I find myself in an unexpected predicament these days. Or you could call it a perfect storm. But however you want to label it, I’m stuck.
The new fall season has taken me by surprise with a number of additions to the old TiVo season pass list. That on top of my shows that made it past the grim reaper last season, times cable series that tend to be good more often than network offerings … as a result, there are a couple of series that are stacking up on my DVR. Fast.
I’m not surprised that my wife and I have yet to check out this season of Grey’s Anatomy (the wrong one lived over the hiatus!), but Castle? Still haven’t seen the premiere. Law & Order SVU? It was once one of my favorite “me” shows, but now what with having to record it on Saturday nights, plus not being able to watch it around my son … I’m two back with a third coming this weekend.
Criminal Minds? Haven’t seen it since the premiere. Psych? Stacked up. Now I can tell you right now that most of these are just a case of too little time, and nothing will tear me away from them — plus I’m living in a fantasy that says that the Winter Olympics will give me a break from new programming to allow me the time to catch up … because that happens.
But what of Grey’s and SVU, for example? I have reason to be shying away from them both — the former both bored and annoyed me last season, and the latter is a teeny bit too gruesome — so could it just be worth it to scrap them? Don’t we owe it to ourselves to just stick to top-shelf programs during our limited relaxation hours?
My wife is struggling with this very issue, too. Heroes has long been a series that she, like everyone, has complained about. So now we have three episodes — four hours! — of it clogging up our TiVo percent availability. She’s already said to me more than a dozen times: “I’m just going to forget about Heroes” … but it’s still there! Shouldn’t she just let go? What are we holding on to?
How about you? I’m sure there must be plenty of you with episodes backing up, nothing causing you to pause on a show’s grouped listing as you scroll through your DVR’s To Do list searching for something to watch — or for you old-timers, nothing pushing you to pop in that VHS tape full of episodes. Is it time to move on? Is there really something that we’re clinging to by saving them (unless you are consciously doing so)?
So, what do we do? Go with what our minds have clearly been telling us thus far, or with the sentimentality in our hearts? Hit delete, or have a Grey’s Anatomy marathon? Man … how appealing does that sound?
What have you been skipping? What are you doing about it?
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Oct 14, 2009 @ 15:16 EST5EDT
Have a Grey’s Anatomy marathon! Jessica Capshaw is a series regular now and she’s AMAZING!
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I think we’re going to make our own December/January season with Grey’s and some others. Certainly my wife would never let us be rid of it. A marathon, however … sounds rough. ;)
I say just bite the bullet and watch the first one. If you’re not drawn in, just delete the rest. I know that, for some reason, its just so hard to take that first step, but its sooooo satisfying to clear out your dvr and know that you’re not missing out on something.
I also have yet to catch up on this season of Greys, so I need to take my own advice. ;)
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Apparently so. :)
But it’s like with the new series. You’re loathe to act too harshly on something you might enjoy down the road, so one turns to two, turns to half a season. Vicious cycle, that. ;)
I’ve only just discovered Criminal Minds, so My DVR is clogging up with old episodes (even though I’m watching one or two a night). As a result, new episodes of L&O:SVU, are at risk of just being deleted. Recorded NCIS: Los Angeles on spec, but probably will kill that too. The biggest tragedy is “So you Think You Can Dance” — a great show that my household looked forward to watching every year IN MAY, as summer arrives. They moved it to the fall and we haven’t watched a single episode.
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I wondered why they decided to air that in the fall. Then again, I don’t think there’s a single show I watch on FOX, save for two animated series, so maybe they felt desperate to attract some viewers for the regular season.
Good choice with Criminal Minds – we got hooked in the same way a few years back!
In the summer season SYTYCD kept talking about all the good talent they had to turn away. They probably presented this to the network and convinced them they could promise another talented top 20 right off the bat. I only say this, cause once they got the green light for a fall season there were a few people (namely one kid that wasn’t 18 yet) that they started giving tickets to Vegas for the fall season when they had to cut them for the summer season.
If you like SYTYCD and haven’t watched the auditions yet, I say skip them and just get ready for the Top 20 round, I believe it starts in two weeks. Although the audition rounds showcased amazing performers, it seems like a lot of them got cut in Vegas (they were good at their specialty, but couldn’t handle the diverse choreography) and the Top 20 will consist of people we haven’t really seen much of yet.
Don’t delete Castle! It was good last year, but this year it is AWESOME!!!!!! It just keeps getting better each week.
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Don’t worry; it’s no The Unusuals, but Castle is definitely safe. Now, if we could just find time to watch it (we still have a few episodes of Reaper we haven’t gotten to….)
I made a clean break with HIMYM and Castle between seasons, so it’s much easier. The same with Criminal Minds a few seasons back. I don’t know why I keep hanging on to Heroes and The Mentalist.
I’d say if one of those shows causes teeth-grinding suffering at least once every episode, kill it. Anything less is worth saving up to power through until the show improves.
Totally agree on that criterion.
It saddens me that Psych is included in this list. :( Especially with how great the last three eps were…
Still the bigger question is how are you still able to watch Grey’s Anatomy????? I say cut it loose– when I did it felt wonderful. Heroes, I just became so indifferent towards so that was also an easy removal from a season pass on the dvr. If you really have a hard time cutting off a show, justify the deleting them from your tivo with the fact that they are available online, so it’s not like you could never watch it. You’re not missing anything by deleting them from your tivo, just creating space for other shows.
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We were missing Psych recently, and so we checked out the penultimate episode of the season. Still have the finale left.
We’ve also checked out the first two episodes of Castle – great – and my wife has deleted Heroes and its season pass. I caught up on SVU and have been very happy with it, while Grey’s is still stacking up. We caught another Criminal Minds, too … it was nice to have these friends back, although they still don’t yell “watch us” like a lot of other stuff these days.
You have a fair point, but I hate getting my TV online. I’ll watch an odd episode of something on Hulu, or the show’s site, but I can’t stand using the streaming video as my source. I just can’t see doing that in the near future.
Yeah that’s the problem with procedurals… I usually catch them in the summer during reruns.
Nice choice with the Let’s Get Hairy Psych ep– there were so many self-referential jokes in it for the fans. But does that mean you haven’t seen the “High Top Fade Out” episode yet? (I think it’s still my fav ep for this season)
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Oh, we’ve seen Urkel already (great episode); we’re just missing the finale, “Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark” (something about an ice cream truck). You could also say this just prolongs the season for us ;).
LOL… Urkel sure was great in it– I still giggle so much at the “Look at the dark side” and his painful breakdown of the steps of what the bad guys probably did to Diddle. Also love that Gus got some of his playa moves from him!
and ahhh ok, that’s not so bad then– enjoy the finale when you do get to it! It certainly moves fast. Oh and ice cream certainly goes well with watching the ep… perhaps strawberry shortcake bars? ;p You’ll get that reference once you watch.
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Done and done. Not bad, but neither Gus nor Shawn is the same without the other. I’m not enjoying the Shawn/Juliet thing, though. Either get them together or don’t; all of a sudden she’s upset at seeing Abigail’s toothbrush at Shawn’s place?
I actually made a strawberry shortcake last weekend for my wife’s birthday … but it’s all gone!
I hear that! ;) Nothing beats Gus and Shawn together.
Though it was awesome to see Shawn shoot a gun again.
And a happy belated birthday to your wife! all this talk about cake is getting me hungry now…
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:) Thanks!