# I'm a Nielsen household: suggestions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650 "2002-07-24T23:27:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/1 "2002-07-24T23:27:44Z")
Just got my little survey booklet in the mail; I’m going to be a Nielsen household for the next week: Thursday July 25 to Wednesday July 31. My new status as a powerbroker in the critical mid-summer ratings period may get my favorite actors an extra cup of coffee in their next contract. Feel free to give your suggestions for what TV shows I should watch. Sorry, broadcast only, no cable. ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/2 "2002-07-25T00:11:02Z")
The second to last episode of The Mole 2. (the SMART reality TV show) Tuesday, 9 pm Eastern. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/3 "2002-07-25T00:11:03Z")
Will and Grace. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/4 "2002-07-25T00:15:23Z")
_The Job_. Nevermind - too late. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Myrnalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Myrnalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrnalene)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/5 "2002-07-25T00:17:13Z")
For God’s sake, don’t watch anything with Bob Saget in it! ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/6 "2002-07-25T00:19:08Z")
Nothing but infomercials. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/7 "2002-07-25T00:31:59Z")
My neighbers were a Nielsen family for an entire season. Nice people, but you can blame them for Hee Haw and the ilk…they had an odd sense of humor and used to watch that kind of crap all the time. I would pick the shows that I normally like/watch during the regular season and mark those down. Believe it or or not, there are teams of odd little people gathered in network offices who pour over your response. If, even as a joke, you put down some show about South American Polo, next season you will see Jane Pauly up to her elbows in Argentine pony poop, interviewing stable boys as the networks try to tap in to the “new-hip” interest in Polo. My one request…please NO reality shows…please…pretty please! ---
**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:** [July 25, 2002, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/8 "2002-07-25T00:51:14Z")
1. The Mole 2 2. Farscape(Sci-Fi, Friday, 10:00 p.m. ET). If you have to choose, make it Farscape, since I know Mole is not coming back. ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/9 "2002-07-25T01:16:29Z")
1. Farscape 2. Scrubs 3. Flip to the first 2 minutes each of SpyTV and Invasion of the Hidden Cameras, then turn to an infomercial for the rest of the hour. Write in the little book that “anything is better than that crap.” ---
**Author:** ![p\_cific\_812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@p\_cific\_812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/p_cific_812)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/10 "2002-07-25T05:13:52Z")
Wow, I was skeptical that there actually _were_ Nielson households. Power to the people! I offer a third vote for Farscape. That, or the Telemundo show with that guy in the bee suit. ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/11 "2002-07-25T07:07:54Z")
Whatever you do, DO NOT tune in to She-Spies. ---
**Author:** ![Epistaxis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Epistaxis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epistaxis)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/12 "2002-07-25T08:03:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NotWithoutRage \* > \*\*The second to last episode of The Mole 2. (the SMART reality TV show) Tuesday, 9 pm Eastern. \*\* I second this. It’s the complete opposite of every other reality game show, and that’s a good thing. The contestants are real and interesting people, not media whores using the show to springboard their career. The game takes smarts, savvy, and deception to win, not popularity. And the play-along-at-home factor is incredibly high 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KittyCat444](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/848f3c/32.png) [@KittyCat444](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KittyCat444)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/13 "2002-07-25T08:19:54Z")
How do you get to be a Nielsen household? And how do they record when you watch what? ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/14 "2002-07-25T10:57:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KittyCat444 \* > \*\*How do you get to be a Nielsen household? And how do they record when you watch what? \*\* They are picked entirely by random. I think the most common way now is to send a little booklet (as they did with us) and you write down what shows you watched, at what times, what station, and who watched it (as you must record all family members and all the TVs in the house). Another way I’ve heard about is they put a box on top of the TV sets in your house and record it that way. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/15 "2002-07-25T12:47:28Z")
Vote for the simpsons reruns on fox please. ---
**Author:** ![Lao\_Tsu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lao\_Tsu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lao_Tsu)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/16 "2002-07-25T17:45:27Z")
Kill reality TV. All reality TV. Kill it now. I like the infomercial idea. If they’re going to give you power, why not be wantonly destructive with it. Seriously though, squeeze in some PBS. They could use the ratings. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/17 "2002-07-25T18:15:13Z")
Get a Porn channel and turn to it for exactly two seconds every 6:15 pm. And of course, Farscape. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa\_Ann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Lisa\_Ann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa_Ann)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/18 "2002-07-25T18:19:53Z")
Charmed, now on Sundays on the WB! Channel 5 at 8:00 here on the west coast. Please! ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/19 "2002-07-25T19:35:07Z")
Smallville, on WB (or, around here, on FOX) Mondays and Tuesdays at 10pm here. ---
**Author:** ![NYR407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@NYR407](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYR407)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650/20 "2002-07-25T20:08:15Z")
I would like to add another vote for The Mole 2. They only have two episodes left. They are now down to two contestants and “The Mole”. I would also suggest watching the finale the following week. In case you missed the entire season you can see the brain work that goes into the clues. I believe MENSA is involed to some extent. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-nielsen-household-suggestions/120650.md?page=2)