Jeff Bakalar

Jeffrey Ian Bakalar (born (1982-03-24)March 24, 1982) is a professional podcaster, videogames journalist, and currently the host of CNET's longest running podcast,^[2] The 404 Show. He is also the site's lead senior videogames editor as well as on-air talent for CNET Video^[3] and a member of the Giant Beastcast on Giant Bomb.

Personal

Bakalar was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1982^[4] and was raised in Briarwood, Queens before his family relocated to Marlboro Township, New Jersey where he attended Marlboro High School. He graduated from Towson University in 2004 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Electronic Media and Film where he won an award for a mockumentary he directed called Adult Swim.^[5]

In 2010 he married his longtime girlfriend, Stacie Blair Davis, who took his last name and is now known as Stacie Blair Bakalar.^[6]

He currently lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Career

During his college years, Bakalar worked as a production office intern for actor and producer Bob Balaban^[7] in New York City at his production company Chicagofilms^[8] while Balaban completed work on Gosford Park.

In 2004, he signed a contract with Warner Bros. Records subsidiary Maverick Records to direct and produce a documentary for the pop punk band Mest. The documentary, entitled Seven Deadly Sins^[9] was released as a pack-in bonus with copies of the band's 2005 album Photographs (Mest album) which peaked at 116 on the US Billboard 200 chart.^[10]

In 2007, Bakalar joined CNET as a home theater and gaming editor, but quickly began appearing in front of the camera and eventually starting a technology and pop culture podcast called The 404 Show with Randall Bennett and Wilson Tang.^[11] The show had a slow start, but grew in popularity over the years and eventually became a regular press junket stop in New York City, attracting notable guests like Tony Hawk, Marc Maron,^[12] John Hodgman, Shaun White, Wayne Brady, Scott Aukerman, Michael Showalter,^[13] Andrew W.K. and others. Each year the podcast is performed live at the Consumer Electronics Show where it has featured prominent celebrities like Danny DeVito,^[14] Eliza Dushku, Felicia Day and others.

In 2012, Bakalar started CNET's first-ever weekly tech parody comic called Low Latency, which he writes and is illustrated by Blake Stevenson.^[15]

Bakalar briefly co-hosted another CNET franchise, Pre-Game, but stopped production after a year of programming to focus more on The 404 Show.^[16]

Bakalar is a member of the New York Videogame Critics Circle,^[17] an advocacy group for game writers in and around the New York City area.

He regularly appears on TV and radio as a technology, pop culture and videogame expert. His spots include G4's Attack of the Show,^[18] NPR's All Things Considered,^[19] and CNBC's Power Lunch^[20] among others.

In late 2014, Bakalar joined CBSN^[21] as a regularly appearing tech and pop-culture pundit representing CNET.

On May 22, 2015 he joined the cast of Giant Bomb's Giant Beastcast.^[22]

References

External links

• CNET.com
• The 404 Show
• CNET Video
• CNET profile
• Twitter page
• IMDb page