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Documentary

Attack of the Doc!

- The epic story behind G4TV and Attack of the Show!

Before the rise of big tech, social media and Marvel movies, Attack of the Show! chronicled the rise of nerd culture. G4TV's flagship show launched the careers of hosts Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira and was beloved by fans! But what really happened?

Release Date : 2023-04-21

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company :

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Cast

Chris Gore

Character Name : Self - Host

Original Name : Chris Gore

Gender : Male

Kevin Pereira

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Kevin Pereira

Gender : Male

Olivia Munn

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Olivia Munn

Gender : Female

Candace Bailey

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Candace Bailey

Gender : Female

Sara Jean Underwood

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Sara Jean Underwood

Gender : Female

Morgan Webb

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Morgan Webb

Gender : Male

Americus Abesamis

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Americus Abesamis

Gender : Male

Kristin Adams

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Kristin Adams

Gender : Female

Eric André

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Eric André

Gender : Male

James Cameron

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Original Name : James Cameron

Gender : Male

Doug Baughman

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Original Name : Doug Baughman

Gender : Male

Heather Belskis

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Heather Belskis

Gender : Male

Indiana Black

Character Name : Froskurinn

Original Name : Indiana Black

Gender : Female

Will Bowles

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Will Bowles

Gender : Male

Gary Buechler

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Original Name : Gary Buechler

Gender : Male

Blair Butler

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Original Name : Blair Butler

Gender : Female

John Campea

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Corrado Caretto

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Original Name : Corrado Caretto

Gender : Male

Mary Carey

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Original Name : Mary Carey

Gender : Female

John Cena

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Original Name : John Cena

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Jessica Chobot

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Original Name : Jessica Chobot

Gender : Female

Whitney Cummings

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Whitney Cummings

Gender : Female

Rick Damigella

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Original Name : Rick Damigella

Gender : Male

Anthony Daniels

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Original Name : Anthony Daniels

Gender : Male

Gerry Duggan

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Original Name : Gerry Duggan

Gender : Male

Jimmy Fallon

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Original Name : Jimmy Fallon

Gender : Male

Josh Flaum

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Original Name : Josh Flaum

Gender : Male

Christopher Flynn

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Original Name : Christopher Flynn

Gender : Male

Laura Foy

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Original Name : Laura Foy

Gender : Male

Tom Green

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Original Name : Tom Green

Gender : Male

Jeremy Griggs

Character Name : CEO of Geeks + Gamers

Original Name : Jeremy Griggs

Gender : Male

Alison Haislip

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Alison Haislip

Gender : Female

Chris Hardwick

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Original Name : Chris Hardwick

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Gaby Hauser

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Tony Hawk

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Blair Herter

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Kaz Hirai

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Original Name : Kaz Hirai

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Jamie Hyneman

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Peter Jackson

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Jon Jafari

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Jonathan Jafari

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Eric July

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Carrie Keagan

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Genji Keen

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Joey Kern

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Original Name : Joey Kern

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Ryan Kinel

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

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Robert Kirkman

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William Frederick Knight

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Sarah Lane

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Leo Laporte

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Stan Lee

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Michael Leffler

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Kaylani Lei

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Victor Lucas

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Joe Lynch

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Ben Lyons

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Melonie Mac

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Chrissie Mayr

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Joel McHale

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Andre Meadows

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Anne Meara

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Matthew Mercer

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Matt Mira

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Kel Mitchell

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Kumail Nanjiani

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Greg Nicotero

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Travis Oates

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Hasan Piker

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Danny Pudi

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Danny Pudi

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Lee Reherman

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Original Name : Lee Reherman

Gender : Male

Joan Rivers

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Original Name : Joan Rivers

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Joe Rogan

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Kevin Rubio

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Mary Salardino

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Adam Savage

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Original Name : Adam Savage

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Casey Schreiner

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Zach Selwyn

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Adam Sessler

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Lester Speight

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Original Name : Lester Speight

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Riley Steele

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Gender : Female

Jerry Stiller

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Brian Terwilliger

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Carissa Walford

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Original Name : Carissa Walford

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Layla Rumi

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Original Name : Layla Rumi

Gender : Male

Wil Wheaton

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Original Name : Wil Wheaton

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Michael Winslow

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Alan Wu

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Tyla Wynn

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Gender : Female

Andrew Zilch

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Original Name : Andrew Zilch

Gender : Male

Reggie Fils-Aimé

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Reggie Fils-Aimé

Gender : Male

Quarter Black Garrett

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Quarter Black Garrett

Gender : Male

Arin Hanson

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Arin Hanson

Gender : Male

Josh Henderson

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Josh Henderson

Gender : Male

Jirard Khalil

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Jirard Khalil

Gender : Male

PewDiePie

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : PewDiePie

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Nick Murphy

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Original Name : Nick Murphy

Gender : Male

Paul Ritchey

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Original Name : Paul Ritchey

