Talking during a TV show

[DawnM]

I admit it drives me bonkers.  I am trying to listen to what is happening so that I can follow the story line.  My Dh and kids seem to think it is just background noise and come in and try to have a conversation with me while I am watching TV (which isn't that often, so they could at least give me the courtesy of being able to WATCH the few shows I watch.)

 

Then I wonder if I am the only one who gets annoyed by this.  I think some people don't mind missing half the show.

 

What about you?

[Twigs]

:iagree:  and switching channels, even during commercials since they never get back to the show when it restarts.

[Cinder]

Then I wonder if I am the only one who gets annoyed by this.  I think some people don't mind missing half the show.

 

What about you?

 

It's not just you. I used to watch Top Chef when we had cable. It was the *only* show I watched on tv and it seemed like that was the *only* time my teens wanted to talk to me. And you know, they just wanted to chat about stuff, nothing important, just stuff.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Depends on the show.  My family knows that they will face the WRATH OF MOM if they bother me during certain shows.  But it usually doesn't reach the wrath stage.  All I have to do is point at the screen and say "Really?  You are talking to me now?" and they back off with faces pale with fright.   :lol:

[In The Great White North]

 I am beyond irritated when dh gets mad because I talked during some ridiculous show.  

 

It is background noise and not as important as the real live people in the room with you.  TV is not another person; I shouldn't have to wait for it to end before I can interrupt.  It's insulting to treat me as less important than some inanimate object (with instant replay no less)!

[Catwoman]

I have become quite the whiz with the pause button on the remote.

But there is usually a fierce glare at the offending party as I'm pressing the button, just for effect. :D

[Liz CA]

It just depends if it's something I want to hear - then nobody is supposed to talk or breathe. If it's just boring stuff other people want to hear, I talk as much as I want to. :lol:

[PuddleJumper1]

My brother was famous for being a running commentary when watching anything with him. Drove me bonkers. Everything we watch now is either Hulu, Netflix or DVD - easy to pause. I will admit to getting a bit annoyed by the 4th or 5th interuption for nonsense comments.

[JustEm]

 I am beyond irritated when dh gets mad because I talked during some ridiculous show.  

 

It is background noise and not as important as the real live people in the room with you.  TV is not another person; I shouldn't have to wait for it to end before I can interrupt.  It's insulting to treat me as less important than some inanimate object (with instant replay no less)!

 

 

I would say it depends on how much tv your dh watches.  If he is planted in front of the tv for hours a day, then yes it probably should be considered background noise and interruptions should be expected.  But if he only watches a few shows a week then I would view it as disrespectful to interrupt him during his relax/enjoyment time in front of the tv.  

[SKL]

I also watch very rarely, so I do want to hear what is said.  I don't like people to come in and distract me when I'm watching the tube.

 

But, I'm also a person who talks during a show, to give background info so the other watchers (my kids or my friends who didn't grow up in the US) can understand more fully.  It would probably annoy some people, but it's my house, LOL.

[JustEm]

Dh and I watch all our shows together.  We really have the same exact taste in television and movies.  We get very into shows and wait till our children are in bed to watch them.  Sometime we talk during them a bit if the scene doesn't have important dialog, since we are able to still watch the screen.  I can't stand when people talk during a movie I haven't seen.  My brother is known for talking throughout the entire movie!!! I have kicked him in the ribs (while he's lying on the floor and I'm on the couch) to remind him to shut up!  He gets the point after a gentle kick but not a "shhh" or "please stop talking."  

[nmoira]

I am beyond irritated when dh gets mad because I talked during some ridiculous show.

It is background noise and not as important as the real live people in the room with you. TV is not another person; I shouldn't have to wait for it to end before I can interrupt. It's insulting to treat me as less important than some inanimate object (with instant replay no less)!

It depends. I don't watch much TV, and when I do it's usually something good, something well written that requires my full attention to follow and appreciate. I don't mind pausing for important questions or so that kids can go through the room (if something like Breaking Bad), but if a family member was to start chattering away because they are "more important," that's rude and disrespectful to me. Of course they are more important than a TV program, more important than anything including books and cooking and going to the bathroom, but that doesn't give them the right to interrupt at will just because.

[poppy]

DH learned this lesson way back in Buffy the Vampire Days!

RESPECT my need to be absorbed.

But some shows, I don't care.  Surivor I watch pretty intently (guilty pleasure, sue me) but The Voice-- chatter away.

