# Fast forwarding during TV shows when not interested...



## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

I have started a new thread so as not to go off topic on the Homeland thread that started this

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=522741



efilippi said:


> This is in danger of going off topic but I see this comment in threads about all kinds of things and am just baffled that people would watch a movie or tv show or by extension read a book and just Fast Forward whenever they get to a spot that 'bores' them. How does one know just when to hit the button and then just when to stop? Baffling.


I do it all the time.

Some examples:
SCANDAL - I pretty much fast forward when ever Olivia Pope and The President are alone. No seriously, - they have been having the same conversation since episode 1. Over it.

I have also found on some shows there is the main storyline / character and then there are sub-plots that have nothing to do with the main plot.

Examples:
Remember JUDGING AMY?
Amy's character had a brother played by Dan Futterman. The brother had a subplot that never had anything to do with Amy or her mother (Tyne Daly). The actor Dan Futterman left the show and they brought in Kyle Rahm and his character Kyle McCarty (I had to look all that up).
The Kyle McCarty character had subplots in every episode that you could fast forward through and it had zero significance on watching the rest of the show.

Interestingly enough the creator of the show is Barbara Hall who now has MADAM SECRETARY on the air and she is doing the same exact thing with Tim Daly's character. He recently had an episode where he went off on his own story that had nothing to do with Tea Leoni. PERFECT fast forwarding material 

On the shows that I do this with, I usually make sure to watch the "previously on" to see if I missed anything of great importance - but I fast forward all the time.


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## markp99 (Mar 21, 2002)

Most memorable for me: Sopranos & Melfi = FF


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## madscientist (Nov 12, 2003)

I don't FF dramas. But I'll FF lots of other things: Survivor or any other reality show (the only other ones I watch are the competitions like The Voice, SYTYCD, etc.), Talking Dead, SNL, talk shows like Jimmy Fallon (I _always_ FF the couple of minutes right after his monologue where he talks about what guests are coming up during the week), etc. And of course the news (all coverage of fires and cute animals that were abandoned). Oh and sports.


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## Alfer (Aug 7, 2003)

Happens to us on *How to get away with murder*. Almost every episode.

Also I do it if there's a guest I want to hear/see on shows like Fallon or Kimmel. I skip the spots where there are other guests I don't care about being interviewed.


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## Timbeau (May 31, 2002)

Sons of Anarchy, anytime Gemma, Unser, Tara is on. I used to FF through all Juice scenes but I'm more tolerant now. Yeah, I can watch some episodes in as little as 10 minutes. Why do I watch it at all? Because I like those 10 minutes and I hope things will get better.


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## brermike (Jun 1, 2006)

This is baffling to me, too. I can understand if you're fast-forwarding through a scene here or there for whatever reason but to fast forward through every X scene of every episode because it is the "same" or "boring" or whatever - how do you know if you're always fast-forwarding through it?


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

The only shows I FF in are news shows; I'll skip stories that don't interest me.

Dramas are (supposed to be) scripted as holistic units. If there is regularly stuff that doesn't matter to the larger storyline, then it's probably a badly-written show that I won't keep watching anyway.


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## DougF (Mar 18, 2003)

SNL. I watch in about 15 minutes, usually.


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

Or NFL games.....ball is down....30-sec skip. Game watched in about 45 minutes


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## markp99 (Mar 21, 2002)

jlb said:


> Or NFL games.....ball is down....30-sec skip. Game watched in about 45 minutes


YES! Though, hurry-up offense mucks this up (<30 sec to snap), occasionally "spoils" a good play.


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## realityboy (Jun 13, 2003)

American Idol is the only show that I use ff for. I always just ff to the performances and critiques on the performance shows. 

Scripted shows live or die based on the entirety of the show. Either I like it enough to devote 45 minutes to watching it or I don't. There's no shortage of replacement shows.


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## Honora (Oct 16, 2006)

My sisters used to record their 3 favorite soaps that were on while they were working, and then catch up on Saturday or Sunday (which would be the days I would visit my mother with whom they lived). 

