

The way a network should be run is a host/producer should have one job only. To make a good show. There are other people in charge of selling ads who are under Lisa, (albeit someone with zero sales experience.) They also should have one person responsible for media, social media, maybe placing an ad, maybe making sure they book hosts to appear on other podcasts, radio shows etc.

Instead, the duo that is incapable of taking any blame puts everything on the host. Why da heck should a host be responsible or even know what the rent is. If TWiT ran 60 shows a week the allocated rent to (ie) OMGCraft would obviously be less than it is if they run 25 shows a week. That is totally outside his realm and his show’s “cost” should have NOTHING to do with how many shows TWiT does. Instead, they make that a burden on hosts.

This image is not relevant to story
This image is not relevant to story

The sales department is grossly negligent as are other departments. If the Sopranos aired on TWiT it would have been cancelled. They really need some talented management there, this boat is sinking fast and more and more talent is leaving. Chad, if you make a good show and it gets tons of downloads on YouTube and does not get downloads from TWiT or have ads sold that is not your failing. That is management’s fault.

Leo also claims all the income from the website ads, the merchandise etc, that all goes in Leos column. Conversely, they meticulously attribute every cost to the shows. Why do they not do likewise with revenue.

All the shows that will live forever and earn money on YouTube, guess who gets that? YouTube revenue is miniscule, but they will end up with thousands and thousands of shows, a nice annuity to subsidize future soup purchases without giving a dime to the hosts. Nice scam soup, I think the cast of Giligan’s Island got a more talent friendly deal in 1964.

The network effect is a great thing and something Diamond Club needs to learn fast. There is a lot of benefit to everyone gained by teaming up. Hopefully <> will not suffer the same fate as one bone-idle-glutton.

Misc

Elgum can’t close a simple box

16 Comments

Watch as “Tech News Today” host and bumbling moron Mike Elgum struggles to close a Harry’s Shaving Products box on a recent episode of TWiT’s supposed flagship news show. (Harry’s is a TWiT advertiser and we here at #TotalDrama can’t imagine that they’d be happy that the Elgum seems to find it next to impossible to close a simple cardboard box.) In fact, it’s hard to watch as Elgum eventually gives up and pushes the box to the side.

We almost feel sorry for the inept loser. So let’s just wish him the best of luck in trying to tie his shoes. Hey, Mike: Don’t wander too far away from TWiT, OK? There’s some nasty traffic out there on Keller Street and you might just get yourself into trouble.

Exposing The Dark Underbelly of TWiT, Leo Laporte, and Failed CEO Lisa Laporte