Tempted by TIVO

It’s been about ten years now since we got TIVO. Before that, we didn’t have much of a TV habit because I’m usually in the bed by nine with lights out no later than ten. We’d watch the news, perhaps a rerun of Friends or Law and Order on TNT or USA and head to bed to read.

Our lives changed when we got TIVO.  Why? Because we can watch anything, anytime, and we can fast forward through the commercials and catch two shows in 90 minutes. That means we can eat dinner, watch a bit of news, see two taped shows and still hit the bed before I turn into a pumpkin. If you’re looking for the Penns in the early evenings, you know where to find us.

And, in the winter months, you can find my resident retiree parked in front of the TV most afternoons watching his library of shows from the History and Military Channels.  My take is that he’s always watching something about Hitler, and I ask as I pass through the living room, “Gee, what’s Hitler up to today?”  He told me one day that Hitler had run off with Kim Kardashian, so perhaps I should pay closer attention.

TIVO also turned us into Law and Order addicts, and we quickly grew accustomed to watching all three versions.  Only Law and Order SVU remains these days, and my husband’s joking refrain as we watch it is, “You’re never going to NYC without me again.” I always assure him that I don’t hang out in dark alleys or do drugs at dance clubs where most of the crimes occur. A trip to NYC for me is about shopping, shows and museums.

This year we somehow stumbled across Law and Order UK and started taping it too, though so far, I haven’t been banned from visiting London. That’s a good thing, because I’ve never been, and my very short bucket list includes a trip to England.

We tape other police procedurals like Blue Bloods—who can resist Tom Selleck--Body of Proof, Castle and Bones.  The witty banter in Bones and Castle is about as close as we get to comedy.

I’m also addicted to PBS shows like Inspector Morse and Poirot along with the more recent Inspector Lewis and Foyle’s War. My husband humors me by watching these with me, though he has a hard time following the dialogue given the British accents.  And, like everyone else we know, we’re hooked on Downton Abbey.

 We occasionally include some comedy in the mix, and this year it was Go On with Matthew Perry and the White House comedy, 1600 Penn.  Truthfully, they weren’t all that good, but we stuck with them for the few funny lines they had.  Neither show has been renewed, so we’ll be on the lookout for a new comedy to try come September.

Right now, the hiatus between the season finales on network TV and the start-up of the summer series on USA, A&E and TNT is ending.  We eat dinner later in the summer, often on the screened porch, and watch a bit less TV, perhaps only one show an evening.  Major Crimes, Longmire and Glades are among our favorites. Until they all crank back up, though, I’m reading and playing Words with Friends as my husband catches up on Hitler.  After all, you never know when the story might change.