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Interview: G4 Reunion With Kevin Pereira & Adam Sessler

Just in case you weren't aware of it, G4 will be holding a reunion special tonight on YouTube ahead of Thanksgiving with some old friends. The Gravython will be taking place tonight at 6pm PT and will feature a big reunion of cast members from the network, hosted by Ron Funches. Before the show gets underway, we had a chance to chat with Kevin Pereira and Adam Sessler about the reunion and some quick questions about their time there and the impact G4 had.

BC: Hey guys! How have you both been doing during this year with everything that's been happening?

Adam: I've been staying home a lot, reading a hundred pages a day, playing video games, mitigating anxiety…. and rage.

Kevin: Same thing goes for me. I've been doing a lot more mobile gaming, given that I've been living out of a trailer and have been fully committed to a digital nomad lifestyle and trying to make the most out of this year for me and my fiancé.

I've chatted with both of you over the years at different points about the network. How is it for you both when the subject comes up these days?

Kevin: It's always interesting when someone brings this up. It's always funny when you get your first "I grew up watching you" comment – I got my first and it was in the form of, "Oh, my dad used to watch you all the time." It was a crisp jab and a left hook of, "I recognize your face not because I enjoy what you did but because my father did." That one had a little sting on it but nonetheless, it was still heartwarming and amazing.

Adam: For the first two to three years when I moved back to San Francisco, almost every time I'd go down to the CVS to buy a large roll of toilet paper, someone there would recognize me. I'd be holding it in my hand and they'd be like "Hey, are you Adam Sessler?" and I'd be like "Ahhhh!" But a lot of the focus of old G4, and I can't speak to new G4, was the demographic of young men 18-35. So as a result, we didn't really look at the ratings for those in the 12-17 age range. One of the key things with that is when you turn 18, you are probably going to college or you are getting a job. So when you are an adult, you are probably only watching the show once or twice a week, but when you are younger that could be five times a week. So what slowly started to hit me when people started recognizing me on the street was, yeah I had this very endless presence in a lot of people's lives, and I don't want to say we were friends, but it reminded me of the relationship I had with Tom and Jerry for example. It really is kind of cool to think you were part of someone's life.

What were some of the best memories you had working at the studio and with that crew?

Kevin: Getting a giant pudding pie in the studio and leaping into it while wearing a French maid outfit, that was something that was very bizarre. One of my favorite stunts was when we found out we were live and there was a human being responsible for closed captioning our show in real-time. We figured out a way to have a conversation with our closed captioner, live and in real-time on the air. She was amazing and she also rejected going on a date with me through closed captioning, and I don't think anything like that had ever been done before on TV.

Adam: I loved our floor director, Andy. He and I had a great relationship that I loved. I'd always sneak outside to have a cigarette—by the way, don't smoke, kids—and Andy would always come out and yell, "Sessler, they're ready." About two years after I left G4, Morgan and I hosted an E3 press conference and as a treat, they brought in Andy to be the floor director. I was outside at the Kodak Theater, having a smoke and I heard him come out and he goes, "Sessler, they're ready." It was like nothing had changed. It was one of the warmest, best feelings because he was such a reliable aspect of my career for so long.

At the time, did you think you were making anything special or impactful? Or was it more of a "let's see what we can get away with" kind of thing?

Kevin: I think now we realize how impactful it was. I'm constantly surprised and humbled and honored that no matter where I'm at, a dinner, or walking down the street, to see how many lives our content actually touched is always impressive and amazing.

You've both been removed from the network for so long, did either of you want it to come back, or did you kind of consider it a closed chapter in your lives?

Adam: What was most interesting was around April or May this year, my Twitter replies and people passionately wanting G4 to come back typically averaged about 40-50 messages a day. In June, I received a courtesy call ahead of the G4 teaser video that dropped during Comic-Con and I'm like, "this is going to be really, really big," and it was nice to see just how big that announcement ended up being.

There's currently a documentary in the works about Attack Of The Show. What are your thoughts on that project?

Kevin: It'll be interesting if they complete it and get people on board, but with the announcement that G4 is coming back, it might be a weird time to do a documentary on Attack Of The Show.

We heard Kevin's first time hearing about it. Adam, when did you first hear about G4 returning?

Adam: I was hearing rumors that G4 was coming back for about 3-4 years, but I didn't put any stock in those rumors whatsoever. It was almost like Firefly or something like that coming back. It was like, "sounds like a great idea, best of luck," type of thing. Then we heard the announcement in July and it was huge from there.

What was it like getting everyone back together for this special and chatting about this point in time?

Kevin: It was so exciting to get back together. Navigating the pandemic was a production challenge, but it was handled well. The network was a large family, strongest when everyone was firing together at an E3 or Comic-Con; I hope that we delivered something for our loyal fans and get new eyeballs to say, "what is this?"

What can fans expect to see from the special and what do you hope they take away from the experience of this reunion?

Adam: Similar to other reunion shows, we were back in the same room, but in G4 fashion, it will not play out in the standard way that people are used to watching reunions in 2020. There will be a good amount of cursing and blood-flinging. It's a dinner special.

Kevin: If you're new to G4, your head is going to spin, as we'll be watching our favorite sketches, and it may feel like a shotgun blast. If you liked Attack Of The Show, X-Play, and Cheat, it's pure nostalgia gravy.

Aside from the obvious, is there anything else you guys would like to plug or promote?

Kevin: We are excited to be teaming up with G4 and a bunch of awesome streamers on the reunion's Gravython charity initiative. We are benefitting seven non-profits across D&I, Digital Equity, and Pediatric Healthcare with the help of streamers like DrLupo and Mari Takahashi: CodePath, Girls Who Code, Black Girls Code, Boys & Girls Club of America, No Kid Hungry, The National Fragile X Foundation, and Connor's Cure. Fans can donate between Tuesday the 24th and Saturday the 28th on Gravython.com and can even do their own Gravython fundraiser streams.

Adam: Tune into the Reunion Special on Tuesday at 9PM ET / 6PM PT for more surprises!

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