Sunday, July 23, 2006

Watching Commercials

I've been spoiled by TiVo. You see, when watching something that TiVo's recorded, you can skip commercials. Oh, no as easy as I understand ReplayTV used to do it, but it's pretty easy to hit fast-forward and skip them.

So, I haven't had to watch commercials for three months or so. And I've got used to skipping them.

A little over a week ago, the Wife and I went out of town for my class reunion and my brother-in-law's birthday party. And, while we were gone, the TiVo kept recording.

Now, with TiVo, you can check and see what it's planning on recording and tell it to skip certain shows.

There are some shows I really like, like "House" and "Monk" and "Mythbusters" and such. Plus, there are some old "Deep Space Nine" shows I never got to see for some reason. So, there were some shows I wanted to see. But the TiVo is set up to record lots of stuff. The Wife likes Westerns, and I have some stuff set to record when nothing else is on. Like "Everybody Loves Raymond" or "Futurama" or "Law & Order" or something.

All that means there were some shows I wanted to record and keep, and other "filler" stuff that didn't matter.

So, before we left, I scoured through the "To Do List" to see what was up.

I cancelled all the "Gunsmoke," "Little House," "Family Guy," "Are You Being Served?," "Law & Order," "Robot Chicken," and movies and such that were scheduled. So, when we got back from the reunion, the birthday party, and some genealogy research for the Wife, we had our TiVo full of stuff.

Most of it was the Wife's stories. Okay, soap operas. But they are often called "stories" by old people. Like "Grandma's watching her stories, so don't disturb her."

Anyway, she had her soaps and I had my silly stuff recorded. And it took us a few days, but we watched it all.

So much, in fact, that by Saturday morning, we had watched everything TiVo had recorded. Which meant that Saturday afternoon, there was nothing but live TV to watch.

And you can't skip commercials on live TV.

Oh, I tried. I'd be watching some Egypt show on Discovery and a commercial would come on. I'd reach for the TiVo remote and try to skip the commercial. And there was nothing to skip. I had to watch the commercials.

Like I said, I haven't watched commercials in a while. So, I've seen some stuff I haven't seen in a while.

Why is Carl from SU2 building hamburgers?

And who's this Billy Mays? And why does he want to clean my floors?

I can hardly wait for TiVo to have a bunch of stuff recorded so I can skip commercials again.

That Billy Mays is scary.

12 comments:

  1. LOL -- the button called "mute" helps a great deal!

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  2. TiVo ruined you. You've lost the art of watching 6 shows at once. Remotes allow you to waste time efficiently.

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  3. [...] with commercials. Basil has issues with commercials. [...]

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  4. [...] Basil has the same problem I have, skipping commercials with the TiVO, when you cannot. [...]

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  5. Did you know that you can set up one of your Tivo remote buttons as a 30-second skip button? It's much handier than fast-forwarding to get through commercials. Just hit the skip button 8 or so times.... then maybe backup 7 seconds or so with the "What'd he say?" button.

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  6. No, I did not know that. But I'm pulling out the instructions tonight. That's what I've wanted the whole time.

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  7. It's not in the instructions.

    On your remote, hit

    Select - Play - Select - 3 - 0 - Select

    and you should hear a chime sound (if your TV's on).

    I think Tivo may have to be playing a live or recorded show when you do that.

    Then the little button on the right above the numbers (and below the fast forward button) will function as a 30 second skip button. Very handy.

    If the power goes out or you unplug your Tivo, you have to reset it.

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  8. I do so love my TiVO - for the commercial skippage and just being able to watch what I want when I want. I am spoiled forever....

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  9. Danny, thanks. I'll be trying that tonight.

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  10. When we want to watch something live, we just set the TiVo to record it and come back in 10 minutes. Then we can skip the commercials, pause, whatever.

    What's scary is when you reach for your TiVo remote because you want to hear again something your friend mumbled, or want to rewind and play again that bird skipping across the patio.

    We use the 30-second jump, too. Note that if your TiVo resets or downloads new software, you have to reset it, but we could not live without it.

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  11. I implemented the 30-second skip. It rocks!

    And, yes I understand about trying to pause or rewind real life. Now I know where that Adam Sandler movie got its plotline.

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  12. Yep, the 30-second skip is wonderful.

    I also learned from a friend who starts watching college football 40 minutes after it starts. He skips commercials, half-time, etc., and finishes about the time the game actually finishes.

    Also, if you are hard-core about getting through a football game in a hurry, you can hit the 30-second skip button about the moment the play ends, and it generally takes you right to the players lining up at the line of scrimmage for the next play. Occasionally (particularly with some teams) you have to back up once with the "What'd He Say" button.

    I can't bring myself to do that with some games or favorite teams when I really want to take it all in.

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