[Julie Smith]

Sometimes Dh watches a tv show on his computer, which is also in our kitchen/dining room/computer room. I find it annoying when he doesn't use his headphones. Just sort of assumes we all for some reason want to listen to his show. 

 

It happens rarley so we all usually just go upstairs. 

 

I do always use my headphones. Mind you I have sometimes accidentaly worn my headphones and had the sound coming out the speakers and never noticed till the end of the show. Everyone was in other rooms so no one pointed it out to me. 

[kewb]

Talking while I am watching something drives me insane and with each passing year it drives me crazier.  It is incredibly rude to the person watching.  If you want to talk to me wait until a commercial.

[SKL]

I remember when I was a kid, this was something that would make my mom scream.  LOL.  I don't think I would actually scream, but I have asked people to hold their comment/question unless it is an emergency.  There is enough time available before and after a show.  (I don't watch stuff with commercials.)  If it's an "emergency," ask me to pause the show.  (Life is so much better with a pause button!)

 

ETA, I should note that I only watch "family" stuff, shows that are intended for my kids to watch with me, and whoever else wants to join in can.  It's not like I have my own thing I want to watch during my private "me time."  If I wanted to watch something all by myself, I'd do it after the kids were in bed.

 

I haven't watched any regular TV show "in real time" since before I had kids.  I never did enjoy them all that much and it isn't worth my time and effort.  Maybe when I'm an old insomniac, LOL.

[WTMCassandra]

I cannot handle multiple verbal inputs. Doesn't matter the form. I very rarely watch TV, so it's hard for me to consider it just background noise and it's hard to tune out. I HATE TVs all over the place in restaurants, with the fire of a thousand suns. If we are listening to an audiobook in the car and someone wants to say something, I have to pause it. Every. Time.  If I come to your house, either talk to me or watch TV. Please don't try to do both!

[Amy in NH]

 I am beyond irritated when dh gets mad because I talked during some ridiculous show.  

 

It is background noise and not as important as the real live people in the room with you.  TV is not another person; I shouldn't have to wait for it to end before I can interrupt.  It's insulting to treat me as less important than some inanimate object (with instant replay no less)!

 

Yes and no.  Context is important.

 

If someone spends all of their time sitting in front of the tube, then I agree with you. 

 

If someone watches one show per week because it is their only down time/their only "me" time, then I disagree with you.

[SKL]

I also can't stand "background noise."  My sister comes over (she babysits on Sundays) and sometimes turns on the radio to listen to sports games.  My kids are not used to this type of noise pollution, so it interferes with their listening skills etc.  I force myself to grin and bear it while I have to.

[Jean in Newcastle]

What is this "pause" you all speak of?  I watch network t.v.  - if I miss an important line, I've missed it.

[SKL]

What is this "pause" you all speak of?  I watch network t.v.  - if I miss an important line, I've missed it.

 

I don't bother with that.  Too complicated to have to schedule my life around the TV Guide.  I have bought some series and movies on DVD.  I almost never watch actual TV live.

 

So yeah, I could rewind etc. but that gets old fast.  Best to establish some etiquette so people can enjoy their show and then move on to the next thing.

[Wheres Toto]

Not everyone has instant replay.

 

We do because we'd never get to watch anything otherwise.  I don't mind pausing a show to talk to someone or get something for the kids.  Before we had the dvr, I did find it very annoying.

[Julie Smith]

I think I do watch a lot of tv. About 4 shows a week, and if I am lucky enough to find one worth watching a movie. 

 

But I don't turn on a show without everyone in the hosue knowing I'm planning to do so and I make sure it is a good time. I watch on my computer with headphones on. When I watch I give it my full attention. But if anyone even comes in the room or talks to me I pause right away, listen to them. Then remind them I am watching something, tell them how long it will be and depending on the situation happily offer to stop for awhile. 

 

But with the exception of, "Game of Thrones" I watch everyone of my shows in fast forward. For example I watch Bones. Lets say the episode is 40 minutes after you skip the opening credits. I watch it in fastforward at a speed of about 1.7 or 1.8 that means the show only takes about 25 minutes to watch. Big Bang Theory is less then 15 minutes. 

[kbutton]

Drives me bonkers. So does channel surfing during commercials. The person who is mostly likely to talk during my shows is also the person most likely to get mad when I talk during shows (usually an important interruption because I am always the pinnacle of discernment). :lol: 

 

Just a little hint for those who watch archived TV shoes on a laptop at unpredictable hours...If you disappear to watch a show without notice, have your headphones on while watching on the PC, and people have to go on a wild goose chase to find you and ask you a question about dinner--you'll be interrupted, lol. Notify someone you are going underground and out of voice range before you disappear, so that we don't have to send out the search party while trying not to burn dinner.
 

