“I don’t want to miss my show!”
Have any of you heard this? Of course you have. The Western world is back in the grip of having to be planted on the couch in front of the tv at a certain set date and time, lest they miss the latest airing of the first new episode of (enter name of sitcom, reality tv show, variety show, science fiction serial, CSI:Somecity). What I don’t understand is why. Sure, I know that vcrs have either been consigned to the Goodwill or the three-year-old’s room, but don’t all you tv-watchers have dvrs or Tivos? And don’t you all have computers hooked up to the internet so if you missed your show you can just look for someone who actually used their brain, recorded it, and uploaded it on Youtube or Dailymotion? And even failing that, don’t tv shows now have repeated airings? And if you still couldn’t get to it, they seem to release just about everything these days in boxed sets of dvds. Back in the dark days BC (Before Cable) we were chained to the broadcast television schedule, and if we missed an episode of Love American Style or MacMillan and Wife we’d have to wait all the way until summer repeats. And that would be one repeat. We wouldn’t see the show again unless it was put into syndication, which meant it would be shown on one of those fuzzy channels you had to have the extra antenna for (that always fell off the top of the tv onto the cat when your favorite climactic scene came on), and every show wasn’t blessed that way.
Anyway, I hear this all over the place, and I don’t get it. This is the 21st Century. Missing a television show should be about as relevant to our experiences as hooking up the horses to a four-in-hand for a nice drive in the country.
I’d rather like a nice drive in the country.
Random themes or just fortuitous timing?
Trying to pick something new and readable that I like.
If you record the show, you can’t immediately tweet, or text your unsolicited, and unwanted opinion.
I guess there’s this whole social thing where people plan to get on their phones and talk/text to each other while the show is playing, but they can just set up a date to do that later with their recorded episodes.
Whereas in the ’70s you had to watch a TV “event” in order to talk about it the next day, nowadays you have to watch it to talk about it while it’s going on. Talking about it the next day is just so yesterday.
There, got rid of that “read more” thing — somehow I had saved this post in “gallery” format.
It’s inexplicable to me as well. Although I don’t watch television myself, the family does, but only if it is on Netflix or Hulu. Even back when they watched more satellite TV, the process would be “I want to watch MythBusters. Is it live? Yes, I’ll watch that. No? Fire up the saved episode list.”. For them, “missing a show” means the DVR malfunctioned and the episode wasn’t saved on disk.
I’m assuming “I don’t want to miss my show” is a weak excuse for “I don’t want to do X.”
As in: “Yeah, I know, I volunteered to help cook for the destitute, but I don’t want to miss my show”
Or: “Yes, I said last week I’d go and get lunch with you but I don’t want to miss my show”
Or: “I know it’s my turn to go grocery shopping by I don’t want to miss my show.”
I have a few “shows” I like. But if something comes up and I have to “miss” them, meh. They’ll be on in re-runs (I’m too cheap to get dvr through my expensive cable company). Or maybe that’s because my sense of responsibility is greater than my sense of entitlement to do what I want.
Or maybe I just wind up working with people who flake out all the time.
What annoys me more is TCM showing cool old movies I want to see in the middle of the night when I need to be sleeping.
No, actually it’s usually just a general announcement — wanting to get home at a certain time because American Idol is on or something. It’s like I woke up and it’s 1979. (Also? All these variety shows. It’s so Seventies to watch stuff like that. That was practically all that was on during prime time, which was supposed to be dedicated to G-rated stuff because it was “the family hour.” I used to watch them too, because there wasn’t anything else except lame sitcoms — the good ones were on after 9pm.)
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