They would skip over the storylines they didn't like, and get caught up for the week in an hour and a half to two hours. 

Getting stuck being there while they did this, I couldn't help but notice how stupid most of shows were. They had interchangable characters and storylines, and they would take sooo much time to get anything done. 

One week, a damsel-in-distress blonde had been kidnapped and was locked in a cellar (screaming a lot). Her heroic type boyfriend was at a cocktail party. In every episode that week he would say to whoever he was talking to, "I have to find (insert name here)", and start for the elevator. The next day you find out he stopped to talk to somebody else (same line), and the girl was still being menaced in the basement. It took him a whole week to make it across the room and into the elevator!! Of course you don't notice this sort of thing unless you do binge watch.


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

markp99 said:


> YES! Though, hurry-up offense mucks this up (<30 sec to snap), occasionally "spoils" a good play.


That's when a one-button sequence on a Harmony remote comes in handy; 8 seconds back, 30 seconds forward


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

Never understood it for dramas or comedies. Probably never will.


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## scooterboy (Mar 27, 2001)

cherry ghost said:


> That's when a one-button sequence on a Harmony remote comes in handy; 8 seconds back, 30 seconds forward


Ooh - I'm going to have to play with that!


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> The only shows I FF in are news shows; I'll skip stories that don't interest me.
> 
> Dramas are (supposed to be) scripted as holistic units. If there is regularly stuff that doesn't matter to the larger storyline, then it's probably a badly-written show that I won't keep watching anyway.


Pretty much this. Excluding reality/news/etc, I don't FF. If I find myself getting antsy, the show goes on the bubble. Too much "why TF doesn't this story MOVE already", and it joins the glory of the Deleted SP list.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> The only shows I FF in are news shows; I'll skip stories that don't interest me.
> 
> Dramas are (supposed to be) scripted as holistic units. If there is regularly stuff that doesn't matter to the larger storyline, then it's probably a badly-written show that I won't keep watching anyway.


I only FF sports (if my team is losing with little hope of coming back), news shows like 60 Minutes or Real Sports if there's a story I don't care about, and sometimes the recap of last season's episode. I never FF scripted shows. For the Sopranos-Malfi example, if you FF during the time when she was "in danger" you might have missed the whole reasoning behind it. Unless you know ahead of time that there's nothing important happening during a said scene, how would you know you're not missing something?


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## efilippi (Jul 24, 2001)

I'm in the group that won't FF in a scripted show but do do it for news and late night. We don't watch much sports or reality so they are not really an issue but I imagine they would also be prime candidates for the FF button.

I can't get used to the 30 second skip: It seems to go too far or not far enough, which then of course results in a too far. The way that Tivo's FF button works is perfect for me, the way it auto rewinds just a bit depending on how fast you were forwarding usually puts the 'live' play in just about the right spot.


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## allan (Oct 14, 2002)

I often do it for news. For scripted shows, I might FF past a subplot that I find boring. Sometimes there's enough good stuff in a show that I'll continue to watch the good parts and skip the bad. But if I'm doing it consistently, I'll probably drift away from it and do/watch something more interesting.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

I don't FF through any program content except commercials, although on occasion I'll FF through an NFL game if I inadvertently see the score from a later point in the game. I'll often record two games airing at the same time and switch back and forth between them. If I see an updated score on the other game for a segment I haven't watched yet I'll FF until I get caught up to that point.

My feeling is, if the show bores me enough to want to FF through parts of it then it's not worth recording in the first place. I'll just stop watching it and delete the series recording at that time and move on to something I'd rather watch.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

mr.unnatural said:


> My feeling is, if the show bores me enough to want to FF through parts of it then it's not worth recording in the first place. I'll just stop watching it and delete the series recording at that time and move on to something I'd rather watch.


This is me- I could never just skip stuff because I _know_ it could come back to bite me later on when I don't understand something.


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## MikeMar (Jan 7, 2005)

I think Sports, Reality competition shows, and SNL are a whole different category vs scripted shows.

I never have FF'ed a scripted show (on the first run) but do it all the time on the above categories.


