What do you get when you combine the oh so spectacular world of competitive eating, carnival rides and the end result of Fear Factor? That’s right, Hurl!. Welcome to G4’s latest bitch slap to its past life as ZDTV and Tech TV.
To be honest, I’ve hardly watched anything on G4 since the change. The only good thing they had going for them was one of the aspects they kept around: X-Play. But even that’s suffered in the wake of T&A, sexual innuendo, crotch shots and all around stupid for stupid’s sake.
I wound up watching several episodes of Ninja Warrior during the marathon they had, ending with Ninjafest 2 (the specials regarding the three G4 viewers who were a part of the 20th tournament). While not the kind of thing I normally watch, it wasn’t all that bad and didn’t rely on the aforementioned “features” of G4. It was fun to watch, both the failures and successes. Sure, it’s not like what I usually watch and is certainly not something I would’ve expected on ZDTV or Tech TV, but there’s nothing wrong with doing something different. Thing is, it wasn’t stupid, and the guys who put together MXC over on Spike could learn a thing or two. We don’t all want stupid crap on our TV’s.
The prospect of watching someone gorge themselves for the purpose of puking last doesn’t sound all that appealing to me. Sorry, I’d rather watch some of those God-awful reality shows scattered across the networks and cable channels than watching people vomit. Change can be a good thing, but the change to G4 is not an example I’d put on the list of good things.
I wonder if the people at G4 have ever seen Robot Chicken on [adult swim] and are considering turning Who Poop Last? into a real show – if there isn’t already one in Japan (no offense meant, but really, there’s some rather… um, questionable stuff over in the land of the rising sun). Hurl! is pretty close to that already, they’d just have to switch ends and not show anything. Because that would be wrong. Doesn’t mean someone won’t.
It seems that as time goes on, there’s more and more you can get away with. Just look at South Park.
