Reviews on the Run
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Reviews on the Run (formerly known as Judgment Day in the United States) is a video game review TV show hosted by Victor Lucas and Tommy Tallarico, and produced by Lucas' production company, Greedy Productions. The two hosts rate games independently on a scale of .5 point increments from 0 through 10, with 0 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. The show started as a segment on The Electric Playground called "Reviews on the Run", but was spun off into its own show in 2002. As of December 2007, Reviews on the Run airs in Canada on G4techTV Canada, Citytv Toronto, and Citytv Vancouver. The show was previously shown in Canada on A-Channel, Space, and OMNI.1, and in the United States on G4 (formerly G4techTV).
The show is filmed on location at several different locales including Vancouver, British Columbia. Episodes are also occasionally recorded in other cities. The hosts stand in frame as video game footage is projected onto an object in the background such as a billboard or the side of a building. The show is filmed over the course of several hours and later edited to fit the show's thirty minute time frame.
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[edit] History
On January 13, 2006, Lucas announced on the G4 forums that Judgment Day was no longer going to be produced for G4. The program will still run internationally (including on G4techTV Canada) as the original Reviews on the Run.[1] Later that day, Tallarico posted that he and Lucas were in contract negotiations with other networks in an effort to bring Judgment Day back to U.S. TV, albeit with the Reviews on the Run name, as G4 owns the rights to the Judgment Day title.[citation needed] Tallarico also stated that the show was not cancelled, but it was a decision they made personally so that they could reach a broader audience.[citation needed] Specific details about the negotiations have not been disclosed. As of December 2007, the show has not returned to U.S. airwaves.
On December 31, 2006, Lucas announced on The Electric Playground forums that Greedy Productions had cancelled its contract with CHUM television, which broadcast Electric Playground and Reviews on the Run on Space and A-Channel, and signed a two year exclusive deal with Rogers Communications, to broadcast the shows on G4techTV Canada and then additionally on other Rogers owned TV stations.[2] Reviews on the Run aired on OMNI.1 from January 28, 2007 to September 3, 2007. On December 15, 2007, Reviews on the Run premiered on Citytv Toronto and Citytv Vancouver. On June 2, 2008, G4 started airing episodes of Judgment Day as a part of their G4 Rewind block.
[edit] Cast
Victor Lucas and Tommy Tallarico have been both co-workers and good friends since their first meeting at E3 in 1995. Onscreen the two enjoy plenty of brotherly scraps, with Tallarico typically playing the role of a more aggressive, even gutter-minded gamer and Lucas being more businesslike and sedate. (A typical exchange - Tallarico: "Come on, you're saying that you never shot any of those guys in the crotch, even once?" Lucas: "No, I did NOT!") During the "Hardware" segment of Reviews on the Run, Tallarico has occasionally taken the video gaming hardware (console controllers for example) that they were reviewing, and put it down the front of his pants he was wearing, to the disgust of Lucas.
Due to commitments with Video Games Live, Tallarico was absent for six episodes from the 2006 season, and all but one episode of the last two seasons. Geoff Keighley co-hosted with Lucas in all of the 2006 episodes Tallarico missed. The 2007 and 2008 seasons of the show have featured a number of guest hosts, including Scott Jones, Tom Russo, Marc Saltzman, Jose "Fubar" Sanchez, Ben Silverman, and Steve Tilley. Tallarico returned for one episode near the end of 2007, and it is currently unknown if he will return for more episodes in 2008.
During the Hardware segment of the show, Hardware Girls show off pieces of video gaming hardware, while Lucas and Tallarico review the product in question. Hardware Girls are usually shown wearing T-shirts that have messages relating to video games and gaming (for example: "I've got collision detection"). Lost cast member Evangeline Lilly's first job in television was as a "Hardware Girl" for Reviews on the Run, which was referenced when the Lost video game was reviewed on the show.
[edit] Segments
- The majority of Reviews on the Run consists of review segments for individual games on a current major console or on PC. Prior to December 2007, both hosts gave a recap of the "hits" (positives) and "misses" (negatives) after the review ended, with the host who gave the higher rating stating the positive side of the game. Three of these review segments occur in most episodes.