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## jr461 (Jul 9, 2004)

Cainebj said:


> SCANDAL - I pretty much fast forward when ever Olivia Pope and The President are alone. No seriously, - they have been having the same conversation since episode 1. Over it.


I agree with this example 100000%! Excruciating. However, I still don't FF. With my luck something will finally be said that's pivotal and I will have missed it. lol. It's an opportunity to check email, web surf for a couple of minutes, etc.

I don't routinely record sports or news but they are prime for FF-ing. Same for the various talent shows. But like many others, I don't FF scripted shows.


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

jr461 said:


> I agree with this example 100000%! Excruciating. However, I still don't FF. With my luck something will finally be said that's pivotal and I will have missed it. lol. It's an opportunity to check email, web surf for a couple of minutes, etc.


This. Exactly.


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

I use the FF liberally during late night Cinemax movies.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

TriBruin said:


> I use the FF liberally during late night Cinemax movies.




:up:


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

MikeMar said:


> I think Sports, Reality competition shows, and SNL are a whole different category vs scripted shows.


I know what you _mean_, but SNL is completely scripted.

I actually have all of this season and I think most of last season's SNL not watched.. but when I was watching it regularly, I _used_ to FF through boring skits.. Then I got addicted to my 'watch faster than realtime' recorder... which I can now do about as easily on my iPad with VLC (without the need for realtime play to the other recorder).

Basically, some of the bad skits had just a bit of funny in them, but weren't funny enough to watch realtime..

If I could realistically watch scripted shows faster than realtime and "get" all of it, I would. (I listen to podcasts all the time at 2x too -- only have to skip back once in a while.)


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## spartanstew (Feb 24, 2002)

The only shows I do this with are some of the contest shows. When I watch American's Got Talent or American Idol, I only watch the performances. I don't care about the background of the performers and almost always fast forward through that stuff. I usually fast forward through the professional performances on those shows too that they use as filler.

Well, and Sports, of course. And late night talk shows.


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## madscientist (Nov 12, 2003)

jlb said:


> Or NFL games.....ball is down....30-sec skip. Game watched in about 45 minutes





markp99 said:


> YES! Though, hurry-up offense mucks this up (<30 sec to snap), occasionally "spoils" a good play.


Yeah, you cannot watch the Pats this way. You'll miss half the plays.


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## Satchel (Dec 8, 2001)

markp99 said:


> Most memorable for me: Sopranos & Melfi = FF


oh yeah...


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## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

I remember doing this to a reality show - it was too painful to watch so I just hit it at 2x and finished it in under half an hour. I just read the closed captions back in the day.

Too painful to watch at real time, too compelling to not watch, to see whatever redeeming factor it had.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

I tried re-watching _Six Days, Seven Nights_ that way -- watching all the Harrison Ford scenes and FFing through the David Schwimmer sub-plot. It didn't work.

The editing is such that there is too much switching back and forth between them, and the DVD's FF wasn't anywhere near as good as the TiVo remote.

I guess I'll just have to rip the DVD someday and make my own cut.

If I'm in a hurry to get caught up to live so I can make the voting window, I will skip the 'package' on shows like SYTYCD and DwtS, and just watch the performances.

As others have said, for late-night TV or daytime talk shows, I'll FF to the guest I want to see. And if I'm watching figure skating and there's a skater I wouldn't watch at the rink either, I might FF through that.

But for scripted shows, I watch all the way through.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

My wife fast-forwards over scenes when the drama gets too tense; which drives me completely batty. I don't let her do it if we're watching together. I would never skip scenes in scripted drama; but for sure I do it when:

1) Alex interrogates contestants about their petty personal lives on Jeopardy

2) I watch SNL looking ever-hopefully for a funny sketch. (There was one a couple of years ago...)

3) Viewing late-night Showtime movies to avoid the bad acting.

4) Indulging a guilty pleasure, the only reality show I watch: "Top Shot", in which I fast forward over all the stupid bickering and psycho discussion.

Which is actually quite a lot, looking back at it. But for scripted shows I feel that if there's an urge to FF then you should probably delete the season pass. Or go read a book.


