Esquire Network was an American pay television network that was a 50/50 joint venture between NBCUniversal and the Hearst Corporation. Launched on October 1, 1998 as Style Network, a spin-off of E!, the channel initially consisted of fashion, design, and urban lifestyle-themed programming. In 2008, Style shifted its programming towards personality-centric reality shows. The network was relaunched as Esquire Network on September 23, 2013; said rebrand was supposed to be on G4, but that was given to Style due to G4's low ratings. As Esquire Network, the channel focused on travel, cooking, sports and fashion, and also aired reruns of popular sitcoms and dramas.
G4 was an American pay television and digital network owned by NBCUniversal and later Comcast Spectacor that primarily focused on video games.
G4 Media, LLC is an in-name only unit of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming which maintains the programming of G4, a defunct 24-hour cable and satellite channel dedicated to video games, along with its former competitor, TechTV/ZDTV. NBCUniversal holds a controlling interest in G4 Media, with Dish Network holding a minority interest of approximately 12% because its former parent company held a minority interest in TechTV and owned Dish Network. Prior to the Comcast/NBCUniversal merger, Comcast owned the network, previously named G4 Media, Inc.
The Soup is an American television series that aired weekly on E! from July 1, 2004, until December 18, 2015, as a revamped version of Talk Soup that focused on recaps of various popular culture and television moments of the week. The show was hosted by comedian Joel McHale, who provided sarcastic and satirical commentary on the various clips. On November 18, 2015, The Soup was cancelled by E! and its last episode aired December 18, 2015. On February 18, 2018, The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale, a spiritual successor to The Soup, premiered on Netflix.
Attack of the Show! (AOTS) is an American live television program that aired on G4. AOTS features segments on pop culture, video games, and movies. After an initial run from 2005 to 2013, the show was revived in 2021 and canceled again when the network closed in 2022. The second incarnation of the program featured an ensemble cast, including returning original host Kevin Pereira, Kassem G, Fiona Nova, Gina Darling, Will Neff, and Austin Creed.
Paul Francis Tompkins is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television on such programs as Mr. Show with Bob and David, Real Time with Bill Maher, and Best Week Ever, later renamed Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins.
Blair Butler is an American stand-up comic, television host and screenwriter, known for her work on the "Fresh Ink" and other segments on the G4 program Attack of the Show!.
Christopher Ryan Hardwick is an American comedian, actor, television and podcast host, writer, and producer. He hosts Talking Dead, an hourlong aftershow on AMC affiliated with the network's zombie drama series The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, as well as Talking with Chris Hardwick, a show in which Hardwick interviews prominent pop culture figures, and The Wall, a plinko-inspired gameshow on NBC, Hardwick created Nerdist Industries, operator of the Nerdist Podcast Network and home of his podcast The Nerdist Podcast, which later left the network and was renamed to ID10T with Chris Hardwick. His podcast has broadcast 1,000 episodes as of December 2019.
Janet Varney is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. She is known for voicing the character of Korra in the Nickelodeon animated television series The Legend of Korra, co-starring as Sheriff Evie Barret in the television series Stan Against Evil, and a recurring role as Becca Barbara in You're the Worst.
Douglas Steven Benson is an American comedian, marijuana rights advocate, television and podcast host, and actor, best known for hosting the podcasts and TV series Doug Loves Movies (2006–present), The Benson Interruption (2010-2013), Getting Doug with High (2013-2019) and The High Court with Doug Benson (2017). As a comedian, he has released 10 comedy albums, starting with Professional Humoredian in 2008, and has regularly appeared on TV shows including Comedy Central Presents, Best Week Ever and @midnight. In 2007, he was a contestant on the 5th season of the reality competition show Last Comic Standing.
Jessica Chobot is an American on-camera host and writer. She has hosted the IGN shows IGN Strategize and Weekly Wood, which also runs on Xbox Live; she previously worked as presenter of the IGN Daily Fix. Since 2013, she was the primary host of Nerdist News and Nerdist News Talks Back for Nerdist Industries. In 2014, she launched her own podcast titled Bizarre States. She left Nerdist on August 5, 2019. She currently stars in a reality TV series called Expedition X.
Alison Fesq Haislip is an American actress and former television personality for Attack of the Show! on the first incarnation of the G4 network and the NBC reality singing competition show The Voice.
Jonah Ray Rodrigues is an American actor, comedian and writer from Los Angeles. He stars as Jonah Heston, one of the primary hosts of Mystery Science Theater 3000. He is a former host of The Nerdist Podcast and was the co-host of Comedy Central's The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail.
ID10T with Chris Hardwick is a weekly podcast "about what it really means to be a nerd" hosted by Chris Hardwick. From its launch in 2010 until 2018, Jonah Ray and Matt Mira were usual co-hosts, after which Hardwick hosted alone. As of January 30, 2023, the most recent episode was published on 22 March 2022; no announcement has been made as to whether more will follow.
Matthew Paul Mira is an American podcast host, stand-up comedian and television writer based in Los Angeles. He was a co-host of The Nerdist Podcast from 2010 to 2018.
GeekChicDaily was a multi-platform publisher of pop culture based newsletters, founded by Peter Levin and Gareb Shamus and operated by CEO Peter Levin.
Nerdist News is a Nerdist-branded pop culture newsletter launched in February 2012. It was founded and operated by Nerdist Industries' CEO, Peter Levin, and its CCO, Chris Hardwick. It was hosted by Jessica Chobot.
Nerdist Industries, LLC is part of the digital division of Legendary Entertainment. Nerdist Industries was founded as a sole podcast created by Chris Hardwick but later spread to include a network of podcasts, a premium content YouTube channel, a news division, and a television version of the original podcast produced by and aired on BBC America.
Talking with Chris Hardwick is a weekly talk show that features host Chris Hardwick interviewing a celebrity guest from the world of pop culture that premiered on April 9, 2017 on AMC.
