Never mind: Esquire is taking over the Style Network instead of trying to makeover G4
Late last year it was reported that Esquire Magazine would extend its lifestyle brand by showing G4 how to be a man channel, beginning with putting down the game controller and picking up a shoe tree, because every man needs a shoe tree for all the expensive shoes he’s definitely always buying. Like so many makeovers, it was met with some resistance, and questions of whether anyone really needs this much gingham, let alone enough to necessitate an entire network devoted to its propagation. But fans of G4 can now relax in their ill-fitting pants: NBCUniversal has decided at the last minute to leave G4 alone to wallow in untidiness, and instead have Esquire take over Style, a network that already shares the magazine’s mission of helping the average person better themselves by showing them things they can’t afford.
The major difference, of course, is that Style currently does that primarily for women—which means it overlaps with NBCU’s other cable channels like Oxygen, E!, and Bravo—and, when the revamped Esquire Network debuts Sept. 23, the channel will instead aim for the “upscale male audience” that is so underserved on cable television, if absolutely nowhere else. To make room for Esquire’s slate of original programming (travel shows like Anthony Bourdain’s The Getaway, the cooking competition series Knife Fight), plus syndicated, “on-brand” reruns of Parks And Recreation, Party Down, Burn Notice, Psych, and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, most of Style’s shows will have to be tossed out, like all of last season’s coats.
Of these, The Hollywood Reporter specifically notes that Giuliana & Bill will be moved to E!, which has the tropical climate and small insects that sustain Giuliana Rancic. Presumably, Jerseylicious will be moved to a barrel at the bottom of East River, never to be spoken of again. (And obviously you should only be using a genuine oak barrel. It’s more expensive, but the investment will pay for itself over time.)