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## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

I FF through much of "Days of our Lives." 90% is regurgitating plot points that I've heard already.

I also FF through the non-puzzle parts of "Wheel of Fortune." Sometimes I watch the puzzles at double speed. I can get through the whole program in 12-15 minutes that way.


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## Edmund (Nov 8, 2002)

On the Unit, I FF wives, on In Plain sight, the mother and sister.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

mattack said:


> If I could realistically watch scripted shows faster than realtime and "get" all of it, I would. (I listen to podcasts all the time at 2x too -- only have to skip back once in a while.)


I remember one of the biggest outcries when the Premiere was introduced was the loss of captions at FF2X speed. Perfect for so many shows... 

I should hook up an old S3 just so I can FF2X the Today Show. If _*ever *_a show cried out for FF...


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

astrohip said:


> I should hook up an old S3 just so I can FF2X the Today Show. If _*ever *_a show cried out for FF...


2 hours takes 20 minutes to watch. daily. without exception.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

MikeMar said:


> I think Sports, Reality competition shows, and SNL are a whole different category vs scripted shows.
> 
> I never have FF'ed a scripted show (on the first run) but do it all the time on the above categories.


Reality shows aren't even on my radar and will never be recorded. I haven't watched SNL in several decades so I couldn't even tell you who is in the cast anymore. I will FF through sporting events on occasion, but usually only if someone spoils the outcome for me or if the teams I'm watching are of no great interest other than it's just something to watch at the time.

Having to FF through any scripted show just indicates to me that it wasn't worth recording in the first place. If a show doesn't keep my attention for the duration of the show then it's gone from my lineup. For example, I've watched Haven from the very beginning but this past season has gotten so repetitive that I just hit STOP on my remote (yes, we can do that with WMC ) while in the middle of a recording a few weeks back and then cancelled the series on the spot.


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## spartanstew (Feb 24, 2002)

madscientist said:


> Yeah, you cannot watch the Pats this way. You'll miss half the plays.


When watching the Pats (and others), as soon as the plays over I hit the 8 second rewind and then the 30 second slip. Works out pretty well. Much harder to do with some college teams and in those cases I just use the single ff instead of the slip.

I also prefer the slip over the skip, because even on the 30 second slip, if I notice (quickly) that they're in a hurry up I can hit play and it immediately goes into play, so I catch 95% of the action (I might miss the actual snap, for example).


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

TriBruin said:


> I use the FF liberally during late night Cinemax movies.


I'm going to assume that you're FF'ing through the parts that got them their nickname in order to get back to the deeply engrossing plots, favoring exposition over exhibition, so to speak.


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## Snappa77 (Feb 14, 2004)

All of the Law & Order shows when they go into the main characters personal lives and issues. Sometimes Criminal Minds too. I only care about the current case. 30 sec skip the zzzzz inducing subplots.


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## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

I've gotta say that this thread is very enlightening! I too was always mystified at the rationale for folks FFing through scripted dramas. I wouldn't do it, but it makes sense for talk shows and other genres as mentioned.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

I sometimes ffwd through Juice scenes on Sons Of Anarchy. He's a useless, bad character


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## ScubaCat (Jun 26, 2003)

I'm a big fast-forwarder.


Every chase scene.
Every stalking scene.
Every guns-drawn house clearing scene.
Every sad character thinking about someone scene.
Every happy family enjoying an activity scene.
Every tennis player bouncing the ball 20 times before serving scene.
Most every musical number performed during a drama (I don't watch contest shows).

I'm sure there are a lot more. I know most of you don't agree with me and that is fine. This is how I enjoy watching TV when no one else is watching with me.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

ScubaCat said:


> I'm a big fast-forwarder.
> 
> 
> Every chase scene.
> ...


That leaves, what, about one scene per show?


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## agentpaul (Feb 28, 2002)

I FF all the time too. Shark Tank is the one I FF the most now. The recent episode about the celebrations of National Veterans Business Week was a perfect example.

