G4 holds a holiday reunion special with Comcast NBCUniversal

G4, the once-popular gaming broadcast network that went off the air in 2014, is back with a holiday reunion special this evening.

Airing at 6 p.m. Pacific time on November 24 on Twitch and YouTube Gaming, the special will reunite the cast members from the original show. And the special is fueling more evidence that the network itself will come back in 2021.

The original network had a collection of gaming shows that were broadcast on cable TV from 2002 to 2014. I watched G4 pretty religiously whenever I needed a laugh, and I even appeared on it as a gaming expert (go figure).

The pre-Thanksgiving show will feature Olivia Munn, Kevin Pereira, Adam Sessler, Chris Hardwick, Morgan Webb, Sarah Underwood, and others. Comedian Ron Funches will be the host. The reunion is the first since the network closed.

“Family get-togethers are dysfunctional from the get-go,” said Pereira, in an interview with GamesBeat. “But when you get the G4 family together, you’re assured that there is going to be a good amount of cursing, blood flinging, finger-pointing, and shouting with your mouths full. Comcast was kind enough to post bail for all of us to get back together.”

The show will re-air over linear cable TV on SyFy Channel at 9 p.m. Pacific on November 27.

The show will also have a charity component called #Gravython. Through a weeklong drive, original G4 cast members and participating streamers will raise money for a variety of non-profit organizations, with the help of G4’s fan community from November 24 to November 28.

Facilitated by Tiltify, the donations will go to CodePath, Girls Who Code, Black Girls Code, Boys & Girls Club of America, No Kid Hungry, The National Fragile X Foundation, and Connor’s Cure.

The Twitch and YouTube co-streamers include DrLupo, Chica, AtomicMari, BigCheeseKIT, DataDave, GlitterXPlosion, SanchoWest, Aerial Powers, DeeJay Knight, Erik “DOA” Lonnquist, iamBrandon, and Bruce Greene.

Asked if the G4 network revival is coming back for sure, Sessler said, “I obviously anticipated this question and so I structured an answer as is. As you know full well when covering games that are at a distance from launching, anything you’re saying is just pure speculation. It’s speculation.”

Pereira added, “That dodge was like Keanu Reeves on the rooftops. That was a Matrix dodge. I want to say more that is going to get me in trouble. Just so you can say it right here. G4 will in fact relaunch when Cyberpunk 2077 is released. And you can quote Adam Sessler on that.”

Comcast began teasing the return earlier this year. Sessler did a “Crazy Adam” video seeking talent for the new show in September. That video got more than a million views.

Tim Buckman, senior vice president of corporate communications at Comcast NBCUniversal, said that the company would provide information about G4 in 2021.

By that time, G4 will have some competition from Venn, which is a new broadcast network dedicated to gamers. Sessler said that competition and all the gaming news on the internet is good for the game industry. And he said that people need a lot of comic relief during the pandemic.

I asked if I could get on the show as a “highly skilled gamer” because I’m so incredible at playing games.

Sessler replied, “It’s going to be all-Cuphead, all the time. You’re more than welcome to come back on.”

Sessler said he had some jitters going to an in-person broadcast event for the show. Concerned about flying on an airplane, Sessler said the show makers kind enough to get a driver to drive him to Los Angeles for the show, with a plastic barrier between the driver and Sessler in the back seat.

“You’re in for a shotgun blast of G4,” Pereira said. “You’re in for pure nostalgia gravy. We wanted to give people a little bit of closure.”

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