Of course there comes a point where you should just stop recording, but the beauty of DVRs is the incredibly fast and efficient fast-forward.
My current FF leader is “Falling Skies”. Total piece of shit, but I like the alien bits, especially the mech sound effects, which freak me out. But the actual story and characters? NEXT!
Runner up WAS “Bachelorette” but that’s over now. I would zip through practically all of it, just stopping briefly to see if anyone was saying something other than the 6-7 things they all always said every week, and to check out JP, who is completely adorable.
Hell’s Kitchen. Like most reality shows, they spend 24 of the 42 minutes of real air-time recapping what a) happened last week, b) just happened before the commercial break, or c) just happened right then as you were watching it but maybe you missed it so here it is again.
Yeah, I would think the vast majority of the FF going on is in reality shows. The excessive recapping really drives me batty.
I’ve never watched Bachelorette until this season, but when I saw some of the extra stuff and bloopers I thought…why the hell didn’t you incorporate that stuff into the goddamn show itself instead of beating us senseless with truly nausea-inducing repeitions of “I’m really nervous/she’sa great girl/this is a hard decision/I really care for him” - how about showing us that they can talk about something other than themselves in this process? You know, something that might suggest a good reason why any of them actually give a shit about each other? It’s kind of this weird show-narcissism, where the producers think the only thing anyone will find interesting is the participants talking about what they are participating in. Well, here’s the news: NOT.
I’m noticing very much the same thing in “love in the Wild” which at least has the little challenges, but when it comes to any kind of talking about anything, the only thing anyone is ever shown talking about is what they are doing on the show, endlessly. You watch a couple come in last, knowing what it means because it’s been described a dozen times already, then you watch the host saying: “Well, you’ve come in last, that’s bad for you at the switch ceremony!” then you hear from each person in the couple saying “Gee, we came in last, that’s bad for me!” then listen to them say it a couple more times, etc. What fucking formula is this and who decided it was the best one???
Oh, and another one that spends half the time recapping the other half: Celebrity Rehab! Jesus, with a bunch of crazy fucking drug addicts airing their dirty laundry for TV you’d think you’d have a little more material!
American Idol. I couldn’t give a crap about any of the setup. I just watch performances. It’s the only show I watch that I FF any part of, but I usually like the performances, but the backstories and coaching bore the crap out of me. I FF through the judges comments most of the time too.
If it’s a show I fast forward through, then it’s hardly worth recording for me. The SYTYCD elimination ep is the exception because 60% of it is just recapping the dances from the night before (which I’d already seen). I also don’t watch the musical artist that’s featured every week, but I still will watch all the dances (group, solo, guest) as well as the result and tributes.
America’s Got Talent Results Show: Unless the music/variety act is someone I actually give a shit about (past winners only usually…) I FF through almost everything, even the build up over who wins.
Drew Carey’s Improv-a-ganza: I’m not a big music fan…so I FF thru all the music ones.
I think it would be Falling Skies for me, except that my boyfriend is really into it for some reason. Damn, those people are stupid! I usually find laundry that needs folded or something when he’s watching.
House Hunters. Except that I don’t DVR so I don’t FF. I just watch the last few minutes. We get recaps of the three houses (without the obligatory natural light/open floor plan/granite/stainless/man cave/this-wallpaper-has-to-go comments) and we get to see what they chose and what the house looks like with their stuff in it.
Wipeout and Iron Chef America. Fir the former, we skip over the qualifier and go straight to the second challenge. For ICA it depends on the ingredient. For most we just FF to the judging.
The Biggest Loser. Each 2-hour episode contains approximately 90 minutes of drama, weeping, product placement segments, more drama, more weeping, and commercials. I can get it down to a tight 30-40 minutes of just the competitions and the weigh-ins.
Lost. Sometime around season 2 I realized that I could get a lot more enjoyment out of the show by fast forwarding through all of the flashbacks. I didn’t care about the characters past lives, I just wanted to see how they dealt with what was happening on the island.
The first two and (usually) the last seven minutes of The Colbert Report. The applause sign stays on waaaaay too long at the beginning, and I’m not a big fan of Colbert’s style of interviewing his guests.
of all things, ‘drop dead diva’ on lifetime network. while i adore the lead character, her roomie and her guardian angel have scenes together that can get tedious in the extreme. it’s pretty much a given i’m reaching for the remote the minute i see them in the same shot.
the other is ‘necessary roughness’ on usa. again, while i like the lead, the two actors playing her son and daughter get on my last nerve - especially the girl. FF reigns supreme when they’re on camera every time.
The record holder for me was always Unsolved Mysteries. “Lost Loves” or “UFOs” or “Legends”…instant fast-forward. Back when I taped it regularly I occasionally fast-forwarded through entire episodes.
I watch Glee for the songs, not the plot.