Gender : Male

Reviews

C

Charles Tatum

@CharlesTatum

2024-01-15

This documentary covers the cult cable television show "Attack of the Show!" on the old G4 cable television channel. After watching the film, and doing a little reading online, the internet troll vitriol was sometimes more entertaining than the film. I never saw "Attack of the Show!" or anything else on the G4 network. My first marriage had ended four days before the 9/11 attacks, and I was too busy sulking in a basement apartment or renting a spare bedroom from my best friend to sit down and watch cable television much, when I could afford it at all. I was not a gamer anyway, getting that out of my system back in high school thanks to popping quarters into arcade machines or suffering through the Intellivision system at home. I didn't know AOTS was a thing, and I'm not even sure if G4 was on my cable system. One thing I was familiar with, however, was Chris Gore. I used to frequent a rundown little gas station in my then-hometown because they carried Film Threat magazine for some ungodly reason I never figured out. I read and re-read every issue I could get my hands on, along with the Film Threat Video Guide, before loaning my collection to a friend and never seeing them again. I was going to be a film maker back then, carrying around well-worn issues of Entertainment Weekly, Movieline, and Premiere. I shot one music video, graduated from college with a degree in Broadcasting (no, everyone in my life, it's not "the same thing"), and never pursued my film making career. Writing about film, on the other hand... When I was in elementary school in the late 1970's (I'm the epitome of Generation X), I used to flip through Leonard Maltin's TV and Movie Guide. I started writing capsule reviews on 3x5 inch index cards, and put them in a little recipe file box. It was stuffed full by the time I got to high school, but it eventually disappeared during one of many moves in my life as an Air Force Brat. Once I discovered the internet, all bets were off. I wrote reviews for Epinions, and then eFilmCritic/HollywoodBitchslap (all of those sites are now long gone). I had 10,000 TV and film rankings on IMDb, which consistently crashed my local library's computer. I'm now on Letterboxd, where I have over 6,500 films ranked, and I have almost a thousand reviews there, as well as my new IMDb incarnation. All told, I've made approximately $1.75 from my decades of online film criticism. I've been watching and reading Chris Gore since he had dark hair, and I had any hair. I don't have time to do entire podcasts, but I enjoy Film Threat's clips on YouTube, and reading the written reviews on their website. Gore pops up on Film Courage's YouTube channel as well, and his long interview had me nodding in agreement consistently. I found a kindred spirit in Chris Gore and his Film Threat sidekicks, as well as Heath Holland at Cereal at Midnight, and they're among my must-watches. I don't necessarily agree with them all of the time, but I like hearing their views on film, television, and physical media collecting- I own almost a thousand shiny discs and about five hundred books, too. But what about the film?! Sorry, I'm talking about the film maker more than the film- something most of the reviews I read online are guilty of. "Attack of the Doc!" is a fun, nostalgic trip down memory lane for a show I have no memory of. Gore couldn't get interviews with the most famous hosts (Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn), and I don't know why. He covers it well, though, with plenty of old footage from the show as well as voiceover interviews with people involved in the production. Gore himself appeared on over eighty episodes, according to IMDb, and he appears onscreen in recently shot footage. I was never bored, the show seemed like something I could have watched in between episodes of "The State," "Mystery Science Theater 3000," "The Whitest Kids U'Know," "The Kids in the Hall," and all the other subversive comedy I absorbed if I had known it existed. The trolls lambast Gore for an anti-woke section of the film. From my reading, I expected an hours long diatribe, and was laughing out loud at the very few sentences I heard. They really couldn't do a lot of the material found on AOTS today, and it was funny to read about how "alt-right" Gore is. "A biased Gore inserts himself into the documentary on a show he was barely on and made it all about himself!" I'm hard pressed to think of a documentary that is unbiased, and when it comes to a film maker putting himself into a documentary, have the names Michael Moore and Nick Broomfield, as well as almost every "reality show" been completely forgotten? I wouldn't call eighty episodes "barely on" the show. Gore is criticized more for his honest takes about current pop culture, which is something I appreciate in the left-leaning world of Hollywood and film criticism. Sometimes I just want to read a writer's thoughts on a film without detrimental comparisons to the latest Trump rally, which has NOTHING to do with the film being reviewed. This is why I also frequently read John Nolte, Armond White, Bret Easton Ellis, and Christian Toto, and old material from Pauline Kael, Roger Ebert, and Gene Siskel. I don't agree with any of them all the time, but I'm not insulted for being a Midwestern Conservative either. So yes, if you were a G4 fan back in the day, you'll like this film. If you are like me and had no idea what the show or network were about, I think you'll still like this film. Chris Gore is "doing the work" as Gary Vaynerchuk preaches, and I for one appreciate that. Contains physical violence, some gun violence, some gore, profanity, sexual references, adult situations