I also FF on Criminal Minds when they show the gruesome murder scene. It's amazing that episode after episode, the writers find more grisly ways to kill a human being. Well, it seems it's mostly women.


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## ScubaCat (Jun 26, 2003)

Steveknj said:


> That leaves, what, about one scene per show?


Oh, a few more than that.


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## Marc (Jun 26, 1999)

DougF said:


> SNL. I watch in about 15 minutes, usually.


I'm not that extreme, but this was my choice of a commonly fast-forwarded show. There are certain characters/skits that I just don't care to watch again (having seen them so many times before), so I fast-forward through them.

The other time I might fast-forward a program is if there is excessively detailed violence. I don't care to watch that and would rather get back to the rest of the plot.


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## markp99 (Mar 21, 2002)

Long & extended fight or battle scenes really bore me. I usually FF thru them too.


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## KDeFlane (Jan 29, 2014)

I used to watch all of Top Chef and Project Runway, but after many seasons of drama have realized that I only want to see what the contestants produce. I'll skip to the part where they are presenting their results of the challenge. I may or may not stick around for the judges' critique. Iron Chef America is another one that only entertains me with the feast, not the prep.


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## spartanstew (Feb 24, 2002)

DougF said:


> SNL. I watch in about 15 minutes, usually.


Yes, I pretty much only watch the weekend update segment unless something else catches my eye.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

Here's some more of what I think about this.
And bear in mind that most of what I'm going to say pertains to movies, not television shows, and certainly not bad television shows.

I think Directors and Directors of Photography and editors and composers etc. all go to a lot of trouble to establish things like mood and atmosphere. I'm sure a good bit of thought goes into (or should go into) pacing and determining how our roller coaster of emotions plays out. Manipulating our viewing experience takes time and those slow spots are there specifically to serve some function. What good is "Boo!" when you weren't lulled into a false sense of security to begin with?

They are trying their damnedest to craft a piece of work that gives us something- comedy, drama, suspense- it all requires timing and fast forwarding messes with their product. 

Again, I don't mean brain candy light TV shows.
But a well written show that tells a story I want to hear with actors and behind the scenes people I like?
In these cases I think it is a bit disrespectful to undo all the work they put into it by skipping parts that they took the time and effort to include. 
A piece of work worth my time to watch deserves to be seen the way it was intended to be seen.

I don't always take this position  but mentioned it because I feel this way sometimes about some shows.


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## Jim_TV (Mar 4, 2006)

I cannot relate to this at all. Why the hell are you even watching the show if you fast forward through sections of it? I can't understand or even respect this on any level.


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## CraigK (Jun 9, 2006)

jlb said:


> Or NFL games.....ball is down....30-sec skip. Game watched in about 45 minutes


That's the way I watch NFL games (unless it's a hurry up). College games are not as reliably regular on the timing as the pros.

For Survivor I sometimes FF through the challenges and always through the voting.

A small one is during Ask This Old House I always FF during the What Is It segment while Tommy/Richard/Kevin/Roger are making up uses for the tool/object. I want to know what it is, but don't find their "explanations" all that entertaining.


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## madscientist (Nov 12, 2003)

For Survivor I FF _everything_ *except* the challenges and the vote reading. I've watched every season since the very first one and all the personal stuff is boring to me: I've seen it all before. Tribal Council is EXTRA boring.

Sometimes if I'm FF'ing through and something catches my eye (like someone quits or there's a injury, or maybe a crazy search for a HII or something) I'll rewind a bit to see what happened. But mostly I'm bored again after a very short time.

But, I still like to watch the challenges!


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Jim_TV said:


> I cannot relate to this at all. Why the hell are you even watching the show if you fast forward through sections of it? I can't understand or even respect this on any level.


Again, I don't really do it for regular scripted shows (I may 'zone out' on fight scenes in things like Person of Interest, where I know the good guys are just going to win anyway)... but I do understand it.

You *could* blame it on lack of attention span, being used to MTV style cutting, etc.. but I don't think so. It's just people trying to get the most entertainment "value" out of the time they're watching. Just like we skip the commercials, we skip the "boring" parts. (As I have said before, a show can be people just talking, but as long as it's forwarding the plot, it can be very engaging.)

