What's on your DVR?

[Alex]

The DVR on my computer is set to record each night's The Daily Show and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

But It has been about 4 months since I've had the cable plugged into my computer so that hasn't been working out so well. No TV DVR. I don't need to pay extra to addict myself to watching even more TV than I already do (after most of a decade without TV at all I've fallen back into the habit in a bad way).

[Ghoulish Delight]

[here is where a DVR advocate such as myself might respond with an explanation that having a DVR reduces the amount of time wasted watching TV even as the number of TV shows watched increases since you can a) skip commercials and b) watch TV when it's convenient for you rather than hurry up to the TV because a new episode of whatever is on. But I'm sure Alex has heard that, so I won't do that]

[BarTopDancer]

What will be on my TiVO as of Saturday will be:

24 (new and reruns)
LOST (new and reruns)
L&O SVU (new only)
Jericho (new and reruns)
Heroes (new only)
The 4400 (new only)
Best Week Ever
Talk Soup
E! News Weekend
Simpsons

I don't follow many shows anymore. Tired of getting burned. I won't be getting involved with any new shows in the fall either. I am sick of getting attached and then having them yanked (Most recently Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Surface and Jericho)

[blueerica]

D'oh! How could I miss the shows I view almost nightly! The Soup and Good Eats are soooo on my imaginary DVR list!

[libraryvixen]

DVR is my new best friend.

These are the shows that I have on my TiVo (not all of them are "in season"):
* for shows that are new this season/have not aired yet

Lost (all of season 3 is saved in anticipation for season 4)
Ace of Cakes
The Hills
Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County
The Pick-Up Artist
The Soup
Best Week Ever
Ugly Betty
Grey's Anatomy
Gossip Girl
Saturday Night Live
Family Guy
Robot Chicken
How I Met Your Mother
Beauty and the Geek
Top Chef
Hell's Kitchen
Unwrapped
*Chuck
*Big Bang Theory (in my town, CBS prime time starts at 7 PM and not 8)
*Reaper

[Ghoulish Delight]

See, I knew I was forgetting some:

Robot Chicken
SNL

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

[here is where a DVR advocate such as myself might respond with an explanation that having a DVR reduces the amount of time wasted watching TV even as the number of TV shows watched increases since you can a) skip commercials and b) watch TV when it's convenient for you rather than hurry up to the TV because a new episode of whatever is on. But I'm sure Alex has heard that, so I won't do that]

I don't see how time shifting actually saves any time, just makes it more convenient. And time shifting means that eventually I do watch the show where without that if I am not available I just never see it.

And as for cutting commercials, if TIVO gets me to watch one episode of something I wouldn't have that destroys the commercial free time gain from the episodes I would have watched anyway.

Without (computer based) TIVO I watched the first 15 minutes of Craig Ferguson maybe twice a week, the rest of the time falling asleep before the show came on. After (computer based) TIVO I watched the first 15 minutes every day. So, just one one show that I wanted to watch before I had the DVR capability I ended up watching an extra hour of TV, just for that single show, and if there was an interesting guest even more.

I also watched a Gary Cooper TMC marathon that I never would have otherwise.

So, yes I've heard that argument before and everything I personally experience exposes it as bull pucky (at least for me, maybe for you cutting 8 minutes out of your sitcom hasn't been replaced by other shows you would have missed).

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Alex

I don't see how time shifting actually saves any time, just makes it more convenient. And time shifting means that eventually I do watch the show where without that if I am not available I just never see it.

I didn't say it saves time, I say you don't waste as much time. It allows you to fit TV into what would otherwise be down time rather than scheduling other things around TV.

[libraryvixen]

It doesn't save me that much time, but like GD said, it makes watching my shows more convenient. B and I can have a mini-marathon of Ace of Cakes if I save up enough of them!

[katiesue]

I have a lot -

MI5
Top Gear
Murphy's Law
The Soup
The Girls Next Door
Bones
House
Ugly Betty
Grey's Anatomy
CSI
Numbers
Life on Mars
Graham Norton
Robin Hood
Cold Case
iCarley
Suite Life of Zack and Cody
Kim Possible
Hannah Montana
Army Wives
My Life on the D List
Waking the Dead
Silent Witness
What about Brian?
Brothers & Sisters
Murder Prevention Unit
How I Met Your Mother
Kumars at No. 42
Lost
Two and a Half Men

I think it saves me from watching stuff I'm not interested in. There's always stuff on there that I want to watch instead of waiting for my favorite show to come on. Where it totally saves me is getting Maddy to go to bed or do homework. If she's in the middle of watching something I just hit record and she has no excuse to say up "just till the next commercial". And usually she forgets about it and I just delete it anyway.