Taylor Kinney stars as Kelly Severide in a scene from ‘Chicago Fire,’ which didn’t make the cut when I purged my DVR recently. (NBC)
On any given week, I record between 12 and 15 hours of television on my DVR. It’s typically lower, as all the shows I watch aren’t airing new episodes at the same time — but it sometimes feels overwhelming.
When I go away for a week, or get caught up in volunteer duties and other after-work events, my DVR gets a little ridiculous with all of its unwatched recordngs. I end up feel stressed out that I still have six or eight hours to catch up on, rather than looking forward to enjoy shows I chose to DVR in the first place.
So I did a little spring cleaning this past week, and canceled some of the series recordings. For quite a few of the shows, I found myself rolling my eyes (“Glee“) or not caring what happened next (“Chicago Fire,” “Necessary Roughness“) anyway.
My TV-watching habits are seasonal anyhow, and as warmer weather arrives (ASAP, please), I know I’ll spend more time outside and being active than curled up on the couch. But for a generation that’s grown up on TV — and discovered the intoxicating power of time-shifting your shows so you can watch them (commercial free!) whenever you like — it’s easy to succumb to life as a couch potato.
Do you find yourself watching more TV in the winter? Or have you given up your cable subscription altogether?
More:
– Was there emphasis on exercise and limiting TV when we were young?
Hi Sarah,
Your article is interesting but makes me laugh! It’s nice to have some comparison. Why I laugh is because I record 20-25 network (usually hour-long) shows every week. My DVR is NEVER under 80 % full all season from September until May. I watch shows when I can, but I work 2 jobs and can’t watch more than 1 or 2 a day. So that puts me in the negative every day. Still I live for TV and would never not watch! I might rarely give up on a show during the season. However there is always a NEW one to come along and take its place – either a mid-season replacement or if one gets cancelled I always find another one the next season. So really it takes most of the summer to get my DVR cleared out, which I have to do so I can record the new season of shows!
Deborah –
I guess it’s all relative! It does take me quite a while to “give up” on a show, but I hate feeling like watching TV (“catching up”) is just another item on a never-ending to-do list instead of a way to relax and enjoy myself.
Ugh…the saga of the DVR. It cracks me up when my husband says “you need to catch up on your shows”…like it’s a 2nd job. I personally am really bad about the “Record Series” option, which is why I ended up with 85 episodes of Law & Order: SVU (like I didn’t realize it’s on HEAVY re-run rotation). If it weren’t for him loving TV, I’d cancel it altogether. Last time we didn’t have cable…I became a puzzle whiz!