Is There An Epic Battle For Co-Host Brewing?

G4’s Attack of the Show has had many co-host changes over the years as people have come and gone, that is except for long time host and Official Man Card holder Kevin Pereira. When AOTS’ first female co-host Sarah Lane departed in 2006 after marrying another former AOTS host Brendan Moran a worldwide search began to fill that co-host position. In April of 2006 a relative unknown by the name of Olivia Munn was hired to replace the vacancy left by Lane. Since 2006, Munn grew in popularity, especially with the geek crowd (who also are the demographic that AOTS caters to).

Sexy SmileEverything was good until Ms. Munn started growing in popularity and began to forget the people that got her that popularity in the first place. Fast forward to late spring-early summer of 2010 and Olivia stopped appearing on AOTS regularly (the show just would say “Olivia is out today, please welcome). When Olivia did return to the show it was always the same “Ive been so busy, but still love you.” story.

After a while even AOTS stopped mentioning Olivia Munn and started rotating certain co-hosts throughout the week. Namely Ms. Alison Haislip, who started as the host of “The Feed” and segment host but has turned out to be one hell of a co-host in her own right. Alison is quite the bad-ass in her own right and didn’t rely on her looks (although she is absolutely gorgeous) to make an impact. Alison knows her shit and proves it on a regular basis, from driving cars to shooting them with 50 caliber guns to even eating a “pooped salad“. Alison has won over every single fan of AOTS, and is in my humble opinion the front runner and most deserving of the job that Olivia Munn has obviously abandoned.

Another qualified candidate is the equally beautiful and smart Morgan Webb, who like Kevin Pereira is one of three G4 staff members still around from the “Tech TV” days (the third is Webb’s X-Play co-host Adam Sessler). Webb has really come into her own as the Wednesday host (cleverly dubbed Webbsday by Pereira) even creating the character of “Tiny Morgan” who is a tiny southern accented version of Morgan Webb. Like Alison Haislip, Morgan Webb has excellent knowledge of the show, and its fan base not to mention incredible chemistry with Kevin Pereira.

There have been others who have stepped in to fill the void left by Olivia Munn (Jessica Chobot, Tiffany Smith, Carrie Keagan, Nicole DaBoub, and Candice Bailey to name a few), but of those ladies none are more deserving than either Alison or Morgan for a possible full time co-cost position.

Members of the internet/geek community even turned against Olivia Munn with a Facebook page titled “Attack of the Show Needs a permanent Co-Host, Munn is Done” and an accompanying Twitter feed titled Team Haislip, which Alison Haislip is actually a follower. Alison even tweeted a response to the rumor that she wouldn’t consider hosting full time “that rumor is the cake! (aka-A LIE) I’d LOVE to host full time!”. So what say you fans of AOTS? Who would you like to see as the full time co-host of AOTS? place your pick in the comments section below.

