Growing up, family TV nights for me were a treat. I have vivid memories of my brother, mom, dad and I sitting together to watch our favorite shows at their scheduled times. Monday Night Football with Dandy Don Meredith and Howard Cosell. Sunday night Disney movies. Bob Newhart and Mary Tyler Moore. The Bionic Man and Kung Fu.As a kid, I could recite TV schedules for our favorite shows better than a church-going friend of mine could recite Bible verses. I devoured every copy of TV Guide, and loved doing the crossword in the back. (Gilligan Vixen, 6 letters...)
Now that I'm a single parent raising a teen daughter, you'd think I'd have fond memories of my present day family watching our favorite TV shows together.
You'd be wrong. For us, Tivo killed family TV night.
For instance, my daughter and I all love Survivor. Without Tivo, we'd cozily sit on the couch together every Thursday night at 8pm and watch the show.
With Tivo? We schedule the entire season with the click of a button, then watch when it's individually convenient. Oh sure, sometimes we're all able to sit together and take in the recorded version of the show. But more times than not, my daughter is studying for a Bio exam, or I'm scratching out a blog post so I'm not up until midnight.
We both take our turn with the remote and watch Survivor when it separately suits us.
Before Tivo, if my daughter was channel surfing and came across a program I'd enjoy - perhaps a Food Network show featuring the best Mai Tai recipe, best hamburger recipe, or a new grilled chicken marinade recipe - she would yell for me to run in and watch with her. Now? She clicks record, and moves on to Gray's Anatomy, House, or something about the Jon and Kate divorce.
I will say one good thing for Tivo - it allows me to tape the Craig Ferguson show. He's that "Scottish Conan" guy on CBS late (late!) night. Way too late for me to stay up watching. I Tivo Craig Ferguson, and watch when it suits me.
For the uninitiated, Craig Ferguson is laugh out loud funny. Edgy, too. Not quite like David Letterman's jokes about Sarah Palin's daughter. Ferguson is more suggestive in a high school humor sort of way.
And you know what? My teen thinks Craig Ferguson is super funny, too! She actually sits on the couch and watch recorded episodes with me. Picture the two of us, cozied up on the couch, laughing our asses off to Craig Ferguson.
Who knew Tivo could bring a familiy together like that?
(Can I get a rim shot from the drummer?)
With Tivo? We schedule the entire season with the click of a button, then watch when it's individually convenient. Oh sure, sometimes we're all able to sit together and take in the recorded version of the show. But more times than not, my daughter is studying for a Bio exam, or I'm scratching out a blog post so I'm not up until midnight.
We both take our turn with the remote and watch Survivor when it separately suits us.
Before Tivo, if my daughter was channel surfing and came across a program I'd enjoy - perhaps a Food Network show featuring the best Mai Tai recipe, best hamburger recipe, or a new grilled chicken marinade recipe - she would yell for me to run in and watch with her. Now? She clicks record, and moves on to Gray's Anatomy, House, or something about the Jon and Kate divorce.
I will say one good thing for Tivo - it allows me to tape the Craig Ferguson show. He's that "Scottish Conan" guy on CBS late (late!) night. Way too late for me to stay up watching. I Tivo Craig Ferguson, and watch when it suits me.
For the uninitiated, Craig Ferguson is laugh out loud funny. Edgy, too. Not quite like David Letterman's jokes about Sarah Palin's daughter. Ferguson is more suggestive in a high school humor sort of way.
And you know what? My teen thinks Craig Ferguson is super funny, too! She actually sits on the couch and watch recorded episodes with me. Picture the two of us, cozied up on the couch, laughing our asses off to Craig Ferguson.
Who knew Tivo could bring a familiy together like that?
(Can I get a rim shot from the drummer?)
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