As a gamer, I like the following G4 shows so far:
X-Play - Carried over from Tech TV. Hard to beat what Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb have crafted over time in terms of comedy, straight shooting reviews, no extraneous BS etc.., although my one minor complaint is that they do on occasion spend a bit too much time going strictly for the laughs with the extended comedy sketches which totally takes the focus off of reviewing more games in an already limited 23 minute time slot. This would be fine if the show lasted an entire hour but its only a 30 minute show minus the three commercial breaks.
Pulse - Seems ok to me. Little bit dry and lacking in the personality department, but some good information and updates discussed there. Maybe need to punch it up with some more interesting hosts.
Icons - Cool shows on Nintendo, EA/Tripp Hawkins/3DO, Origins of Mario, etc... Didn't think I would care for it much when I first read about it, but its not bad at all. Lots of good gaming flashbacks watching this one for us older gamers.
Judgement Day - One of the better game review shows and best G4 shows I've seen so far that essentially provides the same information X-Play does, but in a slightly different presentation. Kinda still torn on whether or not I like Tommy Tallarico's ego though. I think he's ok in small doses perhaps. Sometimes he's palatable while other times he's pretty hard to tolerate. His sidekick Victor Lucas from Canada is really good though. Definately one of the cooler, smarter, more well informed personalities on G4 by a gigantic landslide. He reminds me of Leo Laporte in his genuine fondness and appreciation for what he has going on for him as well as his true love for games. One of those TV personalities where you say to yourself, "this guy is as nice of a person as you're likely to run into in real life" which is often what I think whenever I watched Leo Laporte do his thing on Tech TV. One of the true highlights of the show so far, is this absolutely stunning brunette who demonstrates gaming hardware accessories with some pretty outlandish t-shirts. The other day she had on one shirt that had "I hate invisible walls" printed over her chest. I had to sit and think about that one for awhile, before realizing it wasn't ever meant to be figured out. Great looking addition to the show by all means.
Cinematech - Pure gaming bliss. Sit back and watch cutscenes and in-game action from games on every platform for 30 minutes without any annoying commentators voicing over whats shown. Really like this show a lot. They slip in some old school games from the early 80's every once in awhile for a nice retro flashback. Beautiful in its simplicity.
Players: Pretty much an MTV Cribs style show featuring actors, actresses, sports figures, celebrities etc... playing their favorite games at home as well as showing off their pads and collections. Donna D'Errico was playing Mario Kart Double Dash the other day with some teenager. The kid trying to teach her how to play the game kept demonstrating how socially inept he was throughout the bit though everytime he opened his mouth to reveal that he doesn't get out much and is pretty much as big of a social outcast as you can be. Oops.
The Screen Savers - Still a favorite even though its gone way downhill over time with the Kevin Rose/ultra annoying girlfriend Sarah/Kevin's roommate with a new nickname every show answering phones sideshow dropping the collective IQ's further and further with every passing day. Still like Leo, Patrick, Yoshi, and the kid that usually takes command of the LAN parties who looks like a famous singer in the face and hair dept.
Electric Playground - Think this was outright purchased by G4 as I seem to remember it originally airing on Discovery Science back in the day. Still have to question the logic and intelligence in giving Julie Stoffer from Real World New Orleans fame a hosting gig on this show though. Not real wild about her with a microphone talking games with elite programmers and the like. Just as soon rather have someone who actually deserves the job and has some great background knowledge heading into something like this myself as opposed to throwing the bone to essentially anyone who wants it.
Still undecided on:
G4TV.Com 30 minute show - Tina and Laura are both really annoying to me. I can't believe Tina Wood supposedly is one of the head writers and head creative talents on this channel as she gives you the impression she's pretty clueless all the time. Not impressed by either one of them so far. Maybe I'm getting too old for this stuff.
"Hi Caller, Whats your name, Where You From?!"
UGH!
Its a really informal, laid back show without much professionalism injected in the mix. Kind of like tossing a camera and microphone to your kid brother and saying "here, have at it". "Whatever you want to say and do is fine with me." Yesterday they spent 30 minutes asking gamers if "length of games" was a big deal to them. Maybe should have been kept to five or ten minutes max perhaps. Pretty sure they have been showing old shows this week as they were stuffing a turkey with peoples names from the message board to award an original Nokia N-Gage to one "lucky" winner (I'd argue not so lucky myself considering how poorly that abomination of a project has been for Nokia to date).
Sweat - Still undecided on this one. Need to see more of this before I can put together a better opinion on it.
Not really wild about:
Filter - Pretty mundane top ten countdown show where people vote on what they like best on the website and they compile a 30 minute show around the results. Its hosted by a less-then-interesting female persona who was dancing with glow sticks in her hands last night while counting down the top ten grooviest games of all time. Waste of 30 minutes if you ask me.
Arena (really makes gamers look like ultra dorks with the play-by-play commentary and pseudo trash talking - wrong light to show people off in imo if the goal is to bring in more and more new gamers from all races, cultures, ages, sexes, etc...)
Cheat - People can find tips and tricks online for free without sitting through 30 minutes of laborious gamecodes. Magazines can fill this void just the same additionally if this thing is really your bag.
Never watched Martin Sargent's late night show. Didn't care for him on TSS back in the day. No desires to ever tune into that abortion no matter how bad TV is on any given night.