Morgan Webb | |
---|---|
![]() Webb in 2007 | |
Born | [1] | October 5, 1978
Occupation(s) | Television presenter, producer |
Years active | 2001–present |
Spouse |
Morgan Ailis Webb (born October 5, 1978) is a former co-host and senior segment producer of the G4 show X-Play . [2] She was previously the host of the podcast WebbAlert and a monthly columnist for the United States edition of FHM , where she contributed a monthly video game column titled "Tips from the Gaming Goddess". [3] She began working at independent game studio Bonfire Studios in March 2017 in a production role. [4] [5]
Raised in Los Angeles, [6] Webb attended UC Berkeley from 1996 to 2000. She developed computer skills in her free time there, and after graduating from college worked for a dot-com company as a website administrator. After the company went under during the dot-com bubble burst of 2000, her friend Catherine Schwartz got her hired at TechTV in 2001, and Webb became employed as the associate producer and web researcher for The Screen Savers . Throughout 2002 and 2003, she also regularly co-hosted TechTV's Call for Help with Chris Pirillo. In April 2003, Webb left The Screen Savers to co-host X-Play with Adam Sessler.
Webb is one of the six TechTV personalities to survive the massive layoffs resulting from the May 2004 merger of G4 and TechTV. Only Adam Sessler and Webb remained with the network after G4's change in format. After Sessler's employment was terminated in April 2012, [7] Webb was the only original TechTV personality remaining on the network.
In August 2005, Webb became a contributing game columnist for FHM , alongside her regular hosting duties on X-Play. Her monthly column was titled "Tips from the Gaming Goddess". Readers were encouraged to email Webb their video-game-related inquiries; she would then answer one question each month. In February 2007, Webb wrote her final column for the magazine, which discontinued its U.S. publication in March. She also hosted the short-lived Free Stuff on G4.
From August 2, 2007, to January 25, 2009, Webb had a daily video blogging initiative called WebbAlert. These videos were 5 to 6 minutes in length, and each consisted of a recap of popular technology news of the day. On occasion, Webb departed from the regular news format in favor of an episode on one particular topic of interest. Examples included a recap of the annual TED Conference, [8] a viral video special showcasing "future 'Darwin Award' winners", [9] and tech-centric "Holiday Buyer's Guides". [10] In January 2009, Webb suspended WebbAlert indefinitely due to issues with maintaining it on a daily basis concurrently with her hosting duties on X-Play. [11]
On February 25, 2009, G4 announced that Webb would be the host of their new show G4 Underground , a weekly series that profiles a wide range of people and topics that are of interest to the "internet generation". It premiered March 29, 2009. [12]
After airing more than 1300 episodes, X-Play aired its final episode on January 23, 2013.
From June 11, 2013, through June 13, 2013, Morgan co-anchored Microsoft's nightly Xbox @ E3 Live streaming event coverage on Xbox Live, reuniting her with former G4 personalities Kevin Pereira, Blair Herter, Jessica Chobot, Blair Butler and Tina Summerford.
Morgan worked as a consultant and creative advisor for Activision Blizzard, [13] where she also produced and hosted Blizzard's now-defunct monthly World of Warcraft discussion program WoW Source. [14] [15]
In September 2017, Morgan announced her employment at Bonfire Studios where she helps organize the community and other various functions. [16]
As an infant and small child, Webb appeared in advertisements for Gerber baby food, Kenner Toys, and an ad for McDonald's, where she recited the ingredients of the Big Mac to a game of Pat-a-cake. Though Webb's parents refused to let her watch television, she made up for it by playing video games. [17] She began with an Atari, primarily the game Combat , but as technology progressed, The Legend of Zelda and Phantasy Star became two of her favorite games.
After Webb graduated from high school, she left home to attend UC Berkeley. There, she earned a bachelor's degree in rhetoric (with a minor in Italian) in 2000. [18]
On August 19, 2006, Webb married Rob Reid in a service at City Hall in San Francisco, California.
Webb has joined the web-series Acquisitions Incorporated in playing several Dungeons & Dragons games at live events like PAX West.
Throughout 2004 and beyond, Webb was featured in numerous issues of print publications. Maxim magazine spotlighted her in their July 2004 issue. FHM featured a five-page article in their November 2004 issue, and also had her listed in three consecutive years for their annual The 100 Sexiest Women in the World article: #73 in 2005, #62 in 2006, and #51 in 2007. Other magazines have featured her as well, voted "Hottest Woman of the Year" in RTD's 2006 Top 10 countdown and in an article in the fall 2006 edition of Colleges.com U Magazine.
In April 2004, Webb was in "TechTV's Sexiest Techie" poll sponsored by Playboy magazine. TechTV viewers could vote for their favorite girl via the Playboy website. Webb won the poll and was offered a nude photo shoot, but she refused, despite being "very flattered", citing her own personal reasons and her parents' objection to the idea. [19]
Webb appeared in the music video "Strange New Element" from the band Low Water. [20] She makes her appearance near the end of the video alongside other fellow TechTV personalities, including Catherine Schwartz, Sarah Lane, Laura Swisher, Chi-Lan Lieu, and Sumi Das. In addition to appearing in Low Water's music video, Webb is featured in the artwork of the band's album Hard Words in a Speakeasy. She additionally provided her own vocals for X-Play: The Musical, which aired in February 2007. She is a frequent guest on various talk shows, including The Tyra Banks Show (in February 2008), Chelsea Lately (in early 2009), and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (on April 15, 2009). [21] She was also a frequent co-host on G4's Attack of the Show! . On June 17, 2009, Webb appeared on KCRW Radio, as part of the station's Guest DJ Project. [22]
On June 21, 2008, Webb along with her X-Play co-host Adam Sessler, participated in the 50th annual Hollywood Stars Celebrity Softball game at Dodger Stadium. [23]
A YouTube video was posted on October 7, 2013, with Webb as the well-versed host of a "Patch 5.4 Developer Round Table" discussion with Blizzard Entertainment employees J. Allen Brack, Ion Hazzikostas, and Tom Chilton. [24]
Webb played a minor role as Neely Lamm on the CBS TV Drama series Bull on an episode titled, "The Fall" which aired on February 7, 2017.
