S.F. Chronicle ‘HITRECORD ON TV’ Review: A work in progress – and it rocks

David Wiegand
Published 3:39 pm, Tuesday, January 14, 2014

While traditional television tries to figure out how to adapt the online experience in an effort to hook younger viewers, Pivot TV is showing not only how it can be done, but how it can result in compelling content.

The fledgling Millennial channel, an arm of Participant Media, has a cool late-night news program called “TakePart Live,” a docu-talk series starring Meghan McCain (who will become co-host of “TakePart Live” in April), the coolest new sitcom of 2013, “Please Like Me,” starring gangly Aussie Josh Thomas, and an engaging “docu-soap” called “Jersey Strong.”

Now Pivot has landed actor, director, writer, book publisher and all around polymath Joseph Gordon-Levitt to work his considerable charm with “HitRecord on TV,” adapted from the online site he developed with his late brother, Dan, in 2005 to cultivate collaboration and creativity in various formats. The TV version premieres with back-to-back episodes Saturday night.