We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Remote
Stuff I don't hate, Stuff I hate December 2nd, 2009
Remember when your TV had twelve channels, 2-13, and that was enough on the dial?
Yeah.
And then we thought it was all cool and progressive to have channels that went up to a hundred or so?
Uh-hmmm.
My cable service just sent some hocus pocus through our receiver and suddenly my favorite channel is 1,129.
Discuss.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Stumble it!








December 2nd, 2009 at 6:42 pm
3,6, 10, 69, 206, 360, now turn it to:
9544
They all make sense. Good thing “Joe the Inventor” invented the remote – my little brother would end up with torn ACLs, with all the times I’d make him get up to change the channel.
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:42 pm
I don’t watch much television but Mo does. Even though we have a gazillion channels, she only watches about nine in total, and then only specific programmes on each channel. The more channels there are, the more rubbish they seem to air! Can you tell I’m not a TV person?
babs – beetle´s last blog ..How I named my blog
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:44 pm
I well remember. We at the time only had. 2 6 8 and 11. Then when we were older fox23 and two Christian channels.
When you don’t have cable you’ll watch alot of things on Pbs.
Now I get about 200 channels. Dvr, HD we think we have to have it or we will miss out.
Curtis´s last blog ..Christmas lights Skiatook Ok
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:01 pm
And what is so special about channel 1,129 Kath? Why is this your new favorite? Hmmm? Just what little gem did you and Dave discover there?
Jeff´s last blog ..Important Alert: USB devices can easily transfer viruses!
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Yeah, I remember! I also remember the test pattern if you stayed up long enough, and the national anthem if you were up at the start of the programming day!
It’s like the gears on my bike, I have way more than what I regularly use. And navigating with the remotes is clumsy. We watch just a handful of channels and a handful of shows. But the TV’s themselves are way cooler. We love our 42 inch plasma!
Ferd´s last blog ..So Grateful!
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:28 pm
TV sure has come a long way… I just bought a new one this weekend (I braved the crazies for Black Friday weekend) and it’s so big compared to my old one. I feel like I’m watching a movie screen and I love it.
I remember having a little black and white TV in my bedroom (complete with the dial!) and feeling cool that I could watch TV in my bedroom…
Your Daily Cute´s last blog ..Doggie Tucks Himself In for Bed
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:48 pm
I still only have channels that go up to around 100. I don’t have digital cable, but I wish I did just so I could DVR the shows I want to watch. I really only have a handful of channels that I actually watch though.
Surfie´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: Waianapanapa Beach State Park (Maui, Hawaii)
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Growing up, we had channels 2 (CBS), 5 (NBC), 7 (ABC), 9 (WGN) and 11 (WTTW (PBS)). Apparently, my favorite channel now is 52 (and it isn’t SciFi anymore, it’s SyFy, which is the STUPIDEST THING EVER). Or somewhere around there. Maybe. It could be 1387. I don’t know. I’ve stopped watching TV. Now I watch everything on DVD. It’s less stressful.
Kelly´s last blog ..Fractal No. 196
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:10 pm
I know how you feel. I had 1-74 until Tuesday when they came and put in a DVR box and now I have 1-946 and all I ever watch is FOX news, Bravo and two soaps on CBS. Once in awhile I watched HBO and I had gotten this letter from my cable provider that said if I didn’t get the DVR box my HBO and Encore would stop as of Nov 27. My kids kept saying if I had the box I didn’t need VHS tapes anymore – so here I am “an old dog trying to learn new things on the DVR box” I hate learning new things anymore.
grannyann´s last blog ..Recommend Christmas Present- ages 2-6 Children
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:17 pm
1,129 channels and not a thing to watch…
Kelleyand´s last blog ..How do you measure up?
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Hubby and I was just laughing the other day that we only got 2, 4, 5, 9, 11 and sometimes 30 for our viewing pleasure. Kids today have no clue about our deprived life
And our Satelite has given us a stupid favorite channel that is always on when I turn the TV on, errrrr!
TheFlyOnTheWall´s last blog ..Cash Gifting – It’s Just Plain Wrong!