The Screen Savers is an American TV show that aired on TechTV from 1998 to 2005. The show launched concurrently with the channel ZDTV on May 11, 1998. The Screen Savers originally centered on computers, new technologies, and their adaptations in the world. However, after it was taken over by G4, the show became more general-interest oriented and focused somewhat less on technology. The final episode of The Screen Savers aired on March 18, 2005. Repeat episodes continued to air until March 25, 2005 when its replacement program Attack of the Show! began 3 days later on March 28, 2005. Two spiritual successors to The Screen Savers, This Week in Tech on the TWiT Network with Leo Laporte and Tekzilla on Revision3 with Patrick Norton, were started after the original show concluded. On April 19, 2015, Leo Laporte announced The New Screen Savers, which began airing on TWiT network May 2, 2015.
TechTV was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming. At the height of its six-year run, TechTV was broadcast in 70 countries, reached 43 million households, and claimed 1.9 million unique visitors monthly to its website. A focus on personality-driven product reviews and technical support made it a cultural hub for technology information worldwide, still existing today online through its former hosts' webcasts, most notably the TWiT Network.
Catherine Michelle Schwartz is an American television presenter. She was formerly a co-host on the TechTV television program Call for Help with Chris Pirillo and Leo Laporte.
Xplay was a TV program about video games. The program, known for its reviews and comedy skits, aired on G4 in the United States and had aired on G4 Canada in Canada, FUEL TV in Australia, Ego in Israel, GXT in Italy, MTV Russia & Rambler TV in Russia, NET 25 & Solar Sports in the Philippines, and Adult Swim and MuchMusic in Latin America.
Adam Sessler is an American video game journalist, television personality and consultant. He is best known as the host for the video game review series Xplay and the editor-in-chief for G4's video game section. Upon his departure from G4 in April 2012, Sessler was its longest-tenured television personality, having originally been hired by its predecessor ZDTV in 1998.
G4 was an American pay television and digital network owned by NBCUniversal and later Comcast Spectacor that primarily focused on video games.
Megan Morrone is an American actress, technology podcaster and writer. She was the co-host of TWiT online programs Tech News Weekly, iOS Today, and Triangulation, and former host of Tech News Today, Tech News 2Night, iFive for the iPhone, Inside The Net, and Jumping Monkeys.
Kate Botello is a former American television personality best known for her work on the San Francisco, California-based ZDTV.
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.
Filter is an American television series on the G4 cable television channel which follows a countdown format. It was canceled in December 2005, resurrected in a re-formatted form, and then once again was canceled in August 2006. It was airing as an interstitial program during commercial breaks prior to May 2012. The show allows registers users to vote in Top Ten lists.
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.
Fan mail is mail sent to a public figure, especially a celebrity, by their admirers or "fans". In return for a fan's support and admiration, public figures may send an autographed poster, photo, reply letter, or note thanking their fans for their encouragement, gifts, and support. Fan mail sent to public figures can be through postal mail, email, social media, and other platforms that allow fans and users to communicate with their favorite public figures.
Laura Swisher is a stand-up comedian based in Los Angeles, California, best known for her role as co-host of the former TechTV program Unscrewed with Martin Sargent from 2003 to 2004.
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!.
Lisa Olivia Munn is an American actress. After an internship at a news station in Tulsa, she moved to Los Angeles where she began her professional career as a television host for the gaming network G4, primarily on the series Attack of the Show! from 2006 until 2010. Munn appeared as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 2010 to 2011. She is known for her three-season-long portrayal of Sloan Sabbith in Aaron Sorkin's HBO political drama series The Newsroom (2012–2014).
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.
Natali Terese Morris is an American online media personality and co-founder of Morris Invest, a real estate investment company. She was formerly a technology news journalist with CNET and CBS.
Blair Joseph Herter is an American television personality, known for his appearances on TV series such as Road Rules: The Quest, Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Attack of the Show!, X-Play and American Ninja Warrior.
Cheat! is a TV show on G4 that provided cheat codes, strategies, and other hidden features for video games. The show was hosted by Kristin Adams, who replaced original host Cory Rouse in January 2005. Cheat! last aired February 19, 2009 on G4.
Rev3Games was a streaming television channel owned by Revision3, a subsidiary of Discovery Digital Networks, with shows about video games. The channel launched on March 13, 2012. On November 12, 2012, Revision3 announced that it had hired Adam Sessler, a previous staff member of TechTV who had continued through to G4 to host the television series X-Play. Sessler was the editor-in-chief and executive producer of Rev3Games, until leaving Discovery Digital Networks in April 2014. The channel includes reviews and previews of upcoming games, interviews, and general discussion of video games. The channel's final hosts were Tara Long and Nick Robinson. Past hosts were Max Scoville, Scott Bromley, and Anthony Carboni. Discovery Digital Networks ended the operations of Rev3Games on November 6, 2014, for reasons that have not been disclosed.