D&D General D&D TV Series Coming This Fall From G4

G4, the company which partnered with WotC for some of their streamed events this year, has announced that it is bringing a limited-run Dungeons & Dragons television series to screens this fall. They describe themselves as a ‘digital first network’.

”Dungeons & Dragons Limited Series: Coming off the immense success of D&D Live 2021 featuring notable celebrities like Jack Black, Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Smith, and DrLupo, G4 will continue its partnership with Wizards of the Coast with an all-new, limited-run series to premiere on G4 this Fall. The series will follow four campaigns with a mix of G4 talent, veteran D&D players, and celebrities for a new generation of D&D fans.”

It sounds like the show will be a mix of several live games.

G4 is coming to TV and streaming services on November 16th, via Verizon Fios, Cox, and Xfinity TV, as well as streaming services like Twitch.

G4TV

G4TV

g4tv.com

 

[LordEntrails]

Pretty sure I remember this correctly... a decade or two ago G4 was a cable TV channel. It was at least carried on Cox Cable. It carried shows like Ninja Warrior (the original Japanese game show, not the American Ninja Warrior that shows now) and other various extreme game shows. Basically foreign or low-budget shows who could not get airing on more significant networks.

 

[payn]

Not sure why this is a big announcement, it just sounds like live streamed games. Not a bad thing, but not particularly newsworthy either. Maybe it's just that everyone wants to try to hitch a ride on Critical Roles success?

I can see a few reasons. It might surprise folks to learn that a lot of people still dont watch live streamed games. Part of it is how damn boring they are 80% of the time. A show that boils them down to the interesting parts could have some legs. Also, it can grab boomer/gen xers who dont spend much time on the net, but still watch TV. Get them interested in gaming again or even just interested in D&D media. Upcoming movie and TV series and such.

 

[overgeeked]

I feel like we’re entering the era where we’ll get D&D games with poker / MtG / golf commentators using faux-hushed voice-over narration to explain what’s happening to the general audience.

 

[John R Davis]

My college does offer scholarships to E-Sports now.

Yup. My UK college offers courses in this as well.

 

[darjr]

I feel like we’re entering the era where we’ll get D&D games with poker / MtG / golf commentators using faux-hushed voice-over narration to explain what’s happening to the general audience.

Ssshhh they are about to roll the d20…….

It’s a CRIT! cheers

 

[overgeeked]

Ssshhh they are about to roll the d20…….

It’s a CRIT! cheers

Can’t wait for there to be a mismatch between the DM’s house rules and the RAW the commentators use. If there’s more than one commentator, I wonder how long it will take for them to argue about what a rule means or if something is a good play or if something is metagaming.

Hey, you. Yeah, you...in the future...coming to swipe this idea. I’m a writer. PM me.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

My college does offer scholarships to E-Sports now. Not sure if this is like that in there is a TV show where you watch people play the game. I know my kid watches some of this stuff and not just tutorials on how to get a cheat code.

Disgusting, here in Canada you don't get scholarships for playing games, you get them for being smart or because your part of the right group (the second one is a global trend thing).

 

[Oofta]

I feel like we’re entering the era where we’ll get D&D games with poker / MtG / golf commentators using faux-hushed voice-over narration to explain what’s happening to the general audience.

I can see it now, an announcer doing a play-by-play in a hushed voice standing in the shadows behind the players during the game.

"It's looking bad for Nerds-at-Play, The group is in serious trouble, having bitten off more than they can chew in this fight with the Balor, a demon modeled on Tolkien's Balrog. With the rest of the party down, it's up to Shady the rogue. He was able to hide last turn so this is a tense moment. Does he run? Try to finish off the badly wounded Balor?"

The camera pans in to a closeup of Jane, Shady's player as she looks down at the map in front of her and back to her character sheet. Dead quiet, she picks up a pair of D20s and a handful of D6's.

"This is a tense moment here, it looks like Shady is going for the attack. I gotta say, it's a gutsy move because if he misses it's all over for Nerds-at-Play. It looks like she's going with her lucky green die and the translucent blue, another favorite."

Once again, the camera zooms in, this time on Jane's dice tray as she rolls all of her dice. The dice roll, slowly come to a stop.

"She's done it! A critical hit on a sneak attack! Double checking damage now ... it's going to be close ... and THE BALROG GOES DOWN! THE BALROG GOES DOWN!"

 

[Deset Gled]

G4? I demand you bring back X-Play and Screen Savers if you want me to watch a new D&D show.

Also, as a tech/nerd based network, these guys are pathetically far behind on providing an easy access VOD/streaming service. A cable partnership is a step to the past, not the future.

 

[Zaukrie]

I can see it now, an announcer doing a play-by-play in a hushed voice standing in the shadows behind the players during the game.

"It's looking bad for Nerds-at-Play, The group is in serious trouble, having bitten off more than they can chew in this fight with the Balor, a demon modeled on Tolkien's Balrog. With the rest of the party down, it's up to Shady the rogue. He was able to hide last turn so this is a tense moment. Does he run? Try to finish off the badly wounded Balor?"

The camera pans in to a closeup of Jane, Shady's player as she looks down at the map in front of her and back to her character sheet. Dead quiet, she picks up a pair of D20s and a handful of D6's.

"This is a tense moment here, it looks like Shady is going for the attack. I gotta say, it's a gutsy move because if he misses it's all over for Nerds-at-Play. It looks like she's going with her lucky green die and the translucent blue, another favorite."

Once again, the camera zooms in, this time on Jane's dice tray as she rolls all of her dice. The dice roll, slowly come to a stop.

"She's done it! A critical hit on a sneak attack! Double checking damage now ... it's going to be close ... and THE BALROG GOES DOWN! THE BALROG GOES DOWN!"

this actually gave me chills....or maybe I need to turn the heat on. Either way, I know we are mocking this, but this would 100% work. Not that different than how we watched it on Big Bang Theory (which would be a very good way to do DnD on tv, frankly. A show focused on the people and their characters, about half of each episode being game play).