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

I just don't watch tv when everyone is around. I hated being yelled at or completely ignored as a kid when some tv show was on.

[Mom in High Heels]

This is so annoying.  We are TV junkies, I readily admit it, but it's rude to talk while someone is trying to watch something.  If it's important, I will absolutely pause the show and listen and/or discuss.  There are times when it's taken me 2 hours to get through a 1 hours show (42 minutes really), because someone needs something/wants something/needs to talk to me/etc.  It is my relaxation time, and there are plenty of times during the day that anyone can talk to me, but for some reason, everyone wants to talk during a show.  Now that we have a DVR (I ♥ you, DVR!), it's not such a big deal, but in Germany, where we had no pause button, it made me crazy.  I don't talk during their shows, so they should give me the same respect.  James Bond is TERRIBLE.  There are some shows I watch that he doesn't like (not many, but a few), and sometimes he'll just be sitting in the room while I watch.  He then wants to know the background of EVERYTHING that has happened or why this person is doing that, or blah, blah, blah.  I keep telling him if he wants to know what's going on in a show, he should watch the whole series.  We do watch some shows together, and he still likes to make random comments.  When I pause the show though, so he can make his comment (usually something to do with the military/FBI/intelligence/weapons/uniforms, etc that he's griping about), and sometimes I respond back.  Whenever I hit the pause button though, HE STOPS TALKING!  Seriously?  I'm not pausing him, I'm pausing the show so I can hear him, THEN watch the show so I can hear it.  Crazy man.

[Shellie]

Dh and I watch all our shows together.  We really have the same exact taste in television and movies.  We get very into shows and wait till our children are in bed to watch them.  Sometime we talk during them a bit if the scene doesn't have important dialog, since we are able to still watch the screen. 

^^^ this :)

[katilac]

 

But with the exception of, "Game of Thrones" I watch everyone of my shows in fast forward. For example I watch Bones. Lets say the episode is 40 minutes after you skip the opening credits. I watch it in fastforward at a speed of about 1.7 or 1.8 that means the show only takes about 25 minutes to watch. Big Bang Theory is less then 15 minutes. 

 

So you knew we were gonna ask, right? How do you do that? 

[Mommy22alyns]

What is this "pause" you all speak of?  I watch network t.v.  - if I miss an important line, I've missed it.

 

 

What??  Jean, you are doing yourself a grave disservice to live without DVR!   :laugh:

[Julie Smith]

So you knew we were gonna ask, right? How do you do that? 

 

I watch TV shows in fast forward on my computer. When watching something I have that something as a file on my computer or a DVD. I open the program with VLC media player.  In the toolbar I select the option Playback I can then choose Faster which increases the speed by .5, or Faster (fine) which increases the speed by .1. They also have options to return it to normal speed or slow it down. 

 

At first I just upped the speed by .1, then .2, and so forth till I found a comfortable zone that I didn't want to surpass.

 

At first I tired The Big Bang Theory at 1.5 and it seemed super, uncomprehensionable, but now it's okay at that speed. 

 

If I end up watching a slow in normal speed that I usually watch in fastforward it seems super slow at first. 

[DawnM]

I do watch in a different room but I can't wait until everyone is out of the house or I would never watch anything.  People are always around at my house.

 

 

I just don't watch tv when everyone is around. I hated being yelled at or completely ignored as a kid when some tv show was on.

 

[DawnM]

Maybe he doesn't consider it a ridiculous show and actually enjoys watching and relaxing a bit.

 

 

 I am beyond irritated when dh gets mad because I talked during some ridiculous show.  

 

It is background noise and not as important as the real live people in the room with you.  TV is not another person; I shouldn't have to wait for it to end before I can interrupt.  It's insulting to treat me as less important than some inanimate object (with instant replay no less)!

 

[HS Mom in NC]

I agree with Shepherd Book from Firefly, "There's a special place in hell for child molesters and people who talk in theaters." I think it applies to watching tv and movies too.

 

No, I don't allow talking while watching.  If it's important or urgent I pause it and listen to someone talk.  Otherwise I tell them I'll talk to them when it's over.

 

If I'm assembling a quilt (using a sewing machine) while watching, it's always a rerun or something I don't need to pay close  attention to because I can't pay close attention while sewing.  Everyone knows they can talk in that situation.

