Jump to content

Morgan Webb: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Undid revision 321905819 by Frntlassault (talk) rvv
correction
Line 7: Line 7:
| spouse = Rob Reid
| spouse = Rob Reid
| website = http://www.webbalert.com/
| website = http://www.webbalert.com/
| nationality = Canadian
| citizenship = Canadian and American dual citizenship
| citizenship = Canadian and American dual citizenship
}}
}}

Revision as of 01:45, 31 October 2009

Morgan Webb
Born (1978-10-05) October 5, 1978 (age 45)[1]
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
CitizenshipCanadian and American dual citizenship
Occupation(s)Television presenter, producer
SpouseRob Reid
Websitehttp://www.webbalert.com/

Morgan Webb (born October 5, 1978)[1] is a co-host and senior segment producer of the G4 show X-Play,[2] and host of the show G4 Underground.[3] She was previously the host of the podcast WebbAlert[4] and a monthly columnist for the United States edition of FHM, where she contributed a monthly video game column entitled "Tips From The Gaming Goddess".

Career

Webb attended UC Berkeley from 1996 to 2000. She developed computer skills in her free time there, and after graduating from college, worked for a dot-com company as a website administrator. After the company went under during the dot-com bubble burst of 2000, her friend Catherine Schwartz got her hired at TechTV in 2001, and Morgan became employed as the associate producer and web researcher for The Screen Savers. Thanks to her self-taught knowledge of computers and technology, in addition to a camera-friendly appearance, she was quickly promoted to an on-screen member of the program where she presented daily in-depth segments dealing with Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems, and on select occasions hosted The Screen Savers herself. Throughout 2002 and 2003, she also regularly co-hosted TechTV's Call For Help with Chris Pirillo. In April 2003, Webb left The Screen Savers to co-host X-Play with Adam Sessler.

Webb is one of only six TechTV personalities, including Adam Sessler, Sarah Lane, Chi-Lan Lieu, Kevin Rose, and Brendan Moran, to survive the massive layoffs resulting from the May 2004 merger of G4 and TechTV. Since G4's later change in format, only Sessler and Webb remain with the network. Their show, which is still called X-Play, aired its 500th episode in early 2007,[5] and currently broadcasts three new episodes per week.

In August 2005, Webb became a contributing game columnist for FHM, alongside her regular hosting duties on X-Play. Her monthly column was titled "Tips From The Gaming Goddess". Readers were encouraged to email Morgan their video game-related inquiries; she would then answer one question each month. In February 2007, Webb wrote her final column for the magazine that discontinued its U.S. publication in March.

From August 2, 2007 to January 25, 2009, Webb had a daily [Mon - Fri] video blogging initiative called WebbAlert. These videos were 5-6 minutes in length and consisted of a recap of popular technology news of the day. On occasion, Webb departed from the regular news format in favor of an episode on one particular topic of interest. Examples included a recap of the annual TED Conference,[6] a viral video special showcasing "future 'Darwin Award' winners",[7] and tech-centric "Holiday Buyer's Guides".[8] In January 2009, Webb suspended WebbAlert indefinitely due to issues with maintaining it on a daily basis concurrently with her hosting duties on X-Play.[9]

On February 25, 2009, G4 announced that Webb would be the host of their new show, G4 Underground. A weekly series that profiles a wide range of people and topics that are of interest to the "internet generation," it premiered March 29, 2009 at 9PM ET.[10]

Personal life

She was born on October 5, 1978 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As an infant and small child, Webb appeared in advertisements for Gerber baby food, Kenner Toys, and most famously, an ad for McDonald's, where she recited the ingredients of the Big Mac to a game of Pat-a-cake. Though Webb's parents refused to let her watch television as a child, she made up for it by playing video games.[11] She began with an Atari, primarily the game Combat, but as technology progressed, The Legend of Zelda and Phantasy Star became two of her favorite games.

After Webb graduated from high school, she left home to attend UC Berkeley. There she earned a bachelor's degree in rhetoric (with a minor in Italian) in 2000.[12]

On August 19, 2006, Webb married Rob Reid in a service at City Hall in San Francisco, California. Reid founded the music website Listen.com, and was involved in the creation of the RealNetworks music service Rhapsody (which was based on Reid's Listen).

Media appearances

Throughout 2004 and beyond, Webb was featured in numerous issues of print publications. Maxim magazine spotlighted her in their July 2004 issue. FHM featured a five-page article in their November 2004 issue, and also had her listed in three consecutive years for their annual The 100 Sexiest Women In The World article: #73 in 2005, #62 in 2006, and #51 in 2007. Other magazines have featured her as well, voted "Hottest Woman of the Year" in RTD's 2006 Top 10 countdown and in an article in the Fall 2006 Edition of Colleges.com U Magazine.

In April 2004, Webb, along with fellow TechTV personalities Sarah Lane, Laura Swisher, Catherine Schwartz, and Melanie Kim, were included in the "TechTV's Sexiest Techie" poll sponsored by Playboy magazine. TechTV viewers could vote for their favorite girl via the Playboy website, and the winner of the poll would be offered a nude photo spread in a future issue of Playboy. Webb won the poll but she immediately refused, despite being "very flattered" by the photo shoot offer, citing her own personal reasons and her parents' objection to the idea.[13]

Webb has appeared in the music video "Strange New Element" from the band Low Water.[14] She makes her appearance near the end of the video alongside other fellow TechTV personalities, including Catherine Schwartz, Sarah Lane, Laura Swisher, Chi-Lan Lieu, and Sumi Das. In addition to appearing in Low Water's music video, Morgan is featured in the artwork of the band's album, Hard Words In A Speakeasy. She additionally provided her own vocals for "X-Play: The Musical", which aired in February 2007. She is a frequent guest on various talk shows, including The Tyra Banks Show (in February 2008), Chelsea Lately (in early 2009), and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (on April 15, 2009).[15] She is also a frequent guest-host on G4's Attack of the Show!.

References

  1. ^ a b Morgan Webb. AskMen.com. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  2. ^ X-Play.com
  3. ^ G4 Underground.com
  4. ^ WebbAlert.com
  5. ^ "X-Play: The 500th Episode!". TV.com. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  6. ^ "December 24, 2007". WebbAlert. 2007-12-24. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  7. ^ "December 26, 2007". WebbAlert. 2007-12-26. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  8. ^ "December 7, 2007". WebbAlert. 2007-12-07. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  9. ^ "January 25, 2009". WebbAlert. 2009-01-25. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  10. ^ "Press Releases - G4 Presents New Investigative Reporting Series 'G4 Underground' Premiering Sunday, March 29". G4. 2009-03-02. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
  11. ^ "X-Play Hosts". G4TV. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  12. ^ "GAMING'S TOP 50 JOURNALISTS | Edge Online". Next-gen.biz. 2006-10-17. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  13. ^ "Arts & Entertainment - Features - Tech TV". Playboy.com. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  14. ^ "low water". Lowwatermusic.com. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  15. ^ McElroy, Justin. Morgan Webb plays Punch-Out!! with Jimmy Fallon. Joystiq. April 16, 2009.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Morgan_Webb&oldid=323028804"