The people skipping HUGE sections of plot in shows, that is way extreme for me.. but I do sort of see people ignoring whole characters or scenes with characters.


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## andyw715 (Jul 31, 2007)

I don't FF but have the iPad ready during boring portions. That way I'm still listening in case something important happens.


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## Flop (Dec 2, 2005)

ScubaCat said:


> I'm a big fast-forwarder.
> 
> 
> Every chase scene.
> ...


I'll do this too on occasion. It really depends on:
- My mood
- My available time
- My backlog of recordings
- My overall interest in the show (some shows I only record because I find them mildly entertaining and they provide good time filler, for example: Bones)

In addition, I find myself more and more fast-forwarding flashback scenes. I just find flashbacks to be annoying.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

andyw715 said:


> I don't FF but have the iPad ready during boring portions. That way I'm still listening in case something important happens.


This (well in my case an Android tablet). If a part is boring, I'll look at the tablet and listen up for something interesting. When I find myself paying more attention the tablet rather than the show, it's time to delete the SP.


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## jamesl (Jul 12, 2012)

Jim_TV said:


> I cannot relate to this at all. Why the hell are you even watching the show if you fast forward through sections of it? I can't understand or even respect this on any level.


:up:


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## Alfer (Aug 7, 2003)

Jim_TV said:


> I cannot relate to this at all. Why the hell are you even watching the show if you fast forward through sections of it? I can't understand or even respect this on any level.


In many cases the FF parts are totally 100% irrelevant to the story. Thus FF'ng doesn't cause any harm at all.


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## Timbeau (May 31, 2002)

markp99 said:


> Long & extended fight or battle scenes really bore me. I usually FF thru them too.


This. And long extended car chase scenes.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

If TV bores you enough to fast forward through it then perhaps you guys need to find something else to do with your time that's less boring. Either that or only watch shows that actually interest you. It just seems counterintuitive to watch a show that you don't really care to watch.


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## markp99 (Mar 21, 2002)

mr.unnatural said:


> If TV bores you enough to fast forward through it then perhaps you guys need to find something else to do with your time that's less boring. Either that or only watch shows that actually interest you. It just seems counterintuitive to watch a show that you don't really care to watch.


That's too broad a conclusion. Example, I totally enjoyed The Sopranos, but the Melfi scenes were like nails on a chalkboard and, for me, added nothing to the overall story arcs, so FF and onto the rest of the story.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Man, I can't believe some of you don't know how to watch TV! It's really simple, let me explain it to you...


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

markp99 said:


> That's too broad a conclusion. Example, I totally enjoyed The Sopranos, but the Melfi scenes were like nails on a chalkboard and, for me, added nothing to the overall story arcs, so FF and onto the rest of the story.


Uhhh... you don't think the Melfi scenes added anything to the story arcs? We must have been watching a totally different show. Many of them had tremendous impact on how I interpreted things before and after them.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

markp99 said:


> That's too broad a conclusion. Example, I totally enjoyed The Sopranos, *but the Melfi scenes were like nails on a chalkboard and, for me, added nothing to the overall story arcs,* so FF and onto the rest of the story.


Except when they did, but how did you know?


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## markp99 (Mar 21, 2002)

Steveknj said:


> Except when they did, but how did you know?


I guess I was blissfully ignorant, and the bleeding from my ears had stopped.


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## aindik (Jan 23, 2002)

I never do this on dramas or comedies. (By comedies I mean sit-coms. Shows with actors. I'll do it on a show like SNL, but usually only for the musical act).

For sports with a clock, I fast forward while the clock is not ticking. So I'll watch in between plays in football if the clock is ticking, but not if it's stopped. I don't hit 30 second skip. I just hit 2X FF and then watch the clock and hit play when it starts moving again.

If the clock is moving but not on the screen (e.g. because they're showing a replay) I may fast forward through that.