 

We talk during American Idol-we pause when someone has something to say.

[Mom in High Heels]

I agree with Shepherd Book from Firefly, "There's a special place in hell for child molesters and people who talk in theaters." I think it applies to watching tv and movies too.

 

 

 

Book was a wise, wise man. :)

[Heather in Neverland]

Yes it is irritating. You want to ask one question? Fine. But a running commentary while the show is on? Uh no.

 

My other pet peeve... I will ask dh if he wants to watch a show with me. He will say no. Then 37 minutes into a 42 minute show he will walk in and start asking questions about what is happening in the show. That drives me NUTTY.

[HS Mom in NC]

Book was a wise, wise man. :)

 

I still miss him.  Sniff.

[Cammie]

Try watching shows with a non-native English speaker who feels he is missing out if he hasn't understood EVERY SINGLE WORD.  The pause/rewind is killing me because we NEVER can watch a show straight through.  He constantly has to stop, ask for clarification, then rewind to see if I was right!  :glare:

[readinmom]

Oldest ds refuses to watch Game of Thrones or Walking Dead with us.  He can't stand our comments.

[creekland]

No one in our family would even think about talking during a TV show.  We always watch things together and we all want to hear what is being said...  There is absolutely NO show that someone watches on their own.  To us, TV is a family thing.  We don't watch all that much of it.

 

I absolutely hate watching non-pausible TV...  We have a DVR and tape everything we watch (except live news or weather) so we can watch it on our schedule, pause it if we want (to use the restroom or if we missed what was said), and fast forward commercials.  It makes TV 100% better.  A one-hour show only takes 42 minutes to watch and can be started whenever we are actually ready to watch it instead of having to be in front of the TV at 9pm or similar.  ;)  It's also nice when we get a phone call or a knock on the door.

 

I've even been known to pause the live stuff (news/weather/sports) so we can still fast forward the commercials.  I don't particularly care if the news is 20 minutes old.  I do get annoyed with commercials.  ;)

 

If someone were to come in and start talking during a show, we'd pause it to deal with the conversation.   If they did it regularly, I'd consider them VERY rude.

[Lizzie in Ma]

I always turn on subtitles and I am quick with the pause button. ;)

But, in general, we watch tv as a family so it doesn't happen much.

[DawnM]

I am a bit surprised by those of you who say you watch TV as a family.   My teen boys don't give a rip about Downton Abbey or most of the shows DH or I watch.  In fact, older two hate TV and never watch.  They would much prefer to spend their screen time on gaming with their Homeschool friends online.   

 

Dh likes golf, some football (if USC is playing......I come in periodically and yell "Go Trojans!" and walk out!  :laugh: ), car shows, home building shows.........all of which I do not like.

 

We have a few shows we watch together.......NCIS, Big Bang, and he will occasionally watch CSI.  

 

 

[Cindy in FL.]

I pretty much only watch things that I have on the DVR. That way I can skip commercials and rewind when necessary. After I rewind a few times to watch the same thing over and over they usually get the hint! :)

[DawnM]

Jean,

 

We got rid of Directv 3+ years ago.

 

I found that 90% of what I watched was on network TV anyway, so those extra channels were a huge waste of money.

 

However, what I missed more than anything was the ability to pause and record TV.   So, I found an HD Tivo on ebay with lifetime subscription.   Dh liked it so much that he kept using it.   So, last October, I got him his own Tivo with lifetime from a friend selling.

 

They cost about $200-$250 each.  But with the lifetime subscription, we do not have the $15/month fee, so they pay for themselves pretty quickly.

 

Dawn

 

 

What is this "pause" you all speak of?  I watch network t.v.  - if I miss an important line, I've missed it.

 

[Julie Smith]

I am a bit surprised by those of you who say you watch TV as a family.   My teen boys don't give a rip about Downton Abbey or most of the shows DH or I watch.  In fact, older two hate TV and never watch.  They would much prefer to spend their screen time on gaming with their Homeschool friends online.   
 
Dh likes golf, some football (if USC is playing......I come in periodically and yell "Go Trojans!" and walk out!  :laugh: ), car shows, home building shows.........all of which I do not like.
 
We have a few shows we watch together.......NCIS, Big Bang, and he will occasionally watch CSI.

For the most part my boys don't like to watch tv, and watch the orcas snail movie because they like to be with daddy. Such as frozen and mega mind. they have turned down others such as ponyo, finding nemo, ...

