Television Rude

It's rude to...

1. Talk about what happened on a show around others, who may not have seen the episode yet. In today's world of VCRs and DVRs it's especially important to be careful of this. Even if the person you're talking to, if you're in line at a store or office there may be people around who haven't seen it yet and who can't move away from earshot.

2. Trash a show to a person who has told you that he/she loves that show. Some TV shows give people a lot of comfort, so to have someone else tell them it's lame is like insulting their families. So if someone is telling you how much they love The Bachelor just smile and nod or tell the person that's not your type of show. And if they ask what type of shows you do like just hope they're just as polite when you say Star Trek.

3. This one's for the networks. Don't reschedule a show abruptly. Nothing is more frustrating than tuning in or recording your favorite show, not finding it and then having to search for where it is only to find out that it aired two days ago. This is not the way to help the ratings of a faltering show. Also, don't supersize shows without advertising it extensively. I have to record a lot of the shows I watching and its maddening to watch a show I've recorded only to find out that the last five minutes of it is missing.