The Lab with Leo Laporte

Infobox Television
show_name = The Lab with Leo Laporte


caption = "The Lab with Leo Laporte" Logo
genre = Technology Show
creator = Leo Laporte
developer = Greedy Productions
presenter = Leo Laporte
starring =
voices =
narrated =
theme_music_composer = Sean Carruthers
opentheme =
endtheme =
country = Canada
language = English
num_seasons =
num_episodes = 195
list_episodes =
producer = Matt Harris (producer)
Marc Lefebvre (producer)
Craig Cerhit (supervising producer)
Warren Frey (content producer)
Ryan Yewell (chase producer)
Kate Abraham (call coordinator)
Briana McIvor (call coordinator)
executive_producer = Victor Lucas
director = Marc Lefebvre
camera = 3 Cam Shoot
runtime = ~48 minutes (without commercials)
network = G4techTV Canada
picture_format = HDTV 1080i
audio_format =
first_run =
first_aired = April 23, 2007
last_aired = August 1st, 2008
preceded_by = Call For Help (1998-2007)
followed_by =
related = The Tech Guy (radio)
The Screen Savers
website = http://www.labwithleo.com
imdb_id = 0997196
tv_com_id =

"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, Canada. 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.

History

On November 25, 2006, Leo Laporte announced on his KFI radio show that production of "Call for Help" would move 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 6th, 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." [ [http://twitter.com/leolaporte/statuses/767748113 Leo Laporte's official Twitter.com account] "Rogers just canceled The Lab - reruns will continue until the end of the decade. I'll be ramping up video production from TWiT now."] The last episode of The Lab aired on August 1st 2008.

The How-To Channel in Australia chose not to air the remaining episodes [ [http://blog.clickonline.org.au/2008/03/27/lab-with-leo-off-tv-in-australia-let-us-see-the-remaining-episodes/ Lab with Leo off TV in Australia - Let us See the Remaining Episodes] ] citing a lack of viewers, which is necessary to sustain airing the final episodes. [ [http://blog.clickonline.org.au/2008/03/27/response-from-how-to-channel-australia-regarding-the-lab-with-leo/ Response from How-To Channel Australia Regarding The Lab with Leo] ]

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.* [ [http:http://www.labwithleo.com/ Show production ceased message] ]

egments

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 Skype (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. Another 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.

References

External links

* [http://www.labwithleo.com Official site]