Call for Help to turn off the lights

I am extremely disappointed to hear that a great show that I followed for 6 years and have actually been a guest on the show has been pulled off the air. I often visit the host, Leo Laporte's weblog in which he had posted the last show was taped today. I hope another channel picks up this show since it was a huge resource to new computer owners. I wanted to post some of what Leo wrote.

Leo's Comments

Yesterday was one of the saddest days of my life. We put Call for Help to bed Wednesday. You'll see the last episode on Friday, but for those of us who have been making the show for six years a huge and important chunk of our lives is over.

G4 is shopping the show and it's possible another network will pick it up. I pray someone does. I'll keep doing it if I have to fly to Sandusky twice a week. Somehow, somewhere, Call for Help has to live on, if only for the folks who have come to depend on the show for their computer help. I know so many moms and grandfathers and kids and just plain folks for whom Call for Help was an introduction to technology. The show helped get so many people on track, and I feel like we're letting many more down by not doing it any more. Cross your fingers that some network executive somewhere is willing to take a chance on a funky little show that makes such a big difference in people's lives.

Meanwhile G4 has asked me to keep doing the daily 90-second pre-taped tips on The Screen Savers indefinitely. I said yes, of course. It's better than nothing, and it will leave me lots of free time to try to find somewhere else to do what I do. Vinnie Longobardo, the VP Programming for G4, also asked me to ask you to stop filling his inbox with mail. I appreciate your efforts but at this point it's probably useless to keep harassing the poor guy. G4 is going for a different audience and my work is not really part of those plans. I understand that - I even agree with them. It's time for all of us to move on.