I believe my DVR allows 1TB, plus what's on the DVR itself. My figures say roughly 300 hours. I'm at 90% now and I get a little warning every time I set a recording.

Used to do that with comics and movies like all the slipcovers (I stopped that quickly!) I stopped going crazy rather quickly once I saw how crazy it was getting. It's all about the next thing, having everything. I want to enjoy what I do have and not have to always think about the next thing.

Sometime back, I was remembering when some basic cable networks had 1-3 original scripted shows or no scripted shows at all. It took several years for some basic cable networks to have drama hits. These days basic cable, premium cable, and streaming services dramas dominate over broadcast dramas. Broadcast networks do have some good or okay dramas to watch. But trying to juggle the best shows from broadcast, basic cable, premium and streaming services is difficult.

I was just reading that even Spike is trying to develop several scripted dramas for next year.

Apple also announced they are considering scripted programming to compete with Netflix.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2...ming/71503054/


It's funny how 15-20 years ago, shows on network TV were getting crazy numbers like 25-30M viewers per week. Once the market became extremely saturated with scripted shows on cable, streaming etc recently it really created a glut and diluted viewership. Ratings for many popular shows are down a lot and new shows struggle to find viewers. I know there is simply not enough eyes to watch everything that airs. Sundays are a prime example of a major glut of popular shows all airing in one night.

To answer the OP, yes I do.

I really enjoyed the first few seasons of Californication, Psych and Covert Affairs, and stuck with them to the end out of loyalty and inertia. But if those shows started today, I'd probably watch 2-3 seasons and be done with it. I ditched season 2 of Sleepy Hollow, American Horror Story: Freak Show, season 2 of True Detective and season 2 of Hannibal. There were various reasons for doing so: Sleepy Hollow just lost the plot IMHO, and while I recognize the genius of Hannibal, it was just TOO dark, even for me. There was just too much other stuff to watch I was more interested in. Then you have a show like Aquarius: it wasn't that great... but a few years ago I might have stuck with it. As it is now, I was only able to sit through 2 episodes before I gave it up for the other 30 shows I have backlogged. Or Blunt Talk: just what the world needs, another show about a misfit manchild. I'm about to ditch Fear the Walking Dead, too. Funny thing is, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. I'd like to think that if I only have x hours a week to watch TV that I'll fill it with "quality" TV, like premium cable or BBC stuff. And that's largely true. But there are a few inexplicable shows I watch, too, like Scream and the Aussie soap Wonderland. I'll probably never know why I like Scream but dislike Hannibal, even though by any objective measure Hannibal is the better show. But I just do.

Ironically, Spike tried to do original scripted dramas around a decade ago.

They did "Blade: The Series" back in 2006.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade:_The_Series

Slightly earlier, they did "The Joe Schmo Show" which appeared to be a hoax type show parodying then-current reality shows. (Don't know how "scripted" this show actually was).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joe_Schmo_Show

The only way I've been able to squelch this type of behavior, is to avoid jumping onto new treadmills.

For example, I purposely avoided buying the dvd season sets of tv shows I've been watching, but haven't previously purchased any of the dvd (or bluray) sets. Shows like the NCIS franchise, Falling Skies, Continuum, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory, etc ...

In terms of newer shows I've been watching, the only ones I'm willing to jump onto the dvd (or bluray) "treadmill" are CSI Cyber and Dark Matter.

In spite of the technical inaccuracies, I do like watching CSI Cyber a lot. Sorta like a less silly version of Scorpion.

I have the season 1 dvd set of CSI Cyber on preorder. (No word of any bluray version. Considering the other CSI franchise shows have hardly been released on bluray overseas, I don't have any high hopes of ever seeing CSI Cyber on bluray).

For Dark Matter, I'll probably only jump onto the treadmill if season 1 and season 2 are released on bluray. If it is dvd-only for season 2, I don't think I will jump on the treadmill

As far as TV being a "job", I think it has to do with too many choices and too much availability.

When you had 3 networks and some UHF channels, you had only a few choices and when there was nothing on, you did something else. You might make a few shows appointment viewing, but you had to be there when it was on or you missed it.

