If you were alive and well during the early 2000's you might be aware of G4TV's most popular program called Attack of the Show! Airing from 2004 to 2013, and hosted by Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn, "Attack" or rather AOTS for short, was a live cable television program that aired segments on Pup culture, videogames, movies, comics and other geek related content. In between these segments, were skits and stunts that reeked of sophomoric i.e., juvenile humor like Olivia Munn landing in a pool of pudding in a French maid's outfit or having a few hot dogs in her mouth all at once! I think they were one of the first shows to give full coverage of the comic con, as well as put Tokyo Game Show, on the map.
AOTS was smart to take advantage of the console wars between PS3 and the Xbox 360 via coverage. The archived footage shown throughout this documentary is a testament of how G4TV had successful coverage making the network more of a viable platform. AOTS had its share of celebrities, one, was James Cameron, yes THAT James Cameron! James was a big fan of the show and even participated in a few skits, like smashing a mannequin with a folding chair. The show was unafraid to embrace new concepts and fads like the infamous "Twitter Wall" which earned them two Shorty Awards whatever the hell that was.
There were times when AOTS reached its low point with very immature and offensive content, that didn’t go over at times with the audience, and this was way before the so called "cancel mob!" (That's reserved for another day.)
The documentary commentators came off a bit defensive, and while some, if not most were offended, the material provided lacked any nuance whatsoever. It just wasn't creative enough to get a nervous chuckle. However, the "drunk Iron Man" was clever enough for a few laughs.
Throughout the documentary, there are intervals with Zac Selwyn breaking out his guitar with topical songs between each segment. "You can't do that no more" is of course, a commentary...more like an "attack" on political correctness, and while I agree with some of Gore's sentiments, you just can't blatantly overstep your boundaries unchecked. Remember as a wise man once said, "With great power comes great responsibility!"
All good things must come to an end.
Eventually, we’ll get to the part where Munn exits Attack of the Show, and in retrospect, she made the right call. Pursuing a career in acting was her goal that's why she didn't really mind being exploited or objectified in order for the show to maintain its ratings-by pleasing the Young, mostly white male demographic. She's attractive so, her participation in those "Howard Stern esque" skits served to an end to being a major player in one of the X-Men films, made her the most successful from the entire AOTS staff!
While not a fan of Munn, I gotta respect the hustle as she allowed herself to be pimped, only to be the madam in the end. One can say that she made a good chess move and it payed off 💯! Munn jumped off the sinking ship just in time, as the show, and the network itself, began to lose its mojo.
Kevin then bailed in 2012, after feeling that the show had reached a downturn. In hindsight, it was much as Pereira's show, as with Munn's since they both brought a modicum of chemistry to AOTS. As many of you who are reading this, might be aware of the obvious NBCU corporate restructuring, post-merger which became the death knell for not only AOTS but G4TV as well. Attack of the Doc is a retrospective that no one asked for yet, I'm glad it exists. It's unapologetic with how the show became influential to up and coming trends, and practices but more importantly, became a refuge for geeks and Pop culture enthusiasts throughout a period when the societal landscape was changing during the aughts.
Gore's doc tapped into the core of what made this show tick without coming off as a self-congratulatory blow job. And while I got burned by his recommendations during his DVD Tuesday segments, I respect his passion when making this project.
Overall, Attack of the Doc was a fun albeit at times, self-deprecating trip down memory lane. As Gore would say, "it’s a buy"...or more like, a digital rental!
