# The Birth of Tivo



## dzirpolo (Oct 14, 2001)

At the end of the free TiVo preview of The Big Bang Theory on CBS, Chuck Lorres vanity card gives us the real genesis of TiVo. The story is finally out, where the name came from, and who really came up with the idea for TiVo and why.  Totally worth reading. I loved it.

D


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Can you summarize for those of us who don't get these previews?


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## dzirpolo (Oct 14, 2001)

I will post the whole vanity card this afternoon, unless someone beats me to it.

Sorry, I should have thought of that as I only came across it when I was checking my series 2. The preview did not show up in my showcases on my series 3 only on my series 1 and 2s.

D


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## dzirpolo (Oct 14, 2001)

I did not think I would have time to do this now but here is the whole transcript of Chuck Lorre's Vanity Card at the end of The Big Bang Theory on CBS. (Hopefully all that avoids copyright infringement)

D


CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, TIVO

Back when I was writing and producing Dharma and Greg the only way to read my cards was to record each episode on a VCR and hit the pause button. This was not an easy task. The image wobbled like crazy making the tiny words of my weekly tomes very hard to see. Then it hit me. What about building a device that records video images digitally? Wouldnt this allow for a much more precise pause function? I took my little notion to an impoverished computer wiz by the name of Schlomo Tivowitz. At the time of our meeting Schlomo was feverishly trying to invent an improved version of the George Forman Grill. Schlomos grill would contain a hard drive that remembered all the details of your last barbecue, as well as an address book. I didnt really see the point of it, but, not being a tech guy, I held my tongue and presented him with my idea. I will never forget his reaction. With hamburger-flecked spittle flying from his blueberry lips, he laughed, called me some very unkind names and demanded that I leave his mothers basement immediately. My hopes dashed, I went back to work on Dharma and Greg and forgot about my silly idea. Well, Im sure you can figure out what happened next. The fact that youre reading this card right now should tell you. Thankfully, its not in my nature to be bitter. But there are times when I feel a little used  usually when I have forgotten how to effectively grill a fatty piece of chicken.


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## anom (Apr 18, 2005)

If this guy spent less time working on title cards and more time working on scripts, maybe The Big Bang Theory wouldn't have sucked as much.


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## Welshdog (Jan 4, 2005)

anom said:


> If this guy spent less time working on title cards and more time working on scripts, maybe The Big Bang Theory wouldn't have sucked as much.


And tell us what TV shows you have written so we can compare your work.


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## d_anders (Oct 12, 2000)

anom said:


> If this guy spent less time working on title cards and more time working on scripts, maybe The Big Bang Theory wouldn't have sucked as much.


It's certainly no Friends or Frasier, but I thought it was amusing. Pilots are trying to do too many things to sell a show...I'll give it a season to see how really it will work out. The jokes were good, but certainly the depth of the show needs a little work. I like the premise, now I expect them work on it....especially the girl...she doesn't need to be that dumb.


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## jayfest (Mar 25, 2003)

d_anders said:


> It's certainly no Friends or Frasier, but I thought it was amusing. Pilots are trying to do too many things to sell a show...I'll give it a season to see how really it will work out. The jokes were good, but certainly the depth of the show needs a little work. I like the premise, now I expect them work on it....especially the girl...she doesn't need to be that dumb.


I mostly agree. I actually was afraid she was going to be dumber - say, as dumb as the character she played on 8 Simple Rules. She's doesn't seem to be as mean or self-centered as that character, either. I think Chuck Lorre's stuff, while not so deep, is very funny. Two and a Half Men consistently makes me laugh, even though half the humor is dick jokes. You can see that Lorre is a tortured guy (and he certainly contributes to his own torture as much as anybody else does). The clearest example of this is on his own vanity cards (the complete set of which can be found at www.chucklorre.com). I thought the TiVo story was a typical, amusing, self-serving, Lorre story. Not that I believe any of it ....


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## anom (Apr 18, 2005)

Welshdog said:


> And tell us what TV shows you have written so we can compare your work.


Wow. I didn't realize that only professional television writers were allowed to have opinions on the quality of tv shows. I guess I'll never again be able to assess the merit of any tv show for myself, since I don't really have any aspirations to be a tv writer.

At least I don't need my Tivos anymore, since I have no way of telling if any random infomercial or reality show that's on when I feel like watching TV is better than the stuff I usually record. You just saved me $15 a month. Thanks!


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

tossing my hat in the ring, I love Two and a Half Men, always have, until How I Met Your Mother came along, it was the only sitcom on my SP list.

While Big Bang is equally dumb, I like the caricatures (they're not gelled into characters yet) and found the geek quotient to be fairly accurate, but will be dated in a few years, and if they can keep up, it'll be a great snapshot of geekdom.

Diane


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

dzirpolo said:


> Back when I was writing and producing Dharma and Greg the only way to read my cards was to record each episode on a VCR and hit the pause button.


BUZZZZ!!!

I was pausing these on my Tivo.


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## JustAllie (Jan 5, 2002)

jayfest said:


> I thought the TiVo story was a typical, amusing, self-serving, Lorre story. Not that I believe any of it ....


Are you saying that the TiVo was not invented by an impoverished computer wiz by the name of Schlomo Tivowitz, who got the idea from Chuck Lorre?!?


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

I want a George Foreman grill with a hard drive!


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## jayfest (Mar 25, 2003)

JustAllie said:


> Are you saying that the TiVo was not invented by an impoverished computer wiz by the name of Schlomo Tivowitz, who got the idea from Chuck Lorre?!?


I'd say it's about as likely as Chuck Berry getting the idea for "Johnny B. Goode" from Marty McFly.


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