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:48 pm
It scares me that there are 1200+ tv channels out there, and I have no clue what’s happening on any of them. I don’t even have cable. I do own a TV, but it’s got a bunch of text books piled on top of a file box in front of it so I can’t really see it. Watching movies requires a major excavation project. Oh well.
Kim´s last blog ..Now What?
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:22 am
Woah, that’s just amazing! I like the cartoon channels quite a bit, but they’ve been playing a lot of rubbish of late.
Except Powerpuff Girls… Bubbles FTW! ^-^
Elisha´s last blog ..So much spam still
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:43 am
I’ll be showing my grandkids stuff in the great Television Museum of the Future, pointing out how we only had 2,000 channels, and how we had to sit and watch it ourselves, instead of having everything directly pumped into our visual cortex. I will then say something that would be normal for our time, but will be horribly politically incorrect in the future, and we’ll be thrown out of the museum.
I’ve thought about this alot, actually.
Kevin´s last blog ..More Delicious Spam!
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:16 am
I remember when we all of a sudden could get one of those weird antennas and get UHF channels. We all did flips with excitement. I tried to explain to my kids once a while ago how TV used to come over the air and they would not believe me. They thought I was describing wireless technology like a cell phone or something and as they said that was not even invented way back when you were a kid.
Will´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday 12-2-2009
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:23 am
I am pleased to announce you have received a blog award. Congrats!
Jump over to my blog http://www.the-fly-on-the-wall.com to check it out. Have a great day!
TheFlyOnTheWall´s last blog ..Cash Gifting – It’s Just Plain Wrong!
December 3rd, 2009 at 4:11 am
In my country, back in the 90’s, I think we only have 3-4 channels. So, I have wished that at least we have 10 channels, but they gave us 100! LOL!! They are not free of course and we still have to pay the basic package about 36 channels plus 2 mini packages with 11 channels, and we don’t get to watch them all!
Choc Mint Girl´s last blog ..Same Old Christmas tree
December 3rd, 2009 at 4:31 am
For several year we had a broken channel nob. And there were two remote controls for that TV — me and my brother.
To change channels, you had to know what channel you were already on, then stick the needle nose pliers in the hole, grip the shaft, twist, and count until your got to the right channel. I’m glad we didn’t have 1,129 channels to deal with.
IF this keeps going we may have to start tracking channels in HEX.
Cromely´s last blog ..New Math Symbols
December 3rd, 2009 at 5:03 am
We don’t have cable, but I am proud to say that with the switch to digital we are up to a whopping 4 channels from 1 – Woo!(of course now they all croak during inclement weather). No, we are waging a different war here on the homefront: QUANTITY. I finally purchased a “remote control caddy” the other day and hosted a Remote Control Roundup. Would you believe the caddy is full?…Sheesh!
)
Jen´s last blog ..The Sarabear Chronicles: Part I
December 3rd, 2009 at 5:12 am
I am glad they make TVs with remotes now. I would hate to be removed from the lap every time the channel needs to be changed.
Daisy the Curly Cat´s last blog ..How Does THAT Work?
December 3rd, 2009 at 5:41 am
Baba Booey — The whole manual channel changing thing sounds so prehistoric, doesn’t it? Remember sitting on the floor in front of the TV so you could be closer to the knob? How far we’ve come.
Babs Beetle — I’m guessing I watch only about ten myself. I’m not one to try and figure out what all the new channels are for. How much good programming can there BE for that many?
Curtis — Our DVR has completely revolutionized the way I watch TV. I almost never watch a show when it’s actually airing. I do surf on the weekends more, and that will be made infinitely more annoying with the number of channels we have now. Ugh.
Jeff — Well, uh. We did get a whole host of new “special” channels for people who like their TV less clothed. But thankfully those don’t show anything unless you buy them, but reading the show titles is a laugh riot. BTW, channel #1,129 is the Bravo network. I’m a Project Runway and Top Chef addict.
Ferd — Me too! But just barely. We weren’t allowed to sleep on the couch that late into the night as a kid. I absolutely hate the remote they gave us for one of our secondary sets. It doesn’t have a DVR, just a regular converter box. The buttons on the remote are so tiny, it’s really hard to punch in a three digit channel number. The primary TV has a bigger control and so typing in a 4-digit number isn’t so bad. But STILL!!
