# Great things to watch with a DVR **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2017, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731 "2017-10-13T13:20:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/1 "2017-10-13T13:20:01Z")
My current favorite DVR-friendly show is BattleBots - it’s an hour long, and the meat of the show is 4 at most 3-minute showdowns between killer robots. So instead of spending an hour watching it live, I can spend less than 20 minutes watching it with the fast forward button. I would imagine recording a football game and speeding through it might yield a similar payoff. I guess only sporting events would lend themselves to this - although Big Bang Theory comes pretty close even if you just speed past the commercial breaks. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/2 "2017-10-13T13:29:42Z")
An episode of _Mythbusters_ is **much** better. No, wait. Oh, so _ **muuucchh** _ better, when you use the DVR to watch the Jamie/Adam task, fast-forwarding the Build Team, then re-watching the Tori/Grant/Kari experiment, and skip the Founders. Maybe people sometimes prefer one group over the other, and want to say, “Oh, I just FF past those people and then leave it.” And that’s fine. But if you don’t dislike one or another, its astounding how much better it is to just watch the story-lines not split up like that. Its so obvious to me, that I don’t get why the producers never noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/3 "2017-10-13T14:47:42Z")
I watch just about everything from the DVR but Saturday Night Live is especially good to watch that way. Obviously, I fast forward through the commercials (although sometimes I accidentally skip through the parody commercials) but I usually fast forward through the musical guest. And I can watch an episode of Jeopardy! in about 20-22 minutes, if I skip the commercials and even less if I skip the interview segment. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/4 "2017-10-13T15:10:59Z")
Jeopardy is a good one. We never watch it live, as it appears there are about 5 minutes of commercials before the final question. Also, as indicated above, football. Baseball too. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/5 "2017-10-13T17:15:01Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I watch just about everything from the DVR but Saturday Night Live is especially good to watch that way. Obviously, I fast forward through the commercials (although sometimes I accidentally skip through the parody commercials) but I usually fast forward through the musical guest. > > And I can watch an episode of Jeopardy! in about 20-22 minutes, if I skip the commercials and even less if I skip the interview segment. Wow, that’s exactly what I was going to post. _SNL_ can be really good, or really bad, but either way I can usually watch the whole thing in much less than an hour. The music is usually of such poor quality that I rarely even bother to sample it. _Jeopardy_ is 20 minutes, max, and I do skip the interviews. Another I would add is the Sunday AM talk shows, like _Meet the Press_. I like to watch a few, but I can’t think of any time I actually watched the whole thing. Actually, I’ll say the same thing about the evening news. I tape the local news, but often only watch the Weather. And I record PBS’s New Hour, but sometimes a given segment (usually 10 - 15 minutes) generates no interest from me. ---
**Author:** ![witzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/edb3f5/32.png) [@witzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/witzel)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/6 "2017-10-13T17:41:07Z")
MTV Classic shows its version of 120 Minutes for 2 hours early Monday morning (when it was VH1 Classic, they’d do this four times a week). So, 1980s and 1990s alternative music videos. With the DVR it’s refreshing to skip past the bands I didn’t like, and it takes well under an hour to watch what I want from the whole programming block. Also, I’m not getting up at 4am to watch music videos. Any more. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/7 "2017-10-13T19:18:08Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > An episode of _Mythbusters_ is **much** better. No, wait. Oh, so _ **muuucchh** _ better, when you use the DVR to watch the Jamie/Adam task, fast-forwarding the Build Team, then re-watching the Tori/Grant/Kari experiment, and skip the Founders. > > Maybe people sometimes prefer one group over the other, and want to say, “Oh, I just FF past those people and then leave it.” And that’s fine. But if you don’t dislike one or another, its astounding how much better it is to just watch the story-lines not split up like that. Its so obvious to me, that I don’t get why the producers never noticed. Not to mention you can avoid the patented Mythbusters “OK, we’re back from commercials. Let’s recap for five minutes. Now five minutes of new stuff and whoops it’s time for commercials again.” I mean, great show, but more filler than a 25 cent hot dog… ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/8 "2017-10-14T02:11:30Z")
Like the OP and BattleBots, I can get through two hours of American Ninja Warrior in about a half hour. Just watch the runs and skip all the ads and human interest stories and interviews. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/9 "2017-10-15T19:33:36Z")