I miss free throws in basketball this way, but I rarely watch basketball anyway, and I really don't need to see the free throws as long as I know what the score was before and after them.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

After swearing on a stack of scripts earlier in this thread that I never FF, I remembered one show...

I. Am. SPARTACUS!

Loved that show, but when a fight scene broke out, you were guaranteed about 30 seconds of absolutely useless slo-mo guts & gore. Weird "blood flying thru the air" and "parts of the human body never designed to see daylight, seeing daylight". It seems that FF1X was perfect for making sure you didn't miss anything, and reducing the amount of time one had to watch thru barely parted fingers.

And I really loved that show!

The moral of this story is of course, never say never.


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## MonsterJoe (Feb 19, 2003)

If a show or movie bores me enough that I want to FF, I shut it off. Ain't nobody got time fo dat


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Man, I can't believe some of you don't know how to watch TV! It's really simple, let me explain it to you...


That's much more succinct than the reply I was composing.

I don't FF but I understand why people do and wouldn't begin to tell other people that the way they enjoy watching TV is the wrong way.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

LOL. I'm always amused by arguments such as this. Some people feel the need to justify the way they do something when the reality is nobody really cares. Watch it or don't watch it. It's your time to waste, not mine. The only one they're trying to convince that it's the way to watch TV is themself.


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## teknikel (Jan 27, 2002)

It think this is interesting because we come here to discuss the shows we watch but, in reality, many of us are watch completely different programs.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

I fast forward through Baseball A LOT. Sometimes even the parts I want to watch I will watch at the X2 Speed.

I also find myself FF through parts of the semi-reality shows like Storage Wars and Shipping Wars.

Shows like The Voice and American Idol I use FF to get past back stories and get to the singing. I can watch an hour long Voice results show in about 10 minutes.


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## Solman (Nov 26, 2006)

If I couldn't FF through all but the start of SNL and Weekend Update, I would not watch it at all.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

I FF on every show and movie I watch and it is why I hate streaming. Trick play isn't accurate enough. 

I just find everything so predictable it is easy to skip chunks and keep up. Before I had TiVo I would watch 3-4 shows at the same time live. My roommate at the time didn't know how I could do it so I told him what was going to happen in each show before I flipped back to it.


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## efilippi (Jul 24, 2001)

Just wondering, do those of you who ff through scripted shows also tend to skim/skip through descriptive sections of books? I do skim or read more rapidly in some cases but try not to.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

efilippi said:


> Just wondering, do those of you who ff through scripted shows also tend to skim/skip through descriptive sections of books? I do skim or read more rapidly in some cases but try not to.


Yup. I tend to skip to the dialogue while skimming descriptions.


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## Flop (Dec 2, 2005)

efilippi said:


> Just wondering, do those of you who ff through scripted shows also tend to skim/skip through descriptive sections of books? I do skim or read more rapidly in some cases but try not to.


It depends on the book, author, series, etc. Some authors tend to get so damn repetitive (I'm looking at you Robert Jordan/Wheel of Time series) that I skim some paragraphs (or in Mr. Jordan's case, some pages and chapters  ). I tend to not give a flying fart about the descriptions of clothing/decor/etc in books. Knowing the color and style of a character's clothing does not affect my enjoyment of a book. In fact, long detailed descriptions lower my enjoyment. I'm in it for the story, not the detailed description of silk dresses.


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

I'm finding myself FFing a lot thru SNL these days. I keep trying to like it again but I really miss the original cast.....


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## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

jlb said:


> I'm finding myself FFing a lot thru SNL these days. I keep trying to like it again but I really miss the original cast.....


The original cast that left thirty-four to thirty-eight years ago?!


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

lambertman said:


> The original cast that left thirty-four to thirty-eight years ago?!


Sounds about right. That's pretty much when I stopped watching it.


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## leswar (Apr 14, 2005)

Some really funny responses.

I'll ff or skip thru all the car chase and fighting scenes.
They add nothing to the plot line.
...only act as filler -padding to a show's conclusion.

Sometimes a 30 sec skip between pitches in a MLB game
helps.