Your Daily Cute — Congrats on the new purchase. When we got our 52″ HDTV, we abruptly stopped going to see movies in a theater. No need. It’s so big and beautiful, and with the audio system my husband bought, we feel like we’re in a theater anyway, all without annoying people! Same as you, it was a great day when my dad put a TV set in the bedroom my sister and I shared. We felt special.
Surfie — I swear, 100 channels is plenty. DVR-ing is wonderful. Can’t live without it!
Kelly — SyFy IS stupid! Why do they miss with perfectly fine names? I don’t watch DVDs too much because it’s like programming a bomb trying to get it to work. Husband tried to teach me which buttons to press to enable the DVD player, but I’m too lazy and frustrated to learn.
grannyann — When they changed ours the other day, so many of our channels changed their number and to make it worse, many of the ones that used to be clustered together that I liked are now spread around on the dial. I cannot find them! So now the hubs is trying help me set up a Favorites list that hopefully I can cycle through instead of a thousand channels willy nilly. Trust me when I tell you, you will fall immediately in love with your DVR. Learn it!
Kellyand — I’d say there are about 20 stations I’ll watch regularly. In total, we have 2,000 channels. Hmmm. One percent? Sad, isn’t it?
TheFlyonTheWall — They must think you are living in the stone ages. I think you might be able to change the channel you want to come on when the set turns on. We just changed ours to be the first in the series of HD channels. One thousand, I think. Thank you for the award! I’m a Superior Scribbler now!
Kim — That’s OK. I suspect there are a lot of people out there using their TVs as furniture. Same as their treadmills!
Elisha — I noticed they added a lot more cartoon channels on this go around. I had no idea there were that many.
Kevin — Hilarious! I just suggested to my husband the other day that they should have a device not unlike the thing they plugged into the back of Neo’s head in The Matrix that would feed me TV and then I could mentally change the channel. Too crazy? I don’t think so.
Will — Funny! It must be fun to see their wide-eyed looks of wonder when you tell them how technology worked in the stone ages.
Choc Mint Girl — Oh, you poor baby! Do you live in England, by chance? Somehow I remember reading TV described that way over there.
Cromely — Oh, man. We had, for a time, a similar broken scenario. I’ll never forget the time I made a big mistake with the screw driver and I hit in the basement because I was so afraid of my dad yelling at me that I broke it worse! I don’t recall that he did, but I remember cowering like a baby over it.
Jen — Oh, you can’t be serious! I think we need a caddy too. Our remote used to control volume is smaller than the others and always gets lost in the couch or under a cat.
Daisy the Curly Cat — You are right to be glad for the remote. It is not proper to move a warm, comfortable kitty for any reason, including loud commercials, stupid programming or a desire to watch something else. It says so in the Bible.
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:34 am
Yes the remote is a huge help.How would we all manage without one. I do remember before remotes and also before TV. I remember our family was one of the first ones in the neighborhood to get TV. It was so exciting. Who knew we would eventually have over 1000 channels.And with all those channels, guess what, there still isn’t much to watch, in my opinion.
Marg´s last blog ..Please don’t leave me
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:40 am
One of the many uses of kids – when remote is lost or broken you still have a channel changer.
What I don’t understand is how you can have over 1000 channels on a tv but there isn’t one thing on you want to watch.
sheila sultani´s last blog ..The Pain We Hide
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:12 am
1,129? Seriously? I think our TV only gets like 999 channels or something. And the last ones are the Spanish channels.
But they did mess everything up so now there’s no channels 50-180 or something like that. It’s annoying because I don’t know what channel Food Network is off the top of my head anymore.
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:28 am
Is that right after the mayonnaise channel?
Am I the only one who thinks, since we have more channels than ever and can record things on TiVO like crazy, fewer of us are interested in TV than we used to be when there were only a handful of channels? Or is that just me?
Stephanie Barr´s last blog ..Story Seed Challenge – Shakespeare’s idea
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:09 am
21.Kathy, that’s a huge post!
