Gamepro TV
by J.D. Turbeville
Back around
the late 80s, I went to the store and picked up a copy
of Gamepro magazine. I found it as a great alternative
to Nintendo Power, plus Gamepro reviewed more than just
video games and accessories made by Nintendo. Finally,
who could not forget the infamous author Scary Larry
and many others? In 7th and 8th grade for our magazine
drive, I got myself a subscription to the magazine and
still have the issues lying around in random parts of
the house. Back around the time I was subscribing to
the magazine or earlier, there was a supplement to the
magazine ... GPTV -- Gamepro TV!! It's main purpose
was to give you the latest tips and reviews to the games
of the time. It'd be lucky if anyone taped the actual
TV episodes, but I was lucky to cash in on a couple
of their commercial tapes that were released. What really
knocks my head is the awesome theme song. 144 120
 
Gamepro
TV began syndicating in 1990 and moved to the new Sci-Fi
channel sometime the following year. To my knowledge,
it was on at early parts of the morning before the saturday
morning cartoon lineup. It was hosted by J.D. Roth mostly
known for doing his gameshow stint on Fun House and
Brennan (I forget his last name), a virtual unknown
who had the same function as Roth. (Heh heh ... those
memories of J.D. Roth and Fun House ... oh baby I need
to get a piece of the cheerleader twins Jackie and Samantha
Forrest. In fact, don't you think they should've been
the Gamepro girls? Imagine that one for a second ...
lol). There was a later version of GPTV in 1998 that
had some host doing voiceovers while reviewing games.
A source tells me it was on early mornings on Prime
Ticket (now Fox Sports)
 
For Samantha
(in red), click here and Jackie (in yellow), click
here
A typical
show began with the kickass theme that sounds vaguely
similar to the Skate of Die 2 ramp song and then the
overview of the GP episode. The show was exactly like
the magazine's format: reader letters, tips and tricks,
reviews, and more!
 
GPTV was
one of the few tv shows that reviewed NES games and
even presented them in a hip style that made it look
interesting to buy. Ya know, where J.D. Roth would act
like he was a part of the game and then go into his
review? Priceless ... one viewer even reminded me how
at the end of the episode they would emulate being a
part of the game and act out thinking they were a part
of it. Sounds good to me ... I knew JD Roth had some
Capain N in him! GPTV Audio (dedicated to Duderanch!)
GPTV Introduction -- Listen to the intro theme (edited to
increase length)
J.D. Roth talking -- "Yo! I'm down here!"
More J.D. Roth -- gives the introduction to a video game
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