# Blocking specific programs



## kennyraskin (Jul 29, 2006)

I have a 14 year old son, and he, my wife and I share our TV and Tivo. While we are certainly not prudish about what he watches (PG 13 movies, TV 14 shows, and some of the more sophisticated animated shows such as Family Guy), there are shows on our TV, mostly through HBO and Showtime, such as Real Sex, or Entourage to name two, that we don't want him to watch. 

I am surprised that a system as sophisticated as Tivo doesn't simply have a way of blocking individual shows. It seems it would be easy to put a menu button within the menu of each show that allows one to lock it, and to be able to open it up with a password or PIN code... 

I know that Tivo has Tivo Kids Zone, and that makes a lot of sense for kids. For early teens, however, it's a bit limiting. So I am wondering if anyone knows a way to do what I am wanting to do. If not, how can I make sure that the developers of Tivo see this recommendation? Any response will be welcome. Thank you.


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## aadam101 (Jul 15, 2002)

kennyraskin said:


> If not, how can I make sure that the developers of Tivo see this recommendation? Any response will be welcome. Thank you.


The developers at Tivo don't give a damn what you think or what you want. You could call and ask. They will put your request into a database that nobody will ever look at. Maybe there is no database and they will just pretend to do it.

All I know is that Tivo stopped listening to customers a long time ago. If you had asked this question circa 2003-2004 someone from Tivo would have probably chimed in and at least offered to listen to your idea. Those days are long gone.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

Tivo has parental controls where you can block shows based on the rating. You can block specific channels by removing the check mark for that channel in the channel list. If you put a password on the parental controls, the channel list and the ratings limit can't be changed without entering the password.


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

kennyraskin said:


> I am surprised that a system as sophisticated as Tivo doesn't simply have a way of blocking individual shows. It seems it would be easy to put a menu button within the menu of each show that allows one to lock it, and to be able to open it up with a password or PIN code...


Tivo has actually made it easier for you than having to go through every show in the program guide to decide what to block. Parental Controls allow you to block entire channels, or programs based on rating and content. You could block all TV shows rated TV-MA. You can block all movies above PG-13. You can block all programs that contain Nudity, Violence, and/or Language. All of which can be unlocked/accessed by entering your PIN. Parental Controls can be set to automatically re-lock once the unlocked program is over.

There may be plenty of shows you are aware of that you don't want your son to watch but there are plenty more you don't know about.


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