Movie Hawk » Tuesday Night Fights

…not to be confused with Friday Night Lights, which is on Wednesday and is a fantastic show. Start watching.

In the age of Tivo, Netflix, BitTorrent, iTunes, free streaming episodes online, and the still-reliable VCR, it’s almost inappropriate to complain about the unavailability of time to watch television. But for several weeks now, I’ve been dealing with an incredible internal struggle on Tuesday nights: whether to dedicate my hour between 9 and 10 p.m. to watch Veronica Mars or House. That debate intensifies on nights like tonight, when I will not be in my house during that hour and must tape both, but only watch one before I collapse after an evening of not knowing my lines for Beauty and the Beast.

Now, the virtues of Mars have been sung before in the local blogosphere, but it seems to be on its way out at the CW, and House has captured my attention since this summer, when I decided to speed through two seasons’ worth of episodes, and it seems like Fox is dedicated to keeping it on the air. The question is whether to go down with the good ship Veronica and keep up with the goings on of Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital on some kind of recording or to witness the last days of Mars on my VCR while capitalizing on the goodness of House in HD. Anyone out there watch both shows and want to give me some guidance?

4 Responses to “Tuesday Night Fights”

on 14 Feb 2007 at 8:27 am 1.elizabeth said …

One word: DVR. It’s easily the best invention ever (and only costs $10 extra per month, and you get HD channels on the same box!). You can record up to two shows at once at the same time. It’s f-ing fabulous. And you’re hearing thsi from a long-time VCR user–I am a total convert now.

on 14 Feb 2007 at 10:10 am 2.Joe B. said …

Your petty little problems mean nothing to me.

Spring for the DVR! Thanks to that magical box I can tape Heroes and tape RAW at the same time.

It’s not like you’re buying coffee with that money.

on 16 Feb 2007 at 11:54 am 3.Meadie said …

I feel your pain, Jeff. This has also been a great struggle for me. I live in the dark ages…one tv/vcr (the same one I received for my first year of college)and…wait for it….I don’t have cable. I watched House from day one, and sped through V Mars on DVD after its first season. At my sister’s urging, I opted to watch V Mars this season and figured I’d catch up with House on DVD. I’m not sure if it’s the right decision though, as Veronica’s spunky and sarcastic personality seems more bratty and self-righteous these days. Sometimes I’d like House to give her a good swift kick in the ass.
As for your dilemma, since you’ll eventually get to watch both, I think you should tape the show you find yourself more desperate to fast forward through the commercials to get to the next scenes.

on 16 Feb 2007 at 2:12 pm 4.Tom G said …

Three words Jeff: D. V. R.

It’s considered part of the starter kit for an entertainment hound like yourself.