). What has changed is the TVs. No more big chunky boxes – they are big, wide, digital and better quality and they don’t take as much space.. that’s great. I’m worried about the channels though. There is so much thrash on TV today, especially those reality TV shows, biased news reports, cartoons that look terrible… On a brighter side, TV is great for entertainment and news, but it can also be educational (discovery, history, animals, national geographic channels..). I don’t spend too much time in front of it, but it’s certainly a part of my life. And my Panasonic remote is big 
It’s not like they just invented the remote…they have been around for a long time (mid 80s for me
pcmemoirs´s last blog ..Britney Spears is not Nr 1 any more
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:22 am
I always feel a little panic when people with digital TV hand me the remote and say, “Here, you can watch whatever you like,” because I’m all “NO!! I can’t FIND anything!”
And I am both my mother and my grandmother, simultaneously. And then I read my book.
Shieldmaiden1196´s last blog ..Err
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:27 am
Kathy,
I have the remote for you.
http://www.edumucation.com/images/remote.JPG
Google “really big remote” and you will find one that you can use with your glasses off.
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:31 am
i remember having to turn the channel to “U” for UHF and then to 34 for PBS and 62 for the small town station. On a 9 inch Black and white. Yeah, I am that old!
Chris Casey´s last blog ..My version of Random Tuesday Blogging!
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:08 am
I remember the day we first got a television. It was Christmas and I was about seven years old. Coming in through the black and white static was… Underdog!
When everything got all set up, we had three channels, 6 (NBC), 10 (CBS) and 13 (ABC). I was enough of a geek, even back then, that I built a special antenna that could pick up a distant station, channel 2, but it was also NBC, so it didn’t make much difference. We also managed to eventually get 19, which was a repeater station of channel 10. Also, during storms, we sometimes could get weird bounces and I would fiddle with the TV trying to keep the signal from half way across the country coming in. You can still sometimes get the same effect on AM radio.
As to channel 1,129, one of the issues that broadcasters are concerned about is ‘channel slamming’ where your channel gets stuck out in ‘digital siberia’. Back when we only had a few channels. we would surf all the channels, and sometimes find something interesting on a channel we didn’t watch. With so many channels these days, the chances of discovering an interesting new channel while channel surfing is greatly diminished.
aldon @ orient lodge´s last blog ..Hard Cider Update
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:09 am
I remember as a small kiddie in the UK, we had three channels. Three. Funny enough, they were all good!
Tiggy´s last blog ..Hit Parade: Songs for Sewage!
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:22 am
We’ve got the digital box thingy, but alas no cable. I’m too cheap.
Unfortunately, those boxes suck, because I still can’t get half the channels in. Remember Fox Viewing Positions? Yeah, we’re still doing that.
Tinkerschnitzel´s last blog ..Snow!
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:43 am
1129? Hell by the time you click through all of those whatever you might want to watch has ended. I think ours only goes into the 600’s – the music channels start at 401, then there is the “sport” package which we have no use for – actually we never watch anything below 149 – so many channels are duplicates – the regular one and the HD one. So many channels – nothing to watch. I have become so accustomed to recording everything (yea, DVR!) and then fast forwarding through the commercials that I simply can not watch a “commercial” show in real time. I forget why I’m sitting there and wander off…
Grace´s last blog ..I’m trying…
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:43 am
I watch the History Channel except when they do their Hitler programming. I am a fool for the Nostradamus Effect, but then I was one of the few people who was really disappointed when Y2K turned out to be a non event. As soon as The Real Housewives of NY comes back on I am there.
Jen´s last blog ..Meet the Family
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:57 am
I remember a time when we had only 3 channels and that was too much already, now I can’t even remember half the channels we have …
Nick Phillips´s last blog ..Keep It Simple, Stupid!
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I can’t find my remote most of the time. So, my set stays on HGTV all day and all night long. Let me know if you ever need to know how to stage your home or are looking for a vacation home in a foreign land or need to remodel your basement for extra income. I’ve got you covered.
MadMadMargo´s last blog ..The Fractured ABC’s Of Christmas – C
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:22 pm
I had Dish Network for about 15 years and loved it. I switched to DirecTV about 4 months ago – as soon as I found out that they have the “NFL Sunday Ticket” and “MLB Extra Innings”. My Dad loves the major league and college Boston teams (that’s where we are originally born and raised). He’ll be 81 in December and I think he should have whatever his heart desires. And he does now, at least as far as team sports are concerned!
