G4 is evolving on April 22 into a channel called Esquire, which will target upscale males (as opposed to the douchers who watch Spike, I gather).
The new channel will hang on to its “American Ninja Warrior” franchise and augment its programming with repeats of a pair of Adam Scott sitcoms – “Party Down” and “Parks and Recreation.”
Reality shows in development for Esquire include the Drew Barrymore-produced cooking show “Knife Fight” and the celebrity travel show that may be called “The Getaway.”
Long-running G4 shows “Attack of the Show!” and “X-Play” are already gone.
The channel’s new affiliation with Esquire Magazine kind of brings it full circle, as it began life in 1998 as ZDTV, named for PC Magazine and MacWEEK publisher Ziff-Davis. ZDTV became TechTV in 2000, then G4techTV in 2004, then G4 – Video Game Television in 2005.
