The Tele

I can honestly say that DVR has changed my life. About a year ago I moved out of my parents place where we had the same cable system for the past 10 years. Not only is is not digital cable, but we had it because there was a deal within our building. This happens plenty in NYC, where a specific cable company will give a reduced rate to specific buildings with the hope of getting the majority of potential cable customers from there. In any event, while many of my friends were started to get TIVO and DVR and digital cable, I was stuck on this old cable provider. When I moved into my new place, my roommate and I each got LCD/HD TVs, and we purchased the most expensive cable package there is, including DVR and HD. After my lull of about five years where I pretty much just watched HBO, MTV, and sports I was now open to a whole new world.

Now I can honestly say that my DVR is consistently packed with shows I love to watch. They include everything from new episodes of current faves (24, Scrubs), reruns of old classics (West Wing, 90210) and random events that we make sure to label as save until manually delete (Victoria Secret Fashion Show, Journey: Classic in Concert). The best part about DVR though is definitely the ability to keep up to date on my current crop of shows. Below is the list of them. Understand that they refelct not only a 23 year old male, but also a kid that grew up with two older sisters and as a result was watching 90210, Melrose Place, and Real World as early as the third grade. Anyway, here they are (in no particular order):

Scrubs
The Office
24
Grey's Anatomy
What About Brian
American Idol

In addition, I periodically have other shows in the DVR such as Desperate Housewives and My Name is Earl. Looking at this list it is interesting to see the distribution of networks on this list. NBC has the comedies, ABC has the corny/feminine shows, and FOX has the action/entertainment. There are reasons for my interest in each show, but the one I will elaborate on is the one most popular with this group I presume......24.

There are three major things that draw me to 24. First and foremost is Jack Bauer. The man (if you can call him mortal) is a true gangster. We have seen him fake his own death, kill massive amounts of people, torture people in the most bad ass ways, receive incredible amounts of torture, and have the greatest instincts of any terror fighting American in history. He is truly a TV character that will live in infamy.

Another important aspect to 24 is its relevance to society. While many of the story lines are ridiculous (more on this), they are based in a topic that is on everybodys minds in the world today; terrorism. Ever since 9/11, terror has been the #1 topic of politicians and as a guy living in NYC, it is still a relevant fear/thought in all of us. 24 is not only about terrorism and its prevention, but it lays out the paradoxes that our government faces. Issues that are true in real life as well, such as just case, aggression, and human rights. While 24 often goes to extents not seen in the real world, the basic dilemmas that the show confronts is something that hits home for a lot of average citizens and government officials.

The often ridiculous levels that 24 goes to is also a reason for watching the show. The absolute absurdity that this all happens in one day, combined with the perpetual bad luck of Jack Bauer and the tremendous amount of pain he receives/dishes out often reaches humorous levels. That craziness, plus characters such a the constantly conflicted Cloe make 24 not only an action adventure, but also a supplier of consistent laughs.

Random DVR note:

I am very pumped to DVR the Federer/Roddick semifinal match from the Australian Open. I remember when I was younger trying to set my alarm to wake up for an Andre Agassi match in Australia and sleeping right through it. This time I plan to wake up and watch this potential classic before work so the result is not ruined. Plus, I can fast forward to the key parts of the match. Oh, DVR...

• I have not really gotten into Prison Break. I know a bunch of people are really into it though..
• So far I would saw I like the Arizona Cardinals as the best chance for immediate success with their new head coach. They have a ton of young offensive talent and are bringing in a guy in Wisenhunt that coached under Bill Cowher in Pittsburgh and he is bringing along with him Russ Grimm, who was also a bigtime assistant in Pittsburgh. Cohesion within the coaching staff is an under-rated aspect to success in a new coach. Wisenhunt seems to be building the kind of staff that he wants so far...
• The Raiders are still in a lot of trouble. Before I believe in them, changes need to come from the top. Al Davis needs to pull back a little and let people do their jobs before he jumps down their throat. An interesting and random part of the Bellichick book was the part about Al Davis. The book on him is that he is constantly evaluating his coaches, fornt office, players, etc. No like your typical team, but instead on a daily basis instead of over a longer period of time. Unless there is a strong enough head coach in there to keep some sort of reins on Davis, this constant pressure from the owner causes many players, coaches, etc to wilt and their performance drops continuously...
• The Knicks are in big trouble with the Suns comin to town and Marbury likely sittin the game out...
  
  STKAFI