# Appointment TV shows
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 24, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417 "2015-09-24T18:38:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/1 "2015-09-24T18:38:18Z")
Is there a TV show that you watch as soon as it’s available? If not, what’s the last show that you did that for?
In my case it was **Numb3rs.**
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/2 "2015-09-24T19:51:52Z")
**Mad Men** (which is now over) and **Black Sails**. I watch very little television as is (no note of pride there; I’m reading dumb stuff on the internet instead) but the few shows I get into I like seeing as they air rather than On Demand later.
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### Author:  [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/3 "2015-09-24T20:05:13Z")
Definitely “Breaking Bad”. I’m ashamed to say it was once “Lost”
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### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/4 "2015-09-24T20:08:52Z")
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Showed here (it was a first run syndication show) Sunday nights on the NBC affiliate station right after the extended sports update from the local news. Afterwards, they showed two in a row of TOS, in order. So, every Sunday at 10:40pm, I watched 3 hours of Trek.
Before that it was the one year behind BBC showing of Doctor Who (original) on my local PBS followed by Jack Horkeimer’s Star Hustler (later renamed Star Gazer). It was either Friday or Saturday night from 10:30pm til sign off. 1980s
Since then, I’ve become more and more of a time shifter and now a Netflixer and streamer.
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/5 "2015-09-24T20:10:36Z")
Nope. I am notoriously late to every show. Now that they mostly come out on Netflix, I see no reason why I should try to fit my schedule to the show and also have to put up with ads, too.
I am not an early adopter of anything, though, so it’s pretty universal in my life.
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### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/6 "2015-09-24T20:17:29Z")
> [@Anaamika](#):
>
> I see no reason why I should try to fit my schedule to the show and also have to put up with ads, too.
Because ads let you enjoy the show for free?
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/7 "2015-09-24T20:25:59Z")
> [@madsircool](#):
>
> Because ads let you enjoy the show for free?
Yes, that is fair enough, I suppose. But everyone I know in my economic class can afford (and has) Netflix but still insists on watching TV shows the night they come out! “No, I can’t do anything that night, that’s my Breaking Bad night”.
I used to be like that, too, before Netflix. I love Netflix - I can watch my show anytime if I like!
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### Author:  [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/8 "2015-09-24T20:28:45Z")
The Amazing Race.
I have completely moved to a time-shifted model for television, where everything I watch is DVR, On Demand or DVD, and I don’t even know when things air anymore. But for some reason, it never felt right with the Race, probably because part of what I like is the feel of a live sporting event, even though I know it’s heavily scripted and edited. I like the tension that builds during the show as it airs, and even the rhythm that the commercials provide.
Tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. Pacific, I’ll be there for the season premier as it airs.
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### Author:  [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/9 "2015-09-24T20:58:49Z")
> [@madsircool](#):
>
> Because ads let you enjoy the show for free?
Most cable systems are making it so you can watch when you want. Once you start you don’t want to go back.
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### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/10 "2015-09-24T21:56:11Z")
> [@Anaamika](#):
>
> Yes, that is fair enough, I suppose. But everyone I know in my economic class can afford (and has) Netflix but still insists on watching TV shows the night they come out! “No, I can’t do anything that night, that’s my Breaking Bad night”.
>
> I used to be like that, too, before Netflix. I love Netflix - I can watch my show anytime if I like!
Can you wait if its a show you love? And if its some sort of a cliffhanger? I really respect your patience. I end up spoiling the episode. Same goes for taped sports. It just doesnt seem as fun.
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### Author:  [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/11 "2015-09-24T23:54:08Z")
TV shows include live sports broadcasts, news, and other live events. 95% of the viewing of these is done live or on the same day as broadcast. Live entertainment shows probably get c.85% live viewing. Dramas are, by their very nature, moveable feasts.
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/12 "2015-09-25T00:01:47Z")
Except for a few PBS shows and Premium Cable (which have no commercials) I won’t watch a show until at least 20 minutes after it starts so I can zip through the commercials. That said, I usually have at least one show each night that I wish to see as soon as that filler time has elapsed. Total of maybe 8-10 shows a week and that varies by season.
Have you noticed that an “hour” of network TV is rarely as much as 40 minutes of actual show? I’ve waited as much as 7 minutes between segments of network shows. CBS is the worst for shitting on their audience!
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### Author:  [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/13 "2015-09-25T00:20:57Z")
DVR’s have ruined me for TV as it airs. If I can’t skip commercials, I get incredibly bored between segments. Also it’s hella nice being able to watch an hour show in the 40 mins or so that are left once you skip the commercials.
I mean, I’ve done that with many shows with VCR’s but it wasn’t nearly as much of a convenience to ffwd through commercials as it is to press 30 sec skip a few times.
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/14 "2015-09-25T00:26:40Z")
I watched _Mad Men_, \*Lost \*and _Breaking Bad_ ASAP. Now it’s just _Penn & Teller Fool Us_.
Gotta be able to participate in the threads right away!
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### Author:  [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/15 "2015-09-25T00:29:26Z")
“The Americans”. Did “Lost” that way, too. Some of the people I worked with were big Losties, so it was just easier. (Did a rewatch recently, the finale goes down easier when you know what’s coming.)
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### Author:  [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/16 "2015-09-25T00:59:43Z")
_Cosmos_ was the most recent. Before that … hmm. I can’t even remember.
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### Author:  [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/17 "2015-09-25T04:51:42Z")
I remember making it a point to be home to see\* Harry’s Law\* when it was on. And the first few seasons of _Ice Road Truckers_.
My grandparents make it a point to watch _Hard Core Pawn, Ice Road Truckers_ and _Storage Wars_ whenever a new episode comes on.
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### Author:  [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/18 "2015-09-25T09:39:16Z")
Pretty much the CW’s Flash/iZombie night for me, and really that’s just the luck of my schedule. I get off work 6 a.m. Tuesday morning, so by the time I wake up, workout, shower and get something to eat, they’re about to come on. Everything else I time-shift.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/19 "2015-09-25T09:51:56Z")
Every show I watch, I watch soon after it’s broadcast. When else should I watch it?
I suppose that everything I watch is “appointment TV”. I can’t remember the last time I turned on the TV just to “see what’s on”.
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### Author:  [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appointment-tv-shows/732417/20 "2015-09-25T12:35:12Z")
_ **CBS Sunday Morning** _. Watch it live over a cup of coffee, or in the background while on the computer.
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