Having said all that… I adore DirecTV and am very glad I switched! I have yet to lose my signal; something that happened fairly often with Dish Network.
And I go to bed very early so I completely LOVE my DVR that comes with DirecTV. It’s programmed by them and is as easy as pie to use!
And there you have my unpaid endorsement for DirecTV!
Barb – WillThink4Wine´s last blog ..How my blog got its name
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Maybe 1,129 is just a “vanity number.” Maybe there aren’t really that many channel and your channel just chose its parking spot for sentimental reasons. Just like there may be a 1313 Mockingbird Lane, but I bet there isn’t a 1 Mockingbird Lane. It probably starts off with 1000.
Chris@TheSnackHound´s last blog ..One…Two…Three…Peanut Butter Cookies
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:23 pm
*sigh*
The publicist remembers black and white TV.
*sigh*
Pricilla´s last blog ..So Who Won?
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Duhh! My honey would have a field day with all that channel changing. Me? I’d get motion sickness just watching him.
Leeuna´s last blog ..I’ll Be Cloned For Christmas
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
I remember when, over here in Ireland, we only had three channels. Then it went up to four and since the introduction of cable networks etc we can get hundreds. But I still struggle to find anything on TV that interests me. Give me a good book any day.
Jon´s last blog ..An Update on My Lump
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:09 pm
I so remember that TV. My kids would freak!
It doesn’t matter how many channels are on the TV, my husband would still watch ONLY FOOTBALL!
LaTonya´s last blog ..My First Career Choice
December 3rd, 2009 at 4:42 pm
I’m not much of a channel surfer. We recently downsized our cable package so that we only have about 400 channels. Once they’re gone, I don’t miss them at all.
But don’t take away my Bravo. That’s when things start to get violent.
JD at I Do Things´s last blog ..I’m Pretty Busy so you don’t have to be
December 3rd, 2009 at 4:52 pm
I seldom ever watch television and when I do it’s only a few basic ones. Bill pays close to 100 a month because he doesn’t like commercials, but he sleeps through all of them. I could very easily put in a video and let him sleep and only pay 40 bucks for basic.
Jude´s last blog ..Power Of Mental Influence
December 3rd, 2009 at 5:14 pm
I don’t watch tv that often but even when I do I tend to stick with the same channels. I can’t imagine a need for that many choices. What are they filling it all up with? more of that reality crap? I hate those shows.
ann´s last blog ..Your turn
December 3rd, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Yes it’s amazing how many channels there are on tv now a days. The problem is that most of the channels suck though..
Kris´s last blog ..Snack baskets – Sending the best gift basket updated Mon Jul 13 2009 4:13 pm CDT
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Marg — How cool you got to invite the first boob tube on the block into your house! I would venture a guess that if I watch even 5% of the channels available to me now, it’d still be too much time in front of the screen.
sheila sultani — That’s exactly what my sister says about her daughter. TV channels are definitely stretched too thin. Who’s paying for all that programming and so few viewers?
Regan — Seriously. You should check your channels, since we have the same provider. Food Network is somewhere in the 300’s I think. Bravo is 1,129. Like you, I hate that the sprinkled the old channels all around randomly. No way I can memorize my favorites anymore, which is why I’m setting up a favorites list. HOpefully, I can just scroll through that.
Stephanie Barr — I know! They should have one of those. Cripes, they have everything else. TiVo and DVRs are pretty much ruining the old way. I think advertisers know no one’s watching much of the odd ball channels. That’s why there are so many infomercials.
pcmemoirs — We love our HDTV like a member of the family. OK, not that much. But a LOT. I do love Travel, Discovery, Food Network, HGTV and TLC. Educational? Sometimes. A relaxing way to spend an evening when I’m not online? More like it.
Shieldmaiden — How much you wanna bet you’re better off with the book?
rattln along — Holy crap!!!!
Chris Casey — I’m old too. I remember UHF. Fuzzy, but we’d still watch it.
aldon — ARe you like a ham operator too, dude? You’re so right about diminished returns on high numbered channels. They spread them out so far, I have no choice but to try and set up a Favorites list. No way in hell I’m surfing through 2,000 channels to find the ten I like.
Tiggy — I’m starting to think the UK has something against television. Three? Only three?
