The Lab with Leo Laporte
Encyclopedia
The Lab with Leo Laporte was a technology-based television program hosted by Leo Laporte
. Episode #1 debuted on April 23, 2007 on G4techTV Canada
and HOW TO Channel
Australia. The program was produced by Greedy Productions in Vancouver
, BC
. Production was overseen by the show's producer(s), Matt Harris (ep.1-180) and Marc Lefebvre (ep. 181-195). The show also now airs on Citytv
after Rogers Media
acquired control of the stations, and episode segments were also posted to Google Video
several weeks after initial airing.
radio show that production of Call for Help would move from Toronto
to Vancouver
, British Columbia
, Canada. Rogers Communications
, the owner of G4techTV Canada
, contracted with Greedy Productions to produce the show. Laporte also announced that the show would be renamed The Lab with Leo Laporte and would be recorded in 16:9 High Definition (HD). The primary reason for choosing The Lab name over the original Call for Help was with the constraints of the branding contract. The Call for Help name is property of G4/Comcast and is licensed under agreement. The name change eliminated the need for an affiliation licensing agreement.
Laporte traveled to Vancouver from his home in Petaluma, California
monthly to record 15 episodes of the show. Episodes were typically recorded from Tuesday through Friday of the four-day "shoot week." Four shows were recorded live to XDCAM HD
disc Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; three episodes were recorded on Friday. One goal of recording in HD was to attract a U.S.-based distributor; however, a U.S.-based distributor was never found.
On March 6, 2008, Leo Laporte announced on net@Nite #46 and via Twitter.com that Rogers had canceled The Lab after 195 episodes. He announced that as a result, he would be "ramping up video production from TWiT
now." The last episode of The Lab aired on August 1, 2008.
The How-To Channel in Australia chose not to air the remaining episodes citing a lack of viewers, which is necessary to sustain airing the final episodes.
In late April the following note was posted on their official site:
(video) simultaneously. Kate Abraham, call coordinator (ep.1-180), scheduled the callers and introduced them to Laporte during the show; Abraham also appeared in several segments throughout the show's run. Briana McIvor replaced Abraham as the call coordinator for episodes 181-195.
The Lab also featured guests who presented technology products and technology tips, demonstrated software, and discussed technology issues, such as Internet security, with Laporte. Among the regular guests on The Lab were tech personalities Steve Gibson, Alex Lindsay
, Chris Pirillo
, and Andy Walker. Walker, along with Amber MacArthur
, was Laporte's co-host on the Toronto-based Call for Help; Pirillo was the show's host for part of its earlier U.S.-based run. Members of Vancouver's technology community, such as Rick Yaeger and Kris Krug, became regular guests on The Lab.
Each show also included a number of regular features. Yewell's Jewels was a free-file segment presented by chase producer, Ryan Yewell. The featured files included utilities, productivity tools, and entertainment software. Yewell also scheduled the guests that appeared on the show. Another regular feature was What the Tech? which served as a transition into and out of one of the show's commercial breaks. What the Tech? invited viewers to identify the subject of a close-up photograph of technology. Content producer Sean Carruthers created the segment and took the photographs used. Carruthers was also an on-air presence whom Laporte queried for additional suggestions regarding caller questions. In addition, Carruthers developed a regular segment entitled Sean's Shinies during which he demonstrated an interesting/unique tech product. One feature that served as a commercial transition was the Quick Quiz Question, a multiple-choice technology trivia game that occasionally had errors that made it to air. Another feature that also served as a commercial transition was the What the Tech? photo, a zoomed in photo of a piece of technology, taken by Carruthers.
Leo Laporte
Léo Gordon Laporte is an Emmy Award winning, American technology broadcaster, author, and entrepreneur. A former resident of Providence, Rhode Island, he now lives in Petaluma, California with his wife Jennifer and two children, Abby and Henry....
. Episode #1 debuted on April 23, 2007 on G4techTV Canada
G4techTV Canada
G4 Canada is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Rogers Media. The name is licensed from NBCUniversal, who formerly owned a stake in the channel...
and HOW TO Channel
HOW TO Channel
HOW TO Channel was an Australian cable and satellite television channel. It was carried on the Foxtel Digital, Optus TV featuring Foxtel Digital and Austar Digital platforms. It was owned by Premier Media Group, a 50/50 joint venture of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited and News Corporation.The...
Australia. The program was produced by Greedy Productions in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, BC
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. Production was overseen by the show's producer(s), Matt Harris (ep.1-180) and Marc Lefebvre (ep. 181-195). The show also now airs on Citytv
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...
after Rogers Media
Rogers Media
Rogers Media Inc is a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., which owns Canada's largest publishing company, Rogers Publishing Limited, which has more than 70 consumer and business publications. Rogers Media Inc...
acquired control of the stations, and episode segments were also posted to Google Video
Google Video
Google Videos is a video search engine, and formerly a free video sharing website, from Google Inc. Before removing user-uploaded content, the service allowed selected videos to be remotely embedded on other websites and provided the necessary HTML code alongside the media, similar to YouTube...
several weeks after initial airing.