- Pocket Reviews - Lucas or Tallarico reviews a game on a handheld console or device. Two Pocket Review segments happen each episode, with Lucas doing both when Tallarico is unavailable. Save for the occasional "Versus" segment, handheld games are rarely given a normal review by themselves. G4techTV Canada infrequently airs Pocket Reviews during commercial breaks under the title "Reviews on the Run: Quickplay Edition"
- Buried Treasures - Lucas or Tallarico talks about a game they felt was great, but was overlooked by consumers. This segment was held in an EB Games or a Rogers Video store. A Buried Treasure game is not rated, only recommended. Occasionally, games reviewed here would be featured on a later or previous episode in a normal review format. Buried Treasures was removed from the show in 2007, and replaced by "Download Games".
- Download Games - Lucas reviews a game downloaded from the a major console's online service. Download Games were introduced in 2007, replacing the Buried Treasures segment.
- Classic Reviews - A flashback from an older episode is shown, with a condensed review of an older title. In most cases, the game being reviewed ties in with a game reviewed on the same episode.
- Hardware - The two hosts review a video game peripheral device, system, add-on, or controller. "Hardware Girls" are shown demonstrating and modeling the hardware in question during the review. Instead of rating the device on a scale, the hosts will either "recommend" or "not recommend" the device. Occasionally, the hardware device will be "not recommended with an asterisk" (e.g. the device is not worth its current price, or not recommended if you currently own an older model). Hardware reviews initially featured a "hits and misses" recap, which was later dropped from the show.
- The Hit List - Lucas gives a quick rundown of the top five games in a particular category, such as a particular genre, or a given system. From 2006 onward, a variation called the "Sh_t List" has occasionally appeared in place of The Hit List, which has the bottom five games in a given category.
- Versus - The two hosts review and compare two or three games of a similar genre or subject. They typically break down the review by comparing the graphics, audio, and gameplay of the games in question, with both hosts naming which of the games was better in each category. The games are scored by both hosts, with the game with the highest cumulative score being named the winner of the Versus segment. On occasion, the Versus segment is replaced by both hosts giving quick reviews on two or three new titles, with no head to head competition in mind.
- After the versus segment, Lucas recaps all of the games featured (excluding Pocket, Buried Treasure, Download Games, Classic, and Hardware reviews). He goes over quickly, the positive and negative features of each.
- Rogers Video Game of the Week The highest rated game featured on that show (including titles in the Pocket and Download Games reviews) is awarded the title of Rogers Video Game Of The Week.
- Before the credits, a few bloopers or deleted scenes from the episode are shown.
- Every December, an episode is aired where the hosts rate the current major video game consoles, and the PC, on the titles released that year for that platform. The episode was called "Holiday Reviews on the Run" in 2006 and "Year in Review" in 2007.
[edit] Video game reviews of note
As of June 2008, only seven games on the show have been given 10/10 by both hosts. Five of them are the multiplatform titles: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (which ended with Tommy running around the set [which was a hockey rink] shouting "Ten! Ten! Ten!" with the scoreboard flashing "Tommy gives it a 10!"), Burnout 3: Takedown, Burnout Revenge (which Lucas actually wanted to give an 11/10 before finally agreeing to a 10), The Orange Box, and Grand Theft Auto IV; with the two other games being God of War II for the PlayStation 2 and Halo 3 for the Xbox 360. The lowest rated game ever on the show was Chicken Shoot (Wii) which Lucas gave 0/10 and guest host Jose "Fubar" Sanchez gave -2.0/10, making it the first game to score less than 0 on the show. Fubar thought Vic was mad at him so he made him review this game. The first 0/10 was given by Tallarico for the game High Heat Major League Baseball 2003; he hated the game so much he stormed off partway through the review, followed by sounds of a car screeching away.
Sometimes, the two hosts will have completely differing opinions on a game, with one giving way different scores than the other. (An example of this was the 2005 review of We Love Katamari; while Lucas enjoyed the gameplay and pointed out the good of the game, Tallarico hated the game, particularly its music. The result: Lucas gave it an 8/10 while Tallarico gave it a 3/10.)
[edit] In popular culture
- In the series Mega64, Judgement Day is parodied as Judgmental Night, hosted by Tommy Tallarico and "Luke Victorious". Tommy Tallarico appears in the skit as Hairy Gary the Feral Child, however the Tommy Tallarico character in the same skit is portrayed by Derrick Acosta.
[edit] References
- ^ http://forums.g4tv.com/messageview.cfm?catid=22&threadid=545731
- ^ The Electric Playground :: View topic - Huge 2007 News For ROTR and EP!!! Need Your Help! :)