Tinkerschnitzel — OMG. I had to google Fox Viewing Positions. Funny!
Grace — I record everything on DVR as well. It’s like the cafeteria plan of TV. Most beautiful invention of this decade.
Jen — Ah, yes. The Hitler channel. I love how you like your history stuff and the trashy stuff as well. You go girl.
Nick Phillips — Three again? Where do you people live?
MadMadMargo — I’m covered already. I’m a sucker for House Hunters. Seen every one.
Barb — Ah, that’s so nice of you. I’m sure he appreciates that. When they switched us, Dave looked into Dish TV and we decided to stick with RCN because of cost. I love my DVR too. Can’t live without it.
Chris — Well, they changed Bravo from 84 to 129, which isn’t that far off. But the HD version of it is in the thousands, so that’s where we hang out now. Luckily, all the HDs are bunched together. We watch far more of those than regular TV stations.
Pricilla — Don’t sigh too hard. So do I.
Leeuna — I’m annoyed with channel changing too. Especially because on the one set, without a DVR, you can’t surf fast. It’s painful.
Jon — I’m going to venture a guess that Europeans are way more cultured than us Americans because you’re heads haven’t been polluted by as many channels as we have. There. I said it.
LaTonya — Mine too. And that is why I hate Sundays in the fall.
JD at I Do Things – Same for me. In fact, that’s what channel #1,129 is. I’ll kill someone if they take it away. That reminds me. Top Chef! Watching that after I finish up these comments.
Jude — We got rid of all our premium channels (HBO, Showtime, etc) because the cost was too high for the payback. Through our DVR, we can rent movies for six bucks via video on demand. Works out great and a lot less expensive.
ann — This will give you an idea. With our new setup, we get over a dozen SHOPPING channels. Sick, huh?
Kris — Agreed. They screwed up a perfectly good thing.
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Wow…Mine hasn’t gone that high yet. We are still in the hundreds. I’ll have to watch out for the higher number change. I will just have to program my favorites if they get that high. Too many channels to surf through to find something. Now I ask what on all those channels?
Auntie E´s last blog ..Tell Me Thursday-And The Winner Is……
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:38 pm
That’s crazy. A 6 yo can’t even count that high! That’s too many numbers to punch into the remote. Zany cable company. What are they trying to do numb our brains AND give us finger cramps?
Buggys´s last blog ..Christmas Crafting
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:43 pm
what the? Thats CRAZY! My TV doesn’t even go to a channel that high!! The highest number we get in NJ is like 800 something!
meleah rebeccah´s last blog ..Random Updates
December 4th, 2009 at 12:03 am
Yeah, we get all those channels too, so the hubs goes and rents a freaking movie. I don’t get it.
Karen´s last blog ..Oh, Just ZIP It!
December 4th, 2009 at 6:26 am
It makes me wish I had of paid more attention in my math classes.
FishHawk´s last blog ..Sites To See
December 4th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Hi Kathy,
Okay, I always forget that my Verizon FIOS offers me more than one channel. I mean, I only click around the stations after baseball season is over. I’m happy to see that The Junk Drawer is still filled with fun stuff. have fun channel surfing! -Mike.
Mr. Grudge´s last blog ..Public Relations & You
December 4th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
I grew up with one local channel and PBS. Now I don’t have any idea how many channels we have or what the numbers are. My TiVo season passes mean I don’t even know which network is which.
1,129 is Bravo? Did you make the mistake of watching The Fashion Show? What a stinker that was. I was even in a focus group about it and everyone hated it. The guys on the other side of the glass must have been tearing their hair out.
kathcom´s last blog ..Fun with Un
December 4th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Kathy,
i prolly have the same cable company and it irks me cause now i watch only like 3 or 4 channels cause they change the number so much i can not even come close to remembering them. Ugh
December 4th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
That is completely insane. NO-ONE can use THAT many channels. Even a GUY.
I’m just happy they finally have HD channels for things other than golf. And football.
Who needs HD for a stupid little white ball, anyway?
kathryn´s last blog ..No Static at All
December 4th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
The old days were…. less confusing! I don’t have any kind of cable, and I kind of like it that way.
Anna´s last blog ..Protecting the Bonsai
December 4th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Got rid of cable, have 0 channels now. Although, miss Bravo!, love the time & freedom gained.
