Infomania (TV Series)
Encyclopedia
infoMania was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 half-hour weekly satirical news-show on the Current TV
Current TV
Current TV, or Current, is a media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. Comcast owns a ten percent stake of Current's parent company, Current Media LLC....

 television network. The program was initially hosted by Conor Knighton and later Brett Erlich, with features by Ben Hoffman, Sergio Cilli, Bryan Safi, Erin Gibson, and Ellen Fox.

History

The program's executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...

 was David Nickoll. Its original executive producer was The Daily Shows
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...

 co-creator Madeleine Smithberg.

Stylistically similar to The Daily Show, infoMania put a comedic spin on various pieces of popular culture in the United States, including outrageous news stories, video games, viral videos
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...

, as well as movies and music.

Prior to being produced in a full half-hour format, the show aired in short 3-5 minute installments, usually at the top of the hour. Before July 2007, the show rotated between names of Google Current and Current Buzz and was a part of Current TV's original programming when the network went on air in August 2005.

In September 2010, infoMania began receiving a noticeable amount of negative feedback from their fanbase via Facebook and Current TV's website. This first came about following the removal of the ability to watch full episodes of the show on their website, as well as the addition of a live audience "laugh track" to the show. Current TV has eliminated the laugh track from the show in response to these complaints, but they still refuse to post full episodes to the Internet.

On January 12, 2011 Conor Knighton announced his departure on the Current TV website. Brett Erlich became the new host with a new set, but kept the same correspondents returning January 20, 2011.

On July 1, 2011, Brett Erlich announced the July 15th episode would be the final episode of infoMania.

The show aired Thursday at 11 pm ET/8 pm PT on Current TV
Current TV
Current TV, or Current, is a media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. Comcast owns a ten percent stake of Current's parent company, Current Media LLC....

 before switching to Friday nights during its final month of production. Various segments can be viewed online at various social networking websites such as Hulu
Hulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...

.

infoMania was produced on the same lot as Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...

in Hollywood, California
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...

.

Correspondents

  • Sergio Cilli featured segments "White Hot Top 5" and "Music Intervention"
  • Ben Hoffman featured segments "infoMania Editorial," "infoMania Tech Report," "Kids Kouch!," and "Craigslist Interviews"
  • Bryan Safi featured segment "That's Gay"
  • Erin Gibson featured segment "Modern Lady"
  • Brett Erlich
    Brett Erlich
    Brett Erlich was a writer, producer, and host of infoMania, a comedic news show on the cable station Current TV, created by The Daily Show with Jon Stewart creator Madeline Smithberg and executive produced by David Nickoll...

     featured segments "Viral Video Film School" and "Rotten Tomatoes on infoMania" (co-hosted with Ellen Fox)


Segments

Title Synopsis
"infomania Editorial" Hosted by Ben Hoffman
"Modern Lady" Hosted by Erin Gibson. It was a follow-on to "Target Women", which was hosted by Sarah Haskins
Sarah Haskins (comedienne)
Sarah Haskins is an American comedian known for her satire about gender stereotypes in the media.-Background:A native of Chicago, Illinois, Haskins attended Francis W. Parker School in Chicago's Lincoln Park...

.
"The Rotten Tomatoes Show" Previously a half-hour program that followed infoMania, and became a segment on September 30, 2010, although it stopped appearing on the show after the 2010 season.
"Tech Report" Hosted by Ben Hoffman.
"That's Gay" Hosted by Bryan Safi.
"Viral Video Film School" Hosted by Brett Erlich. This segment is the only segment that found ground online after the show was cancelled which airs every Monday starting on September 19th, 2011.
"White Hot Top 5" Hosted by Sergio Cilli.

External links

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