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16 Comments

  1. Thanks for the article. I am kinda surprised at the response this Twitter page has received. I responded to a guy with the information I’d heard that Alison would not want the full-time gig due to her other projects. That was from someone who claimed to know this personally. Well, who wants another Olivia situation? I didn’t even know Alison had replied to that until I got a Tweet at dinner. I was stunned.
    I’d like to make a correction: Alison does not personally follow me. I don’t know if she has people or just checks her mentions like we all do, but she has responded twice now! Chris Gore (@ThatChrisGore) has also reTweeted me, but Olivia has yet to respond. In fact, our followers doubled when Chris Gore RT’d us and quadrupled after the Alison replies. In one week I was mentioned by Chris and Alison like three or four times – there’s power in that. That’s over 200 followers since I opened the account on September 21st, five days ago. Not much, but for a nobody fan like me, the page has created a bit of a buzz!
    I totally admit the earlier Tweets were harsh and some followers were vicious, but I’ve been advised to try and control the tone on both the Twitter and Facebook pages.
    It stems from what you mentioned; The AOTS fans kinda feel screwed over. She may have had a career before AOTS, but everyone knows that’s what made her a hit. The fact that she doesn’t address the issue via her many outlets and has even said that AOTS get “any spare time” is a kick in the balls. Why isn’t someone just telling the fan base what the hell is happening? Really it’s that simple. But the lack of cojones from some involved person to speak up is really driving a wedge here and we’ve even seen fan on fan internet brawls. One guy near where I live started attacking Alison and saying all sorts of vile shit. It’s gotten rough and nasty, but at least I got to tell him he lived in the “balloon knot” of Ventura County (just north of L.A.) and to top it off he was a Raider fan. Loser + douchebag! So I do get to have some fun with the occasional executions and the followers are great too!
    Another issue is controversial. Is she or is she not a geek? I am the first to admit I am not. I am of the older generation when being a geek and nerd was not a good thing. Most of these Tweets and comments come from people my own kids’ ages, but I am connected and know my way around… since the days of the Atari 2600! So if someone on my level can see there’s a weakness there, the fanboys and girls and the true gaming geeks and tech nerds sure as hell see it! I was a casual follower of AOTS, but as I became more of a mediocre “Call of Duty” player I listened and watch more. I play COD MW2 every day to the chagrin of my wife and watch AOTS everyday as well. When Olivia’s book, “Suck It, Wonder Woman: The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek” came out, I recall cries of foul. “Olivia is no geek!” there were article on them there interwebs asking to see her “geek card” and criticizing her “geek shtick”. So it’s not just me…
    Anyway, as we’ve all seen, Olivia was awesome. Let me make that clear. Stunning beauty and funny as hell! Maybe too much in some areas, not enough in others, but she seemed like a good match to Kevin. Kevin is sharp and funny. His humor is quick and he’s not afraid to not follow the prompter. He’s clearly dialed in to current events and if he’s not “one of them” he knows enough to pull it off. On the other hand, if Olivia went off script, it was obvious. Then if there was a moment of cricket silence, she’d cover it with a lick, a boob dance or a sexy (very sexy) pout into the camera. She’s easy on the eyes for sure, but that only goes so far. I wish her the best in her other endeavors, but honestly, I’ve seen Iron Man 2 and Date Night, and let’s just say I wish her well…
    Now flip the coin and we have Alison Haislip. I admit I don’t know much about her other than she’s a Jersey girl, we share a birthday in the same week and she was born when I was in 10th grade! Her comedic timing is better, she definitely has a stronger technical and “geek” knowledge and she really doesn’t come off as abrasive or crass; there’s no arrogance about her. Sure she’s a beauty, but that’s not my fuel here. Hell my type is the stunning Morgan Webb. That would be ideal for my own personal choice! But my goal was to voice the popular choice of the fans and Haislip was mentioned and praised right off the bat. Morgan has her place at AOTS and at G4, but if they move her into the slot, hey I’m all in! But Alison just continually comes up as the fan favorite, so that’s where we are.
    I mentioned today that the Facebook page id getting hits from Olivia’s domain and another site that I think may be related to G4, but I can’t verify that.
    In time, days or weeks, this will go away, we’ll have an announcement from AOTS and life will resume so we can once again focus on other stuff, like poverty and the environment and that crazy Korean guy with missiles…
    So anyway, I just wanted to reply, thanks for the mentions and I hope things work out for everyone involved.

  2. Haislip all the way!!!!!

  3. @officialmancard Solid post. I need to go blog this up myself

    @ROBERT 1st, thanks so much for doing this. This AOTS charade has been frustrating me for months now and it’s nice that you’ve become our voice. What annoys me most (and I assume it’s for contract reasons or some other legality) is that they are treating the AOTS audience (which needs to be a smart audience for that show to work) like we are all idiots.

    Munn was great (when she was trying,) but it’s time to move on.

  4. wimpy77 says:

    If you actually would have taken the time to research before doing your blog. Who do you see in the opening of the show and doing promos? Olivia Munn. Why? Because she has not been fully released from her contract and according to Ted Herbert the head of Comcast Entertainment, she still has obligations to the network.

  5. Michael Cross says:

    I work in the entertainment industry. There is nothing contractual about G4 keeping Olivia in the face of the audience. It’s being done for strategic reasons.

    If Olivia’s sitcom fails G4 could very well move Olivia back into the co hosting spot easily. The situation is not going to be remedied until May when her contract is reportedly going to expire.

  6. Spencer says:

    No doubt Alison should be first in line for the hosting job, but personally I’ve loved Jessica Chobot on IGN and alway though she’d be perfect for AOTS. It was a dream come true (little bit dramatic) when she made her debut earlier this year. She, like Alison, is the perfect amount of sexy and geeks that AOTS needs to replace Munn.
    P.s. SCREW CARRIE KEEGAN! I hate her with a passion unrivaled!

