The networks are cold, heartless bastards.They want us to watch their shows in order to grab ratings and ad revenue; yet, they mess around with their schedules so much that it's frustrating. Eventually, it gets hard for us not to pick up the damn television and throw it out the window. Well, more like get a few people to pick it up and throw it out of the front door. Come on, those flat screens are heavy!
You're probably wondering what I'm ranting about, aren't you? Well, it involves tonight's primetime schedule during the 8 pm time slot. On CBS, we have The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother, while FOX has a new House. The 100th episode of House, to be exact. Now, this wouldn't normally be an issue, since I could watch one network and record the other on my DVR. But, NBC decided to bring back Chuck tonight, as well.This has left me in a bit of a conundrum, you see. My DVR has the ability to record only two shows at a time. Since I have only one of these devices, I had to pick between these shows to determine which ones to record. As I really like the shows on all three networks, this was a hard decision to make. Especially since I am in no way interested in coughing up more money to my cable provider for another DVR box.
Unfortunately, Chuck lost out in this battle. While I enjoy the show very much, I'm a bigger fan of BBT and House, and would not want to miss them. If there's any consolation, it's that I can watch episodes of Chuck online. In addition, I know that this won't always be the way it is for the rest of the season. Come March, I can see a little more flexibility in what I record as these shows come and go with new episodes.
I'd be very interested to know if you are encountering the same dilemma I have this Monday night (Joel faced a similar situation earlier in the season, before House was thrown in to complicate things further). Not only for the 8 pm hour, mind you. I know that there's going to be a casualty for some people at 9 pm as Two and a Half Men, Heroes and 24 go head-to-head-to-head. What have you decided to sacrifice in order to watch or record your other programs? Or, do you have the necessary equipment to record all of the programs at one time?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
2-02-2009 @ 3:12PM
MJS said...
Its even more difficult when your wife insists that one of the shows that gets DVR'ed is Gossip Girl, making it four shows at once. Thank goodness for Hulu and torrents
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2-02-2009 @ 3:09PM
Cyantre said...
Whatever I can't DVR, I just watch online. Also you should check to see if any of those three shows are going to re-air at a later time in the week. That could help solve some DVR conundrums.
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2-02-2009 @ 3:20PM
sid said...
My cable company gives me all the networks in both ET and PT time zones. This way I can record House and How I met your mother at the same time, then record Chuck later when it's shown on the Seattle channel. See if you cable company can offer you the same?
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2-02-2009 @ 3:21PM
Man said...
I have to add Kyle Xy to that list luckily I have a VCR hooked up plus a second TV so it's awkward but not impossible.
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2-02-2009 @ 3:53PM
CRVBOY said...
add "The Closer" to that list, and Heroes. Good thing I have 4 DVRs! But only on HD DVR. Both Kyle XY and The Closer are repeated later at night (midnight for the closer and tomorrow night at midnight for Kyle XY).
It's times like this that the extra DVR, even at an extra cost is well worth it.
2-02-2009 @ 7:34PM
pinsleric said...
Luckily, this is Kyle XY's last season, so you won't have that problem anymore.
2-02-2009 @ 3:24PM
Franklin said...
Download the shows you want to watch to the PC you have connected to your TV and never miss another show. It's a great way to get around the networks trying to screw over the viewers.
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2-02-2009 @ 5:33PM
Dorv said...
Yes, cross programming is meant to screw the viewers.
2-02-2009 @ 3:22PM
Steve said...
I have the same prediciment, for me though it will be House that gets the boot. Not even that much of a boot I'll just record it later from one of the western feeds, only drawback is I don't have those in HD.
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2-02-2009 @ 3:28PM
jasahl said...
That's why I love my GBPVR rig w/ 5 tuners...
There's always hulu for Chuck - Playon lets me stream hulu to my PS3...
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2-02-2009 @ 6:35PM
Rachael said...
I'm on the east coast and my satellite company provides the west coast feeds for an additional $1. This means I can can watch 1 show at 9, pvr another and then 3 hours later do the same thing to catch any shows I missed at 9. I never miss anything I like.
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2-02-2009 @ 3:32PM
Willmore2000 said...
You could always do the smart thing, and simply download (steal) the shows a bit later, sans commercials, delivered in a beautifully wrapped 42 minute format.
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2-02-2009 @ 3:33PM
zelig2 said...
This was one of the reasons I dropped satellite tv and build my own media center system with Vista. I now have 3 HD tuners to record these Monday night issues. Once they add four shows to the mix I just drop another HDHomeRun into the mix. I had a computer and a 360 so all I had to invest was in the 1st HDHomeRun networked tuner. Screw you schedule nazis!
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2-02-2009 @ 11:29PM
Aaron said...
Monday night is the killer. My 8 o'clock for the past few weeks has been The Bachelor and True Beauty. Two shows I normally wouldn't watch, but NBC and CBS decided to take month long hiatus from the shows I normally watch.
NOW HIMYM, BBT, and Chuck all come back, and I'm stuck on the Bachelor. So now I have to stop watching a show that I started from the beginning (as stupid as it is) and watch it online, so I can watch shows that were off the air for at least a month. And Heroes... I am debating if it's even worth it.
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2-02-2009 @ 3:36PM
R_man_5K said...
come on it is not that hard tonight...
For me here is what I will do:
Watch CBS HD over the antenna
DVR channel 1: Record FOX
DVR channel 2: Record NBC
Watch Heros late tonight and then watch all other shows durring the week while other crappy stuff is on...
that is with out even having to envolve my PC... which yes I do... : )
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2-04-2009 @ 7:33AM
Michael said...
That is exactly what I do too. I watch one HD stream "live" OTA and the other two get the HD DVR treatment. Thankfully I can timeshift all the TNT content to its later broadcast cycle at 11pm.
The other option (since I've got UVerse) is to get two HD streams recorded and then back up my OTA viewing with an SD recording. I do this only when I have to - I can hardly stand to watch SD programming any more!
2-02-2009 @ 3:36PM
Thunder Jones said...
Chuck is #1 on my DirecTV priority list with How I Met Your Mother (way, way better than BBT) is #2. House lays much lower at #10. House is on Hulu as well and will eventually be viewed that way.
Bastards!
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2-02-2009 @ 3:37PM
Carrie said...
I knew right away what you were talking about when I saw this title! I'm dying! How can they expect us to pick?! I'm currently planning on watching Chuck because it's the first new episode in a while, recording House because it's a milestone episode, and watching BBT and HIMYM online. I love those shows but the other two are special tonight. Besides, Chuck is in 3-D and can you watch it in 3-D online?
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2-02-2009 @ 5:08PM
Elizabeth said...
Where do you see BBT and HIMYM? I never find full episodes on the CBS web site.
2-02-2009 @ 5:35PM
Dorv said...
HIMYM has full episodes on the CBS site, however BBT is not.