- Cheat!
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Cheat! Country of origin United States No. of episodes 174 Production Running time 21-22 minutes Broadcast Original channel G4TV Original run May 1, 2002 – February 19, 2009 Cheat! is a TV show on G4 (formerly G4techTV) that provides cheat codes, strategies, and other hidden features for video games. The show is hosted by Kristin Adams (née Holt), who replaced original host Cory Rouse in January 2005. After a nearly 18-month hiatus, new episodes of Cheat! began airing in December 2008. Cheat! last aired February 19, 2009 on G4
Contents
History
The Cory Rouse era
Cheat! was one of the first shows to be on G4 when it launched in spring 2002. Host Cory Rouse would give tips and cheats on a couple of games from the studio in the early episodes. In fall 2002, G4 made a deal with Pringles to have them sponsor the show. Cheat was now officially known as "Cheat, Pringles Gamer's Guides". Cheat was one of G4's most popular shows. In certain episodes Rouse would leave the studio and film on location based on the game he was reviewing. Notable episodes of these years include Rouse getting advice from the staff at Tips and Tricks magazine, looking at Knights of the Old Republic as a Jedi Knight and Sith Lord, and looking at The Matrix.
Following the merger of G4 and TechTV
In spring of 2004, G4 announced a merge with TechTV. While many shows on both networks were cancelled, Cheat! survived the merger and production continued on the newest season. In summer of 2004, after a dispute, Pringles ended its sponsorship of Cheat. G4TechTV continued to produce the remainder of the season with the original Cheat logo and the name was changed back to Cheat. G4TechTV promised a relaunch next season. Rouse looked at more games into the fall as the season wrapped up, including driving around in a Jeep looking at The Simpsons: Hit and Run and playing James Bond with G4tv.com host Tina Wood looking at Everything or Nothing. The season finale aired in October, which was dedicated to Doom 3. After the October episode, Rouse left the show.
The Kristin Holt seasons
In January 2005, former American Idol contestant Kristin Holt was quietly hired to replace Cory Rouse. New episodes were produced with Holt in the winter on a new set. In February, the new season of Cheat! was announced to premiere in spring, with a new host and set. The new season and format launched with an episode dedicated to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas marked Holt's debut on G4. She was met with mixed reactions, with many fans believing she was a poor replacement for Rouse, whereas others were more welcoming. G4 made a season with her, which wasn't as successful, presumably due to G4 already losing much of its audience since the merger. The new episodes were all dedicated to one game, where before different games would be included in each episode. Holt also stayed in studio every episode, while Rouse left on location. At the conclusion of the season in the fall, Cheat! was again put on hiatus.
In summer of 2006, G4 announced that Cheat! would be renewed for another season. The G-Spot 60 second segments that aired during commercial breaks began filming Holt, on the Attack of the Show set, giving a cheat for a specific game before the season aired. For an unspecified reason, the segments were briefly hosted by X-Play's Morgan Webb, leading fans to believe Holt either left the show or was fired. Holt later appeared on the segments, and the season premiered in mid July, hosted by Holt. The new season was filmed in the Attack of the Show studio, and the premiere brought back the concept of many games in every episode. The season finale aired in December.
In June 2008, G4 began a new morning block of programming, titled "G4 Rewind." Among other classic or cancelled G4 and Tech-TV programs that were shown, older episodes of Cheat! (generally episodes produced before 2006, and re-edited for additional commercials) aired at different times, in addition to the newer repeats still showing in the afternoon. Only episodes hosted by Holt appeared in this block of programming, which presumably came to an end in September 2008.
After a long hiatus, it was confirmed on G4's website that new episodes of Cheat! would begin airing in December, 2008. The show disappeared from G4's schedule after February 19, 2009.
As a segment of X-Play
Beginning in January 2008, aside the weekday episode reruns, Cheat! is now a segment of X-Play, where Kristin Adams (who changed her name from Holt following her marriage) gives cheats of one game per segment (with the exception of bundled games like The Orange Box). It was assumed that Cheat! would continue exclusively as an X-Play segment, however, beginning December 8, 2008, ten new episodes of the half-hour show began to air at 9:30am (EST) for two consecutive weeks. In addition, the "live" Cheat! segments continue to air on X-Play.[1]
On Wednesday, June 11, 2008, X-Play held a Grand Theft Auto IV "Cheat! Special", which abandoned most of X-Plays usual programming in order to devote an entire episode to tips and strategies for that specific game. Adams appeared several times on the show, as opposed to her usual once-an-episode appearance, and replayed all of the GTA IV Cheat! segments to date. T-Squared and Mr. Sark, also of X-Play, hosted segments related to the game. The show was somewhat similar to the Cheat! TV-show, but was more in line with X-Play's usual format.
References
External links
Categories:- G4 television series
- X-Play
- Television programs about video games
- 2002 American television series debuts
- 2009 American television series endings
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