Martin Sargent (born <!-- Valid citation required if adding EXACT DATE OF BIRTH for BLP. (WP:BLPPRIVACY) -->) After graduating from Cornell University in 1997 as an English major, he relocated to San Francisco, where he became an assistant editor at PC/Computing. The magazine's journalists often contributed to the ZDTV programs The Screen Savers and Call for Help. Sargent chose to stay with G4 and moved to Los Angeles. Six months later, on November 11, 2004, G4TechTV canceled Unscrewed and terminated Sargent, along with many other former co-workers from TechTV.

One year after his termination, Sargent launched Infected by Martin Sargent, a comedy podcast distributed by the internet production company Revision3. Infected was hosted by Sargent and "The Gator" (portrayed by co-writer Jay Speiden, who died in December 2016), produced by Joey Rabier, and was structured as a conversation between co-hosts and producer, with fake "commercials" for various real and fictional products as well as occasional guest callers. Recurring callers included inventor Alex Chiu as well as the fictional characters Johnny O'Banion (portrayed by co-writer/producer Stewart Engesser), a Hollywood reporter and former Loni Anderson paramour, and karate master Rickey Kang (also played by Spieden). O'Banion and Kang were recurring characters on Infected, and Rabier acted as a production assistant on the show and also appeared as his "intern" character for selected skits. The podcast was originally available in audio-only format, then offered an alternative video version consisting of a montage of still photographs relating to the topic discussed and taken at the recording session. The video version has since been offered in full-motion video. Infected was canceled in December 2007, after 50 episodes.

Sargent hosted Web Drifter and Internet Superstar on Revision3 and Why Today Sucked, on GoTV Network's "Laugh Riot" channel, available for video-enabled cell phones on the Sprint network. Web Drifter began as a pilot originally pitched to Comedy Central, but it was picked up by Revision3 after the cable network passed on the show. He has reappeared on Revision3 show 'The Digg Reel' twice since he was laid off, once as acting co-host alongside Kevin Rose while regular host Andrew Bancroft was on vacation. In this appearance he expressed mock-anger that, as part of promotions within the show, other cancelled show 'Pixel Perfect' has been revived, unlike his own shows. He appeared once more on The Digg Reel's 100th episode, in which he jokingly stated that he secretly lived within the walls of the Revision3 building, resulting from his supposed inability to get another job.

Starting February 12, 2009, he and Sarah Lane appeared together in a Podcast on Leo Laporte's TWiT.tv network called This Week in Fun. The show aired for just shy of a year before going on hiatus in January 2010, following Martin's employment at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. The show was left on good terms with the TWiT network, though they have made no solid plans of returning to production.

In November 2009, Martin and long-time associate Molly McDonald became engaged.

Credits

Television

  • Call for Help – Contributor (1998–2001)
  • The Screen Savers – Contributor (1999–2003)
  • Unscrewed with Martin Sargent – Host (2003–2004)
  • VH1 40 Greatest Internet Superstars – Contributor (2007)

Podcasts and vidcasts

  • Infected – Host (2005–2007)
  • DL.TV – Segment Host, CES Special (2006)
  • Web Drifter – Host (2007–2008)
  • Internet Superstar – Host (2008)
  • This WEEK in FUN – Host (2009–2010)
  • The New Screen Savers – Guest Host (2015, 2016)
  • The New Screen Savers – Appearance (2018)

Other

  • Wilson Harold – Editor (1992–1993)
  • College Pro – Crew Chief (1996)
  • PC Computing Magazine – Editor (1998)
  • TechTV's Digital Video for the Desktop – Author (2002)
  • .net Magazine – Columnist (2007)

References

  • This Week In Fun – Martin's former podcast with Sarah Lane
  • Web Drifter – Revision3
  • Internet Superstar – Revision3
  • Martin Sargent on Myspace
  • SargeWorld- Martin Sargent's blog
  • The New Screen Savers appearance