Keith:
I totally get why people torrent shows — DVRs just aren’t big enough. When you’re like us and you watch so much TV, 500 GB isn’t enough to store the amount of HD episodes we watch.
Debbie:
I think you’ve missed the heart of the problem; it’s not about how much TV we watch. It’s the TV we don’t watch, the shows that sit on the DVR for weeks on end. There’d be plenty of room if we’d just watch them.
Keith:
This is partly why I’ve been so picky on what shows I even bother watching at all anymore. I mean, look at this DVR screen! It’s disheartening when I see four episodes of Burn Notice, five episodes of Covert Affairs, nearly the entire season of The Glades sitting there … the shows are decent, but that’s too much of a time commitment. If we’re not reviewing the shows, why do we even bother DVRing them in the first place? We might as well wait for them to come out on DVD or NetFlix.
Debbie:
We shouldn’t structure our whole viewing schedule around what we review; TV watching is supposed to be about enjoyment, relaxation, entertainment. Besides, I’m quite confident that if we tried waiting for DVDs or NetFlix that we would never catch up. The shows would fall into that category of “shows we meant to watch but never got around to.”
The problem that has compounded this summer is that I’m not even watching the shows I’m supposed to be reviewing. When’s the last time you all saw a review of Leverage or The Glades published? Yeah, my bad.
Keith:
So what’s the solution? Do we stop watching shows we want to watch because the DVR is too small, or do we stop watching shows we want to watch because we forget to pick them up on DVD?
You know I have boxes and boxes of shows on DVD in the attic, most still shrink-wrapped. The thought of me actually ripping one of those open and saying, “OK, let’s catch up on this show,” is laughable. Actually it gives me stress thinking about it — I should just wave a white flag and sell them all.
Debbie:
It’s all about priorities. You hate the crowded DVR, but I hate watching a show in two minute increments, due to certain other family members constantly interrupting after bedtime … and I don’t mean the cats. I’m thinking we can catch up when Owen goes to college.
Keith:
Forget that, let’s start now. Owen’s asleep and it’s only 11:00. Let me pull up an episode of The Glades … Deb, Deb, are you awake?
Debbie:
I may be a little awake, but I’ve got a severe case of pumpkinitis … and now we’ve come full circle.
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Aug 25, 2011 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
Haha! I loved reading this. My husband and I have a similar problem with not watching things on the DVR — although it’s significantly less since we moved and had to set it up all over again.
Also, watching Netflix vs. actual discs is a funny issue too. For example, we recently watched FNL from the beginning. We have 3 seasons on DVD, but since it’s available on Netflix streaming, we watched the much lower-quality Netflix because, well, we’re lazy and instead of changing discs, we just lifted an arm and clicked the screen. This is happening with a lot of shows that now have something like 87 episodes available. It’s crazy!
Finally, I have to know: did you guys just sit there and talk while Deb typed? I’m picturing how this conversation happened. It’s very cute! :)
*POST AUTHOR*
Yes, you called it! And Keith was busy getting the ridiculous screen shot of our DVR menu while I typed! :-)
I share your guys’ confusion on this wholeheartedly. I love my DVR. I couldn’t live without it. But at the same time, I know that if I don’t watch something the same day it airs, I probably won’t remember to go back and catch it. I had that with The Good Wife this season – I used to DVR it thinking I would watch it later that night, or the next day, and that didn’t happen with the first episode or two…then I just thought, “I’m so many episodes behind, why bother?”
What I’ve ended up doing is just becoming a lot more finicky about the shows I choose to follow, reviewing or otherwise. It means I miss out on some good programs, but it’s easier for me to find time for 3 or 4 shows than the 8 or 9 or more I used to watch. And hey, when I’m old and retired? Then I’m gonna get to that whole stack of DVD’s in the next room…
I always say I’m buying a DVD of a show for my old age because I know I have no time at the present to add anything new to my plate. And not to hawk another pay service, but I am really digging Hulu Plus because they have current episodes available to watch online, on many mobile devices and through Tivo and other set top devices. I’ve found myself deleting a lot of DVR’d shows that I can catch on Hulu now. Netflix has hardly anything that could be considered current, so until that happens I’ll stick with Hulu to save space on the DVR.