  7. Sergio says:

    @Wimpy77 while you are picking up that name you dropped off the floor why don’t you take a good look at the post, I never once said that Olivia quit or is not a part of AOTS in the “legal” sense. I imply that she has abandoned her duties as co-host, yes Olivia appears in the opening credits, and is even referenced to once in a while but the point of this article is that AOTS needs a more deserving co-host. Now if you will kindly remove the bunched up panties from your ass we can move on.

  8. Sergio says:

    @Robert I just wanted to personally thank you for coming by and giving your side of the story for why you launched the site and twitter.

  9. primal wound says:

    Abandoned implied she walked away without notice, without word and without allowance, none of which is true. She has an arrangement with G4 that allows her to pursue other work outside of AOTS. Both she & G4 are honoring the contract. Do I like it? No. I wish she was still on AOTS every day. Do I begrudge her the opportunity to grow beyond her current situation? No (and apparently neither does the network).
    G4 would be stupid to pull the intro and to dissolve the relationship with her right now. The more popular and well known she becomes the more people find out about AOTS and G4 in general. This is a good strategic move on their part–whether Munn ever returns or not. Does it suck for the hardcore daily viewing fan? Yes. It sucks a baboon’s ass. Until her contract expires and/or is renewed, however, this is the way it is going to be.
    In my opinion, Haislip–while affable, smart, tech-savvy and cute–won’t be the permanent full time replacement when Munn is finally officially relieved from her duties as co-host. Mind you, I am not saying she doesn’t deserve it, just that I think G4 won’t go with her. Webb is happy at and better suited to X Play. I’m not sure that Chobot or Keagan are the right choice either. I think they (G4) are better off going with Tiffany or Nicole and getting them into a long term deal that limits their outside options.
    (Please note that I did not bash any of the women and I did not praise Munn. Many of the arguments above are based on emotion and denigrate one in order to raise another.)

  10. Robert says:

    The reason that Munn is still in the intro graphic is it takes a while to make those that look good. You can crap/slap something up in a hurry if you don’t care about the production quality, but G4 does.

    The problem they get is as more and more geek themed shows get approved, any female co-host they get will get pinched (and not in the good way).

    Still, I am on team Haislip

  11. First let’s me clear up that I am NOT the Robert above. The writer of the blog can verify that w/ email check.
    I think everyone is making excellent points, except the Keagan comment… what has she done to deserve that? Okay, so she humped Chris Gore… but who wouldn’t?
    Anyway, I think @primal wound said it best and with most neutrality. I did come across an article today from AOL, May of 2010 where Olivia addresses the AOTS issue. The first time I’ve seen this covered. Sergio, I hope you don’t mind. Read it here at http://t.co/Lv5Ilt4. It cleared up some stuff for me and left me w/ a little guilty feeling…

  12. Jordan Cecil says:

    I’m a fan of Alison Haislip, so of course I would love to see her host full-time. However, whether for strategic or legal reasons regarding Olivia, I don’t think this will happen any time soon.

    Reading that article made me feel sympathy for Olivia and her position. I didn’t realize just how hectic her life was, nor did I know how tough G4 was being on her.

    However, I still don’t see Olivia returning to AOTS. I know she must have an emotional connection to the show that launched her career. It must be hard on her as she grows further and further away from it. But that’s alright, because she’s moving on to bigger and better things.

    We’ll just have to wait to see how everything plays out, but I wouldn’t expect kind of change until Olivia’s contract with G4 expires.

  13. Michael Cross says:

    @Robert that article was written before she took the daily show job and before she went on at comic con saying she would still do aots. so far she has lied.

  14. I was down with Haislip before Munn ever went missing. I stopped watching AOTS for a while because I was tired of Olivia pimping herself as a geek when she clearly is not. (What’s up with the title of her book anyway?)

    Haislip is a just a cool sort of chick who used to work at a bar before getting her AOTS roving reporter status. She still plays video games, still watches football, and still hits the bar.

    In short, she’s awesome and hasn’t let her head swell too much.

    I have more to say about that here: http://thegeekrebellion.com/2010/06/why-alison-haislip-is-the-perfect-g4-host/

  15. MisterBones says:

    Tiffany Smith. She’s the most real, and she’s got a genuine smile.

  16. Denise says:

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