History
On November 25, 2006, Leo Laporte announced on his KFIKFI
KFI is an AM radio station in Los Angeles, California. It received its license to operate on March 31, 1922 and began operating on April 16, 1922 as one of the United States' first high-powered, "clear-channel" stations...
radio show that production of Call for Help would move from Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada. Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is one of Canada's largest communications companies, particularly in the field of wireless communications, cable television, home phone and internet with additional telecommunications and mass media assets...
, the owner of G4techTV Canada
G4techTV Canada
G4 Canada is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Rogers Media. The name is licensed from NBCUniversal, who formerly owned a stake in the channel...
, contracted with Greedy Productions to produce the show. Laporte also announced that the show would be renamed The Lab with Leo Laporte and would be recorded in 16:9 High Definition (HD). The primary reason for choosing The Lab name over the original Call for Help was with the constraints of the branding contract. The Call for Help name is property of G4/Comcast and is licensed under agreement. The name change eliminated the need for an affiliation licensing agreement.
Laporte traveled to Vancouver from his home in Petaluma, California
Petaluma, California
Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. In the 2010 Census the population was 57,941.Located in Petaluma is the Rancho Petaluma Adobe, a National Historic Landmark. It was built beginning in 1836 by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, then Commandant of the San...
monthly to record 15 episodes of the show. Episodes were typically recorded from Tuesday through Friday of the four-day "shoot week." Four shows were recorded live to XDCAM HD
XDCAM
XDCAM is a a series of products for digital recording using random access solid-state memory media, introduced by Sony in 2003. Four different product lines — the XDCAM SD, XDCAM HD, XDCAM EX and XDCAM HD422 — differ in types of encoder used, frame size, container type and in...
disc Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; three episodes were recorded on Friday. One goal of recording in HD was to attract a U.S.-based distributor; however, a U.S.-based distributor was never found.
On March 6, 2008, Leo Laporte announced on net@Nite #46 and via Twitter.com that Rogers had canceled The Lab after 195 episodes. He announced that as a result, he would be "ramping up video production from TWiT
Twit
Twit may refer to: A person of lesser intelligence, it is normally used in a humors way.*Idiot, a mentally deficient or self-defeating person*TWiT.tv, a podcast network**This Week in Tech , a podcast on the previously-listed network...
now." The last episode of The Lab aired on August 1, 2008.
The How-To Channel in Australia chose not to air the remaining episodes citing a lack of viewers, which is necessary to sustain airing the final episodes.
In late April the following note was posted on their official site:
- Please note that production on the show has ceased. We are no longer accepting tech question submissions or replying to general info emails.*
Segments
The show focused on answering viewers' technology related questions that had been submitted via the show's website. During each show, as many as four callers asked Laporte for solutions, on-air, to their technology questions. Questions were chosen by Laporte in advance of show taping, and callers appeared on the show via telephone (audio) and via SkypeSkype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
(video) simultaneously. Kate Abraham, call coordinator (ep.1-180), scheduled the callers and introduced them to Laporte during the show; Abraham also appeared in several segments throughout the show's run. Briana McIvor replaced Abraham as the call coordinator for episodes 181-195.
The Lab also featured guests who presented technology products and technology tips, demonstrated software, and discussed technology issues, such as Internet security, with Laporte. Among the regular guests on The Lab were tech personalities Steve Gibson, Alex Lindsay
Alex Lindsay
For the Scottish footballer see Alex Lindsay Alex Ben Lindsay, founder of the Pixel Corps, has been involved in computer graphics and computer animation for nearly 20 years. Alex has extensive experience in digital production including print, real-time graphics, multimedia titles, forensic...
, Chris Pirillo
Chris Pirillo
Christopher Joseph Pirillo is the founder and maintainer of Lockergnome, which is a network of blogs, web forums, mailing lists, and online communities. He spent two years hosting the TechTV television program Call for Help, where he also hosted the first annual Call-for-Help-a-Thon...
, and Andy Walker. Walker, along with Amber MacArthur
Amber MacArthur
Amber Dawn MacArthur is a Canadian television and netcasting personality. MacArthur is currently the co-host of BNN's App Central....
, was Laporte's co-host on the Toronto-based Call for Help; Pirillo was the show's host for part of its earlier U.S.-based run. Members of Vancouver's technology community, such as Rick Yaeger and Kris Krug, became regular guests on The Lab.
Each show also included a number of regular features. Yewell's Jewels was a free-file segment presented by chase producer, Ryan Yewell. The featured files included utilities, productivity tools, and entertainment software. Yewell also scheduled the guests that appeared on the show. Another regular feature was What the Tech? which served as a transition into and out of one of the show's commercial breaks. What the Tech? invited viewers to identify the subject of a close-up photograph of technology. Content producer Sean Carruthers created the segment and took the photographs used. Carruthers was also an on-air presence whom Laporte queried for additional suggestions regarding caller questions. In addition, Carruthers developed a regular segment entitled Sean's Shinies during which he demonstrated an interesting/unique tech product. One feature that served as a commercial transition was the Quick Quiz Question, a multiple-choice technology trivia game that occasionally had errors that made it to air. Another feature that also served as a commercial transition was the What the Tech? photo, a zoomed in photo of a piece of technology, taken by Carruthers.
External links
- Official site (now defunct)