If you have digital cable, there is probably a channel that you get that you have never watched. And a show on that channel, is one of the funniest on TV. That is G4TV’s X-Play.
Hosted by Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb, X Play is a video game review show. Sort of the Ebert and Roeper of video games, only at times, the reviews are secondary to the skits and comic pieces on the show. I’m not a gamer (despite my recent comments on the Wii) and yet, it is so funny that I Tivo the show and watch it every day.
Filled with pop culture references, it is also one of the smartest shows on TV. One episode had dead on, perfect parodies of Tarantino’s KILL BILL and RESERVOIR DOGS. Another was devoted to a full BREAKFAST CLUB parody that managed to throw a bit of THE DEER HUNTER in there. And a month before it even opened, based on just the trailer, they did a BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN skit, with zombies instead of cowboys. Trust me, it worked.
I first caught the show a few years ago. Back then, it was airing on Tech TV. One Saturday afternoon, I was flipping around, up in the 200's on the cable dial, amid strange channels I don’t normally watch. I happened to stop on this show, where the hosts were doing this sort of X-Files parody, talking about video game violence. It was hysterical, reviewing the ultra violent video game POSTAL, with continuous jokes about Australia, since the country had banned it. I had no idea what kind of show this was, but I was an instant fan.
I then started watching the show regularly. Which then became a bit confusing. Tech TV was then bought out by the video game channel G4. They then merged both channels. At the beginning, they kept most of the programming. But, as the months went on, many shows began to be cancelled. Tech TV had a very funny late night talk show UNSCREWED. But, sadly, that got cancelled. Then, G4TV.COM (which was the name of the show, a sort of weekly roundtable discussion show) got cancelled. This was another huge loss as I still miss it. I kept thinking X-Play would be next.
But, X-Play remained. Not only did it remain, but G4 continued to raise its profile, and it is now one of the signature shows on the network. Along with ATTACK OF THE SHOW (an excellent live, nightly, pop culture news show which evolved from Tech TV’s SCREENSAVERS), they are two of the only remaining Tech TV shows.
If you’ve never seen X-Play, you owe it to yourself to tune in. Even if you aren’t into video games. The hosts are two of the best on TV. Adam is a goofy, video game genius. And Morgan? Well, Morgan is arguably the most beautiful woman on television (for a host on a channel most people don’t know about, she has already been featured in Maxim and FHM). Not only that, but her line readings, her rather snarky delivery makes every review worth listening to.
The one problem with the show, the bosses at the network (owned by Comcast) keep tampering with it. It seems the time slot keeps changing (it airs numerous times a day, but new episodes now premiere at 8 p.m, the third time change this year.). And, they keep playing with the format, changing the set, changing the graphics. The show has suffered a bit because of all this.
Still, it is some of the best writing on TV, with two of the funniest hosts.
Here are a couple clips I found on You Tube.
First, a current one with Morgan and Adam talking about blogging. Kind of appropriate here.
And, here is an old review, of the worst games of all time, from the Tech TV days.
So, tune into X-PLAY, airing on G4TV, somewhere around 10 times a day.
