TV Poll: What's Your TV Guide?

As a scheduling mechanism, I am wholly reliant on Tivo.

As a filter telling me what's worth telling my Tivo to record, I rely on a variety of sources, including but not limited to This Very Blog.

While I "appreciate" the DVR guide that funnels thru the black box sitting on top of my one eyed monster, I have the weekly TV guide book that comes in the local Sunday paper sitting on the table next to my chair. I look at it repeatedly each night. That being said, they list the basic cable channel lineup and not all the stuff in the super duper package I buy. That means I often just flip to a channel to see what is on and then flip forward on the TV to see what is coming up.

I'd be lost without my dead tree guide. Besides, it also servers as a coaster for my drink and a scratch pad. Lets see you do that with an online guide.

I've only got a small handful of channels - just the main networks, so I don't use anything, I just have a list of shows I like and over the week I watch them mostly online. I do sometimes check wikipedia ("list of _____ episodes") to see when things air(ed) - that seems the simplest way to get info.

And Happy Lost Day!

I try to be proactive about visiting internet sites to find out what the new shows are, when they're starting, and if they've been cancelled. I also count critics (mainly you and Tim Goodman) to alert me to what's new, good, and not so good.

After that, I put the shows I want to see into my Tivo season pass manager and let Tivo do the rest. That way, schedule changes don't affect me

I do read a newspaper regularly and scan for TV related articles, but I never use the daily listings. For spur of the moment channel surfing, I use the Tivo listing.

Keith, what is that box atop? Let's keep it clean--this is a family blog.

I use the onscreen cable guide exclusively to see what's on.

Funny, just like tomn above, I too read you and Tim Goodman to find out what's worth watching, then I just set my Dish DVR(s) to record all new episodes. So whenever my wife and I decide to watch some TV, we just check the libraries on the 3 DVRs around the house, and see what we want to see in the room we feel like watching in. Therefore, schedules are pretty irrelevant in our home.

Gerry, you've been watching too much Cinemax. The one eyed monster, not the one eyed weasel!!!

We're pretty DVR reliant in our household - we'll occasionally flick through the digital guide, but now that new shows are recording, that's rare. If I've heard of something I want to see, I'll look it up online to see when it's on, and then set it to record.

We have many regular shows on our 3 DVRs that record new episodes, but once a week or so, I check the entire week on Sundance, IFC, and sometimes all the PBS channels to check for movies, documentaries, specials, Live from Lincoln Center, etc. So I fill up my DVT pretty quickly and sometimes I just delete stuff even if I haven't seen it. I try to keep it under 70% but that's not always possible. Also, I check out the TV section of EW. I love the person who "recommends" stuff or warns against it. Great fun. Also check On Demand for new movies.

For many decades, I would spend time each Friday or Saturday paging through the new issue of TV Guide, circling anything of interest in the listings. That was then.

When I was editing TV Barn's TV Picks, I depended on MyWay.com's grid, but that's no longer reliable (or have they ever fixed the Search function? I've stopped checking).

Nowadays, Diane Werts, Aaron Barnhart, Tim Goodman, Maureen Ryan, you and the Futon Critic are my main sources, with frequent visits to highlights pages at EW, TVG, Salon and USA Today (Bianco).

Wow, James, looks like you've got lots of influence here. Just remember that with great power comes great responsibility.

I use the TiVo guide and I read Entertainment Weekly which points out what's good each night of the week. That is how I choose what to watch, and what is coming on. My mom still gets the TV Guide although she has DirectV and she uses that guide. She loves the x-word and Matt Roush.