FOUR REASONS WE LOVE
THE G4 NETWORK

The first channel to bridgee the intersection of video games and TV may be cable's most addictive fix. If that's not enough, there's Olivia Munn in a bikini

1 For years, we've been hearing about how video games and the Internet will rise up and destroy television as we know it. Six-year-old G4 is the only network that realizes the Axis of ADD has already won — and it bows down before its pixelated overlords with pride, serving up wall-to-basement-wall coverage of gadgets, gaming and anything else that's ever derailed a once-promising sex life. It's like Spike for nerds; instead of serving up Ultimate Fighting Championship marathons and late-period Van Damme flicks, G4 wants to be your offline source for Grand Theft Auto cheat codes and rumors about the new iPhone. Or maybe G4 is the CNN of geek America. Forget the war, screw the election — G4 floods the zone on news events like the gaming-industry convention E3 and the San Diego Comic-Con.

2 Attack of the Show! — an hour-long download of entertainment news, gadget reviews and videos of foolish young men hurting themselves very badly. It's got the cheap, cheerful, throw-it-at-the-wall feel of early MTV, and co-host Olivia Munn reads bullshit off a teleprompter with the flippant allure of a young Kurt Loder. There are two kinds of people in the G4 world: fans of Munn's self-satisfied sass and iconoclasts who prefer the crazy-eyed sultriness of X-Play's Morgan Webb; it's a Betty-or-Veronica, Xbox vs. PS3 kind of debate. (G4's on-camera talent also includes some dudes, but chances are you won't care.)

3 Dubbed Japanese game shows are the finest form of televised sport ever devised by man, and sometimes G4 seems to show nothing but. On Ninja Warrior and Unbeatable Banzuke , unfailingly optimistic athletes — sometimes Olympians, sometimes guys with claims to fame like "overall winner in the 1985 Nagano police bike-safety competition" — tackle zany obstacle courses. Most of the other syndicated offerings on G4's lineup — Arrested Development, COPS — have even less to do with technology, but who cares? They're still great shows.

4 Right now you're probably thinking, "Sure, but it's not like they've come up with a show that combines competitive eating and vomit-inducing gyroscopes." Hurl! premieres July 15th. Lick it up, Bravo!

MATT MORALES

Photo: G4 Network