Now we have all these choices. Plus, if we miss something there's always DVRs, on-demand, or online viewing. There's only so many hours in a day, and the amount of unwatched "entertainment" we desire to see starts to become a burden. How many have commented there's a bunch of netflix stuff we want to watch, but don't because it will always be there, and there are other shows to catch up on.

Add to that all the DVDs/BDs we buy. How the hell can we possibly watch it all? But many of us will continue to buy, because one day we might get to it. And then there will be times we will have trouble finding something in our collection we actually want to watch

i definitely feel there are too many shows of some types/genres but not enough of others

Too many crap reality shows

Too many procedurals

not enough quality sitcoms

it takes soo much energy to get into a new show, sometimes i prefer rewatching an old show i haven't seen for a while

e.g. right now i am rewatching Oz and loving it

a new show either has to have a premise which is really me (any marvel superhero shows) or really grab me in the first 20 mins (like Humans did)

That is another reason I stopped buying movies, shows. Time to watch all the new shows, new movies, read new books, comics, you tube, online information and then get back to films, shows etc... we have already seen? Plus continuing buying more? It just become pointless (to me) Oh, plus doing things that have nothing to do with this type of entertainment.

Granted, I haven't checked EVERY show out, but cast and premise weeds a lot of them out.

I have True Detective, Game of Thrones (S3+) and Orphan Black (S2+) sitting on the shelf but end up just turning on Friends or Rules of Engagement at the end of the day.

Using an HTPC means I don't have to worry about space and allows me to edit and archive the recordings. I can save multiple seasons of a show before I decide to watch it or skip it. I can also transfer shows to a tablet. The monthly fee for a cable card is also cheaper than the fee for a cable-provided DVR.

Yes, I know. However, in your original post you stated you "didn't understand" why some people had space issues; I was explaining that not everyone uses an HTPC.

Absolutely, I watch quite a bit of TV and try to keep up with the "best" shows, but it's hard. I've definitely dropped a few like True Blood, American Horror Story, etc. that I used to love but just don't have time for anymore with so much new quality content coming out. I don't think it's a huge deal though, at some point I might take a lazy weekend and binge through some of those seasons. In terms of real time viewing though, yeah it's becoming unmanageable. Then again I read Nielson reports the average American watches 5 hours of TV every day, which I find utterly ridiculous. At that level, it would be pretty easy to keep up.

I also think if the trend continues we'll see truncated seasons become more common. I think the days of 24 episode seasons on network shows are numbered, and even HBO has been cutting back most of their flagship shows to 8 or 10 episodes instead of the previous standard 13. I think this trend will continue.

My point was that if some people are going to post that running out of DVR space is a problem they repeatedly face, using an HTPC would eliminate the problem.

If that was your point, you should've written that at first, instead of stating you "didn't understand" how people could run out of DVR space.

And most people will just delete stuff from the dvr rather than get an htpc.

Here is what my current schedule looks like:


and that doesn't even include the anime I'm picking up for the Fall Season in a couple weeks; nor does it include any shows I'm watching that has finished airing.

I try not to cut shows I like just because I have a bunch to watch; but it does make me a little hesitant about picking up new shows as well as I tend to drop shows that fall below a certain level, even though I wouldn't have dropped them if my plate wasn't as full.

My answer is no. There's no good show that I like or think I'll like that I'll refuse to watch because I feel there's too much other good stuff out there.

I actually think it's the opposite. I think because there are so many better options now than ten years ago, it saves me from sitting through crap that's "just OK" with the hope that it'll get better or return to form.

Actually, if anything, the amount of great TV options has hurt my ability to go back and either watch an old show I missed (like "Six Feet Under") or an old show I watched originally but would like to re-watch ("The Shield" or "The Wonder Years"). It's hard to justify (time-wise) going back and re-watching a show you loved--which you know will take a significant investment of your time--when there's so much other new stuff you can watch...and you know it's good.

Ten years ago, I would've spent all summer rewatching a show I liked on DVD. Now, I'll spend that time watching a new series like "Humans" or "Daredevil."