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## agentpaul (Feb 28, 2002)

Last 2 minutes of a tight basketball game. FF allows me to usually finish it within 2 to 4 minutes instead of 20 minutes.

FF between plays in a football game. The time saved is invaluable. Just that alone means I can squeeze in watching 2 games instead of only one.


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## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

Did anyone FF through "FlashForward"? That would have been sorta' "meta". 



Personally, I skipped it altogether.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

jlb said:


> I'm finding myself FFing a lot thru SNL these days. I keep trying to like it again but I really miss the original cast.....


On a related note, it was interesting watching the SNL Thanksgiving special. I don't know if they memorized their lines more or had better placement for the cue cards in earlier seasons, but every new skit had people just straight up reading cue cards. The old skits it wasn't really obvious most of the time if they even glanced at them.


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## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

innocentfreak said:


> On a related note, it was interesting watching the SNL Thanksgiving special. I don't know if they memorized their lines more or had better placement for the cue cards in earlier seasons, but every new skit had people just straight up reading cue cards. The old skits it wasn't really obvious most of the time if they even glanced at them.


And on the cue card bugaboo, here's a clip from the Carol Burnett Show featuring two great comic actors performing an extended scene with no apparent cue card interactions and completely believable acting. And as far as the writing goes, great beginning and ending for the sketch. Why is this an impossible feat for today's SNL?


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## AeneaGames (May 2, 2009)

MonsterJoe said:


> If a show or movie bores me enough that I want to FF, I shut it off. Ain't nobody got time fo dat


Exactly!

Lately I noticed it with too many shows, even ones I had been watching for a few years already, finally decided to axe them. Granted I never FF, but can get the urge to grab my ipad and when I do that too often with a show it's time to stop watching it completely...


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## megory (Jan 23, 2003)

LOL, to think that some people think they need to tell people they are "less than" because they have styles in life that differ from theirs! And that so many people feel they have to justify their choices. Amazing.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

megory said:


> LOL, to think that some people think they need to tell people they are "less than" because they have styles in life that differ from theirs! And that so many people feel they have to justify their choices. Amazing.


What do you and _your_ friends do on message boards?
If it wasn't for discussing and justifying choices this place and others like it would not exist!


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Cearbhaill said:


> What do you and _your_ friends do on message boards?
> If it wasn't for discussing and justifying choices this place and others like it would not exist!


Still, there _is _a disturbing tendency for the tone to be less "Huh, you do it that way; I, on the other hand, do it this way" and more "You %$&#ing moron; can't you do it right like me?"


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## Flop (Dec 2, 2005)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Still, there _is _a disturbing tendency for the tone to be less "Huh, you do it that way; I, on the other hand, do it this way" and more "You %$&#ing moron; can't you do it right like me?"


Dammit Rob, you're posting wrong again. Do it right or get off the Interwebs!


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Flop said:


> Dammit Rob, you're posting wrong again. Do it right or get off the Interwebs!


I hate when I do that...


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## bobcarn (Nov 18, 2001)

FFing is something I almost never do. Half the time, I forget to FF through commercials. If anything, it takes me longer to get through a show because I'm always rewinding and replaying pieces and scenes I like. "Oooh! That was cool!" <rewind>


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## Alfer (Aug 7, 2003)

My son is conditioned to the DVR world he lives in. Always asking to "fast forward" shows when they are live. LOL

I tried to explain to him that when I grew up we didn't have these gadgets and could FF or rewind or record any shows and his eyes got as big as saucers. HAHA!

We watch A Charlie Brown Christmas last night and he was totally baffled when I told him that when I was a kid I was super excited when this show came on each Christmas but it only came on one time a year and if I didn't sit down and watch it, I couldn't watch it again for another 365 days. He was totally in awe of how prehistoric my old school TV days were.


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## bobcarn (Nov 18, 2001)

Alfer said:


> My son is conditioned to the DVR world he lives in. Always asking to "fast forward" shows when they are live. LOL


I get frustrated at times when I'm watching TV with my other half because we'll miss a piece of dialog, or we want to stop for a moment to do something, and we can't pause or rewind.


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