Anything _not_ on PBS. I seriously couldn’t sit through BattleBots without DVR. That looks like the most tedious program ever! And yeah, it takes a whopping 15 minutes to get the whole hour behind me. Also, movies on Sundance, IFC or TBS. Homes of the “9 minute commercial breaks”. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/10 "2017-10-15T19:41:28Z")
Turner Classic Movies. Sure, they might show an epic at 3 am in July. But, with the TiVO, I can watch it in the middle of winter when I’ve got plenty of time for long movies. Right around Christmas this is perfect when you just can’t deal with another Christmas movie. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/11 "2017-10-15T20:02:11Z")
That’s a good one. I used to have TCM before I changed the cable subscription and I’d go through their schedule as far ahead as the program guide would go to mark interesting movies to record. Because TCM, unlike many other networks, doesn’t repeat something later nor is anything available On Demand. And occasionally, they broadcast something really rare. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/12 "2017-10-16T03:31:07Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Turner Classic Movies. Yeah. I’ve got the Allistar Sim version of “Scrooge” on the DVR, never to be deleted. I’ll watch it two or three times a year. Keeps me sane (insane). Who said that? ---
**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:** [October 16, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/13 "2017-10-16T14:52:38Z")
EVERYTHING is better when watched with a DVR! I have a hard time watching anything live anymore. Survivor is a good example. FF through all of the mundane talking. ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/14 "2017-10-16T14:56:36Z")
American Ninja Warrior is the poster child for why DVR is necessary. Fast forward through most of the dumb backstories and in fact you can probably watch the first 30 minutes at 2x since you know all of those contestants are going to fail. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/15 "2017-10-16T16:34:27Z")
I’ll third American Ninja Warrior. Skip past all the “human interest stories” and get straight to the wipeouts. I also usually watch Formula 1 races on the DVR. Of course most of them happen too early in the morning for me to watch live. I can skip past the follow the leader racing and stop when something interesting happens. Which in some races doesn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/16 "2017-10-16T16:48:59Z")
> [@amaguri](#): > > American Ninja Warrior is the poster child for why DVR is necessary. Fast forward through most of the dumb backstories and in fact you can probably watch the first 30 minutes at 2x since you know all of those contestants are going to fail. Great choice. It’s actually a good show, but my god they have a lot of drivel, too. I just want to see the action! How about The Olympics? Talk about a low signal to noise ratio. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/17 "2017-10-16T16:56:35Z")
**Dancing With The Stars** is a lot like **American Ninja Warrior** in that respect. Skip all the dull talky bits and the contestants you don’t care about, and go right to the stuff you want to watch. A two-hour episode takes 30 minutes or less. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/18 "2017-10-16T21:29:48Z")
Funny, **Max Torque** , because as I was reading this thread I was thinking about _So You Think You Can Dance_. I love that show, but I rarely care about the pre-taped “getting to know the dancers” or “let’s see some of the rehearsal” stuff. For that matter, I usually don’t care about the judges’ comments, either. I like being able to skip all of that and just watch the performances (and see who goes home at the end); it’s worth possible internet spoilers to watch it a day late. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/19 "2017-10-16T22:22:24Z")
Kudos for mentioning TCM. I liked it last year when they were running Oscar-favorites in order from A to Z; they had their listing online so you can anticipate what was coming. And I agree with TBS: once in a hotel I started watching a movie on TBS (ET) and eight minutes in, they cut away mid-sentence to a commercial that lasted over six minutes. I said “Nope!” and I switched to something else. Who watches that? Anything with David Tennant is better with a DVR (like _Broadchurch_), so you can skip back seven seconds to try to figure out what he just said in his thick Scottish brogue. Some commercials deserved to be watched and replayed. I like the Subaru’s commercials: [Oh You Brought Butch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muXNjIFZcCo) and [You’re Not Taking Those](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHYZtPA2Tss) (when the girl with the clippers is stopped by the father before she approaches her sister). The expressions are worth hitting the pause button. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731/20 "2017-10-17T08:15:22Z")
Food/Restaurant review shows such as Man Versus Food or Diners Driveins and Dives are extra special to watch on DRD, because then you can skip all the recaps and summaries at each break. [Mitchell and Web: The gift shop sketch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MFtl2XXnUc) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-things-to-watch-with-a-dvr/798731.md?page=2)