The Dilemma of DVR

Digital Video Recorder. I remember fondly the day during sophomore year of college that I received a mysterious silver box in the mail from my sister. Little did I know that this box and the technology it held would change my life and television-watching across the world, forever. It was only a year prior when my roommate and I meticulously programmed my combo TV/VCR to the minute to record our daily fixes of Days of Our Lives and Passions that we would devour in the evenings. When it came to primetime TV however, there weren't enough VHS tapes to accommodate the programming we wanted to watch. So we had to choose. While it was difficult, the pre-DVR era forced us to commit to our shows whether it was the final season of Dawson's Creek or the new brand of reality, Joe Millionaire. We were singularly attached to these shows because we had to arrange our lives around them. Make time or miss it. The time I put into those shows automatically invested me in the characters and storylines because (sadly?) I was missing part of my life to be a part of theirs.

The advent of DVR has changed all of that and I fear it has ushered in an age of... television polygamy if you will. No longer do we have to pledge allegiance to our primetime players. Instead we have the option of recording multiple shows at once and catching others online. While this has undoubtedly increased convenience and access to shows (shout out to my TV Night crew) I'm here to confess today that I feel I am a television floozy, a harlot, a strumpet. Yes I have the shows I'm devoted to week after week but I still play the field, have my shows on the side that I can go to when I need a fun time or to change things up a little bit. Recently I've been feeling a bit guilty for leading on some old favorites. Kind of like that old friend who you know will always be there but recently prettier, shinier, more exciting friends have taken their place and you don't find yourself dialing them up like you used to. So readers of GSATW - I'm leaving this one up to you. I currently have 3 unwatched episodes each of Heroes, Brothers and Sisters and Ugly Betty on my DVR. Do I continue to lead them on with the prospect of future viewing? Or is it time to be honest with them, tell them things just aren't going to work out and let them loose and move on to greener pastures? Please leave your thoughts in the comments and save me from becoming the television watching version of Paris Hilton...because no one wants to see that.