# Stupid FUCKING TiVo **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 14, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057 "2004-05-14T03:15:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![booka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@booka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booka)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/1 "2004-05-14T03:15:20Z")
I’m sitting here watching the Spurs-Lakers game, and as usual, I’m about 20 minutes or so behind the “real clock” game, letting the TiVo record the game. Just doing the record thing where it’s not officially scheduled, and I’m doing the pause/resume thing. It’s always worked fine in the past. Out of the FUCKING blue, it switches to the goddamn OLN channel. To a show that we don’t even have set up in our recording scheduler. NO WARNING! I’ve been sitting in front of the TV for over 15 minutes. NO FUCKING WARNING. BAM! The rest of the fuckin’ game is GONE. I go back to the channel the game was on, and of course, it had just ended. Shit out of luck. I had to calm myself for about 15 seconds to keep from taking that piece of shit TiVo box and their insipid little remote and throwing it into the creek. And to add insult to injury, I go to the web, and find that the game had a thrilling ending. TiVo, FUCK YOU IN THE ASS WITH A DRY TOILET PLUNGER. The only goddamn reason I even want your shitty black box in my living room is to be able to instantly pause and resume sports shows. And now I find that sometimes, with no warning, you just sport fuck me. ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/2 "2004-05-14T04:57:12Z")
You must not speak ill of Tivo. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/3 "2004-05-14T05:20:45Z")
Man, that sucks. I \*hate[/] basketball, and even _I_ thought that that game ranked up there with the best. At least your Tivo doesn’t think you’re gay. I’ve heard many angry stories about this (plus Netflix seems to think that I’m black, even after rating over 2000 movies :rolleyes:.) I really like a large amount of “black” movies, that doesn’t mean that they’re _all_ that I want to watch though. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/4 "2004-05-14T05:31:37Z")
**booka’s** TiVo does not automatically record ANYTHING. That option is turned off, so no, it doesn’t think he’s gay or black or a gay black man. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/5 "2004-05-14T05:38:15Z")
The first experience I ever had with TiVo was a few years ago when my friends and I were watching a hotly contested Oakland Raiders-Baltimore Ravens playoff game. TiVo dutifully recorded for the entire length of the window of time that had been allotted for the game, then shut off … with just under two minutes to play. Fortunately, the last play that it recorded before shutting off was Baltimore intercepting a pass that killed the Raiders’ last hope. ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/6 "2004-05-14T12:09:31Z")
I don’t have a TiVo, but I have the SA DVR. My pet peeve is networks that start shows early a minute early so the DVR has no chance of geting the whole show. It seems that CSI and ER are especially bad for this, but I think that’s because they both depend on the hook before the starting credits roll. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/7 "2004-05-14T12:40:58Z")
I have a theory. Maybe your SO/dog/cat/foot/ass sat on the cable or sat. remote. Tivo would have no clue that you were changing channels and therefore not warn you. If you try to change the channel while recording or have a scheduling conflict, Tivo always warns you. FWIW, my Tivo thinks I’m a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/8 "2004-05-14T12:45:50Z")
That’s pretty odd. I’ve never had my Tivo change channels on me without warning. It always flashes a message telling me it needs to change the channel to record, even when all it’s doing is recording something it thinks I might want. Of course, if I run to the kitchen to grab a malt beverage, I could miss that message… so, to guard against even this, I schedule my sports events (Twins games in my case) and put them at the top of my priority list. And I’m not sure about the SA machine, but Tivo will let you start recordings early (and pad them to run late). Doesn’t help when you want to record show A that runs until 7pm and show B on another network will start at 6:59, though. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/9 "2004-05-14T13:00:32Z")
