DVR / TIVO

As an adult I’ve never been a big fan of TV. Most of the shows were makeovers of old shows. The worldview of most shows was nowhere near my worldview and I was not amused or entertained. Sitcoms were usually an insult to my intelligence and don’t get me started on the laugh track. I think you may too stupid to get the jokes so let me tell you when to laugh.
Puleeze.
When the kids were young I refused to get cable. Too expensive and why would I want to subject my kids to that kind of garbage? Besides, there are much better ways to spend your time. Soooo, as soon as the kids went off to college we got cable. Ha! What can I say. I was pressured. Well, I come to find we weren’t missing much. More channels, same crap. I did turn in once in a while but nothing worth following on a weekly basis. That is, until last year’s season of 24.

I was hooked. We both were which is a rarity. We have very different tastes when it comes to the tube. We were so hooked that in between seasons we caught up with past seasons on DVD. I have to admit that this season has really been a let down but I have other shows taking up the slack.

All my shows are recorded faithfully on our DVR and I get to watch them when I want. I can watch Scrubs Saturday morning or Boston Legal right when I get home from work. And the best part? (Everyone on their feet for a standing O) I zip through the commercials, only stopping for the ones that make me laugh. Somebody shout “Praise the Lord!” I am so spoiled I cannot watch TV in real time. I refuse to watch commercials. It’s even spilled over to my radio habits. I will change the station as soon as they cut to commercials. I’m sick of ‘em. I’m so use to watching TV on the DVR that it’s gotten to the point where Blue Eyes and I will go to a movie and I’m reaching for the remote to rewind a part that I missed (as an aside, I find that happens pretty regular….must be the age thing).

The downside of the whole experience is that I find myself watching more TV that I ever have. There are better and more important things to do. But on the other hand, I have become a more efficient TV watcher. A 30 minute show now takes 20. I can usually cruise through Boston Legal (no good commercials) in 40 minutes… and I really don’t watch that many shows. Here’s my list of weekly shows I watch in order of favorites:

- The Office
- Boston Legal
- Scrubs
- Heroes
- 24
- Frontline
- Independent Lens

That’s it. You’ll notice 3 of them are comedies but none have laugh tracks.
If you add up watch time it only comes to a little over three and a half hours a week. Not bad. The problem is I’ll watch a few of them 2 or 3 times. Ai caramba.