# Do you wait for and watch any TV show live? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2022, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690 "2022-06-05T05:46:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/21 "2022-06-05T22:24:20Z")
I can still remember when PBS replayed _The Forstye Saga_ sometime in the 70s. I’d missed it when it originally aired, and I really wanted to see it. This was before DVRs or even VCRs. PBS broadcast an episode a night five days a week for a **month**. It was really stressful making sure to get home every night for all those nights, but I did it. Yay, me. And I really liked the series, too. Now? I don’t regularly watch anything live. As someone said, maybe John Oliver if I’m around when it’s on, but that’s no commercials. 99.99% of what we watch is either recorded or On Demand or streaming. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/22 "2022-06-05T22:37:17Z")
All my access to shows now is through streaming services, so I can’t _really_ watch anything live. The closest I got to live most recently was when HBO was releasing _Game of Thrones_ on a weekly basis, and I could stream it after the “live broadcast.” I would watch it as soon as it was available. These days, I can’t really bother to remember when my shows are released. I just occasionally cycle through my streaming services to see what I have to catch up on. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/23 "2022-06-05T22:54:30Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > These days, I can’t really bother to remember when my shows are released Remember the days when you knew what day it was based on what shows were on TV? And now that I’m retired, I _never_ remember what day it is. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/24 "2022-06-05T23:08:30Z")
All of them. I use a digital antenna. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/25 "2022-06-06T03:27:49Z")
Better Call Saul. And Breaking Bad when it was on. And playoff hockey. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/26 "2022-06-06T03:47:00Z")
I still watch the live schedule. Sundays on CBS from 7 to 10 for Equalizer,NCIS LA, SWAT. I tried recording shows and usually never got around to watching them. I’m subscribed to Paramount + and have to remind myself to watch it. I finally made myself a schedule to watch when I don’t like the live network shows. There’s something about a network schedule that works for me. I’ve followed them since I was 7 or 8 years old. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/27 "2022-06-06T12:37:55Z")
The Marvel and Star Wars shows on Disney+ have a ton of people that watch them as soon as they’re uploaded for streaming. I see reaction/watchalong/review videos on Youtube within a hour of release. I get off work at 6 a.m., so I typically catch them before I turn in. ---
**Author:** ![Kelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@Kelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelby)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/28 "2022-06-06T14:02:20Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > **NFL games and reality competition shows, though when I say ‘watch live’ I mean start a half hour late and skip commercials.** > > So right now the live shows I watch are Naked and Afraid, Alone, and when I remember, American Ninja Warrior. Also Survivor and The Challenge\* on MTV, but they’re not airing right now. > > \*Just finally resubscribed to Paramount+ today, pretty stoked for Challenge All Stars. Ditto. Record long enough to miss most of the ads, but not to find out the final score from media or a friend. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/29 "2022-06-06T14:41:16Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > The closest that I do is record the show, but start watching about 20 minutes after it starts. Then fast-forward over the commercials and finish about five minutes after the live show ends. Me too - other than this I don’t watch anything live. As I’m zipping through commercials, I always think to myself or say to my husband - I don’t think I could ever watch a show with commercials live ever again. Well, I do watch the Minnesota High School Hockey Tournament live if any of our local high schools are playing in it. But that’s only one week per year. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/30 "2022-06-06T15:16:36Z")
Only when I’m afraid of spoilers, which are very few of them. I am glad I watched the Mandalorian live as baby Yoda was a huge surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/31 "2022-06-08T00:13:36Z")
How live did you watch a streaming show? You mean the day it dropped or you stayed up until the moment it was released to streaming? My family did watch it the first day it dropped, but we obviously were not the first in America to see it. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/32 "2022-06-08T00:25:51Z")
The last scripted show I anticipated and watched live was the final episode of _Gravity Falls_ in 2016. Since then, some UCLA games. The only other stuff I watch live is news and the Olympics, but outside of the opening and closing ceremonies, those are “let’s see what’s on now”, not appointment TV. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/33 "2022-06-08T00:26:15Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > How live did you watch a streaming show? You mean the day it dropped or you stayed up until the moment it was released to streaming? Just the day it drops. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/34 "2022-06-18T01:38:32Z")
I haven’t felt that strongly about any show in about a decade. There was a short-lived masterpiece called _Terriers_ that I absolutely wanted to get to as quickly as it was available. And at least for the first couple of seasons of _The Walking Dead_, I was similarly champing at the bit. These days? I’ll put it this way: I love _The Blacklist_, but I couldn’t tell you what day of the week it actually airs on a bet. I just kind of wander over to the NBC website when I’m in the mood and see if there’s a new episode. ---
**Author:** ![HorribleMutantBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/258eb7/32.png) [@HorribleMutantBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorribleMutantBoy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690/35 "2022-06-18T21:04:53Z")
I haven’t watched live tv for a long time now. These days I just wait till episodes i’m interested in are ready to stream online. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-for-and-watch-any-tv-show-live/965690.md?page=1)