December 5th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Auntie E — I have yet to figure out how to cycle through only the channels I’ve marked as a favorite. Seriously, there is no way I can channel surf otherwise.
Buggys — Yes and they’re charging us insane prices for the privilege.
meleah rebeccah – Count your blessings and hope they don’t make it worse!
FishHawk — Ha! Yeah, practically requires a degree now.
Mr. Grudge — The other channels are for you kids, don’t-cha know?
kathcom — That’s the beauty of DVRs or TiVo. You really don’t have to know the channel numbers. I typically watch all my programs recorded, not live. Yes, 1,129 is Bravo. Nope haven’t seen The Fashion Show. That’s cool you were in a focus group for it. Hubs and I were in one for a show that only aired a few times on TLC I think. Was like a game show involving a guy and a girl. The guy would look around her apartment/house and get a sense of her likes/dislikes and then pack a suitcase that captured that sense. If she liked what he packed, the show sent them on a week’s vacation together. Stupid concept, crappy show.
Melissa K — I have RCN. Honestly, I’m not even trying anymore to remember the numbers. On the HD set, we tend to hang out in the cluster of HD stations. On the other sets, I’m totally lost.
kathryn — I have to admit, I like watching almost anything in HD. Makes a big difference in my viewing experience. It’s so good, you can make out the stitching on the cap of baseball pitchers when they zoom in on his head. It’s amazing.
Anna — Sometimes I think people without cable are better off in many ways. Really, you’re not missing much. It’s mostly a habit for me. If I had to do without, I’d watch whatever I really wanted online.
Amy who loves a clear nose — Good for you! Hey, doesn’t Bravo offer up full episodes on their website? A lot of networks do. That’s how I caught up with Mad Men (AMC).
December 5th, 2009 at 10:39 am
I usually only select from the first 100 channels and even then, I only use about 6 channels regularly. My son actually knows what some of the other, higher numbers are. I haven’t a clue.
CatLadyLarew´s last blog ..I Get By…
December 6th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
One key word you used was “dial.” My children would have no idea why you used that word. They don’t even know that television sets had such things at one time.
Yes, I remember when most people had only 12 channels. That’s when we could receive only ONE!!!
December 6th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Ha. I am just barely old enough to remember seeing a television with a dial on it and only having 12 or so channels. It does seem like the number of channels is getting a bit out of control these days. I don’t even KNOW how many I have! Which means I have too many.
erin´s last blog ..Organizing Your Bedroom
December 7th, 2009 at 5:20 am
I do remember before remotes and also before TV. I remember our family was one of the first ones in the neighborhood to get TV. thanks…
sell your condo´s last blog ..Top 3 reasons to buy a condo
December 8th, 2009 at 5:30 am
Cat Lady Larew — I finally figured out how to minimize the number of channels to surf through. There’s a thing called skipped channels. It took me ten minutes, but I was able to skip about 400 channels, so now what’s left are only the channels I want to see when I click through with the remote. Yeah!
Sherry — I know! The word ‘dial’ seems so antiquated to use. Good thing most of my readers are adults and would remember.
erin — That’s right. If you don’t know how many, there are TOO MANY!
SYC — I can’t remember a life without a remote. God bless the guy who invented it.
December 8th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
I grew up with one channel. ONE. And I liked it.
Since Tivo, I don’t even know what the new shows are any more. I have my 3 shows that I watch and that’s that. I don’t know what I’ll do when those are finally canceled.
Tracy´s last blog ..Argh, my Gmail was hacked
December 11th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Tracy — I just cannot get over people growing up with only one channel. It’s incredible to me. I don’t know what new shows are on either, with our DVR. No time for new shows either.
February 15th, 2010 at 6:46 am
I think you need a bigger TV

Get a LCD and a good remote
Seguro Automoviles´s last blog ..Seguros Automóviles
February 15th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Yes, i can see that. I think a new TV also. But one thing, old is gold.
February 21st, 2010 at 11:10 am
I always feel a little panic when people with digital TV hand me the remote and say, “Here, you can watch whatever you like,” because I’m all “NO!! I can’t FIND anything!”
And I am both my mother and my grandmother, simultaneously. And then I read my book.