Who Killed The ScreenSavers?
Written by Daniel Longieliere
Provided by Logic Unlimited


      A title which conjures the image of a murder mystery whether it in a book or a made for TV movie, it is a mystery to most no doubt and the ending will shock you.

     “The ScreenSavers” was a show on Tech TV (a tiny cable show with two lovable hosts) and a whole lot of tech know-how. Their fan base was loyal and if you were one of them, you still scour your million cable channels looking for a show that could capture just a faint hint of The Screen Savers. Yet most of us have no idea what happened to it. I want to change that.

     First, for those of you who didn’t have the pleasure, here’s a run down:
“The ScreenSavers” was launched in 1998 on ZDTV which would become TechTV. It’s hosts were the great Leo Laporte, along with a slightly more fluid secondary host (Once Kate Botello and then Patrick Norton)

     The general idea of the show was to focus on those that either were already into technology or wishing to be more into technology.

"They were Techies before the whole world realized how cool it was to be techie, and they were idols to many aspiring super geeks."

     Most of the time, they kept the tech stories and reports short and simpler than it often is, but they gave an excellent broad range and very balanced view on technology as it was happening. Offering advice, reviews, and tips some of which I still use today. Let me share one: If you were to type in “google” in your Internet Explorer Address bar, and hold control, then hit enter it will fill in the “http://www.” and the “.com” at the end, so “google” turns into “http://www.google.com!” How great is that?!?

     Then comes the evil corporate machine, hell bent on the destruction of shows who earned their spot and the over commercialization, public profiling spotlight that is designed to do one thing, and one thing alone… turn a profit.

     In an effort to not embarrass, or give anyone reason to dislike this corporate-monger, I will disguise their name, so from here one, we will refer to them as Comc-ass-t. Okay, you saw through it, it’s Comcast, provider of cable, internet, phone, and anything else they can make a profit on and many of us, myself included, are forced to use them until AT&T can offer me cable and internet.


     Comcast saw the niche market that “The ScreenSavers” was filling and they wanted it. Problem is they just didn’t care about its viewers, or what they wanted. So after trying to launch G4 (a diluted, annoying channel I challenge anyone to like) they failed to get cable providers to pick up their network. So instead of improving their channel’s appeal to the market, they aggressively bought out TechTV, and then bled them of their great entertainment, and instead, air nothing but video game shows… over… and over… and over… and over again.

     Just incase this seems wrong to you, feel free to email Comcast and just let them know what you think. It’s been years since they murdered “The ScreenSavers”, but maybe some reaction from the public might stop them from murdering again.

Comcast Customer Care: Click here to email.