Them’s fightin’ words! We don’t take kindly to Tivo bashin’ 'round here. Honestly I would vote that it was some sort of ass-related involuntary channel change. 😃 You should get the one with two tuners! But I am not sure that it is available for cable tv because it would require two encoders which would drive the price up. Ours which has an integrated DirecTV satellite reciever is cool because it records the encoded DirecTV stream directly onto the disc. There is no encoder, so you never loose quality from converting the signal back into digital again. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/10 "2004-05-14T16:16:17Z")
Maybe what happened was my one pet peeve with Tivo - when viewing the guide at 6:58, I look at the shows that will be on at 7:00. However, if I find something I like, and push “Select,” it doesn’t just go to that channel, it asks me if I want to record the 7:00 show. I don’t know if the default answer would be yes or no, if you gave no response, but if it’s “yes,” you could wind up recording stuff you never meant to. You can also set it to automatically record wishlist stuff; maybe that’s what happened - the OLN show had a keyword you’d set up or something? For some reason, my Tivo thought I would love infomercials and local news. It had to be disciplined harshly. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/11 "2004-05-14T16:26:14Z")
My Tivo thinks I’m really into religious shows like the 700 club. I’ve begun to believe that the tivo is worried for my soul because of the frequency of my watching Buffy and Angel so is encouraging me to inject some religion into my life. That’s the only explanation I can find. As for the silly shows that insist they start at 8:59 or whatever, I just do a manual record. For instance, my mother wanted both CSI and ER on thursday night. CSI, like normal shows, ran from 8-9. ER claimed to run from 8:59 to 10. So I record CSI straight from the program guide then I record ER by channel and time(9-10). One minute isn’t going to make any difference, and we get both shows. -Lil ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/12 "2004-05-14T16:34:02Z")
I love my Tivo but… How about when you’re watching something “live” but behind a little, and then you accidentally hit a number button on the remote? And you have about 5 seconds to contemplate that it’s going to change the channel and wipe out everything you haven’t seen bu there’s nothing you can do about it. I really wish there was a confirmation question then. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/13 "2004-05-14T16:48:33Z")
> [@](#): > > My pet peeve is networks that start shows early a minute early so the DVR has no chance of geting the whole show. Some shows do that on purpose… to prevent Tivo’ing. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/14 "2004-05-14T17:35:47Z")
> [@Bruce\_Daddy](#): > > I have a theory. Maybe your SO/dog/cat/foot/ass sat on the cable or sat. remote. Zoe the wonder hound made me miss the last 10 minutes of a Steelers game last year with her big paw changing the channel. :mad: But, I agree with some of the others. Do NOT speak ill of the Tivo. It hears all. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Ash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@Mr.Ash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Ash)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/15 "2004-05-14T18:19:01Z")
> [@booka](#): > > And to add insult to injury, I go to the web, and find that the game had a thrilling ending. I have a completely different adjective for the ending of that game. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/16 "2004-05-14T18:25:31Z")
_holds his TiVo_ He doesn’t mean it. He doesn’t mean to talk ill of the preeeeeeeeeeciousssssssssssss… ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/17 "2004-05-14T18:38:28Z")
Do not taunt Happy Fun Tivo. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/18 "2004-05-14T19:38:55Z")
The first rule of TiVo is: Always set it to also record the show after the one you actually want to watch. The second rule of TiVo is: _Always set it to also record the show after the one you actually want to watch._ It doesn’t take long at all to delete the excess programming. Much better than constantly missing the last minutes of a show. What I’ve longed for was a way to modify my DVR to customize it’s timetable – say +5 minutes on either end. If a show is on from 8 to 9, I want it to record from 7:55 to 9:05. Now I’ll just go sit over here with the rest of my futile dreams… ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/19 "2004-05-14T23:33:42Z")
> [@groo](#): > > You must not speak ill of Tivo. Yes, it beats the HELL out of PVR. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057/20 "2004-05-15T00:47:26Z")
> [@mouthbreather](#): > > Zoe the wonder hound made me miss the last 10 minutes of a Steelers game last year with her big paw changing the channel. :mad: But weren’t the Steelers already so far behind that it didn’t matter? 😃 :eek: 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-fucking-tivo/245057.md?page=2)