[Garga]

We have a compromise. You can talk during the show, but only around the dialog. So, if you want to say something, wait for a pause in the dialog but if the person onscreen talks, you have to STOP and the squeezeinyourwords when they pause and then STOP when they talk and then squeezeinmorewords.

It's not the best, but it's working for now.

[creekland]

I am a bit surprised by those of you who say you watch TV as a family.   My teen boys don't give a rip about Downton Abbey or most of the shows DH or I watch.  In fact, older two hate TV and never watch.  They would much prefer to spend their screen time on gaming with their Homeschool friends online.   

 

Dh likes golf, some football (if USC is playing......I come in periodically and yell "Go Trojans!" and walk out!  :laugh: ), car shows, home building shows.........all of which I do not like.

 

We have a few shows we watch together.......NCIS, Big Bang, and he will occasionally watch CSI.  

 

It definitely helps that we all have the same taste in shows.  Hubby and I don't give a rip about Downton Abbey either... and none of us like sports except for Olympics or once every 4 years when hubby watches the America's Cup (usually online since it isn't on TV).

 

We watch tons of nature (Nature, NOVA, Wild _____) or travel documentaries (Globetrekker, Lonely Planet), but have already seen most of them available, Mythbusters, The Big Bang Theory, Growing Up Fisher, White Collar, Revolution, Falling Skies, Whose Line is it Anyway, The Colbert Report - and from the old days, Hawaii 5 0, Mission Impossible, Mash, Hogans Heroes, Beverly Hillbillies, Monk, Burn Notice, etc.  (those old days ones we don't watch anymore as we've already seen them all)

 

From Netflix we get Dr Who, Arrow, Stargate, and movies.

 

Hubby and I will watch House Hunters International and Beachfront Bargain Hunt, but we only picked those up after two of ours moved on to college.  We only watch those when youngest is working or with friends as he wouldn't care for those.

 

We actually have to keep The Big Bang Theory, White Collar, Whose Line is it Anyway, and Revolution on our DVR for middle son to catch up when he returns from college on vacations...

 

We really have nothing that just one person likes.  In general, when we watch something for a first or second time we all either give it a thumbs up or down.

 

And since we rarely watch more than an hour or so a day (if that) we always have a ton of options to choose from that are taped and ready to go.
 

[Aspasia]

Dh and I are both uptight about this, which is one reason that we never watch tv when the kids are awake. We also only watch "pausable" shows, like on the DVR, Netflix, or Apple TV. We love to discuss what's going on, so we pause a lot to do that.

We stayed with friends a few years ago who always said they watched some of our favorite shows (Modern Family, The Good Wife, Mad Men).* We were excited to watch with them. But oh my gosh. They were up and about, back and forth from the kitchen, chatting about other things. It was an absolute tragedy to us! We don't watch much tv, but the stuff we do watch, we WATCH. And the shows we watch are extremely well-written. Every line is good, and most lines are important to the overall story. I don't understand investing the time to watch something and then not getting everything out of it. And I remember just being offended for the brilliant writers of these shows, who work hard to produce great stuff, just so people can chat through it and go in and out of the room. Crazy.

*Turns out our friends "watch" pretty much everything, because their tv just runs All. Day. Long. It's just on in the background, but they're not really paying full attention to it. We're the opposite. Our tv is almost never on, but when it is--dang it--everyone pays attention.

[flyingiguana]

My daughter has announced that she can't possibly go see The Hobbit in a theater, because she will have to talk.  There's just no way to get through a movie like that without constantly commenting on the goofy stuff.

 

Every time we watch a movie around here, it's more like Mystery Science theater than Mystery Science theater itself.  The general rule of thumb, though, is that all conversation should revolve around the movie.

 

But we removed the TV from the living room.  One can only watch broadcast TV in the basement now -- and no one's really all that interested.  We haven't had the actual TV on since we watched Wonder Woman about 6 weeks ago.  Apparently it wasn't interesting enough to want to sit through all those commercials for another episode.

 

Every now and then my husband complains about all the talking, but he does have a little trouble getting a word in edgewise.  And I think even he is starting to see that virtually all movies/TV are so fluffy that you really don't lose much by talking.  Usually, it enhances the experience.

[MomtoCandJ]

When dd1 is home, I'm lucky if I can catch the weather in peace. I get really annoyed if someone talks while I'm actively watching TV. TV is always on but usually just for background noise. If I'm sitting I the couch, looking at the TV, please don't talk to me or stand right in front of it!

[MomtoCandJ]

Ok quick question for those with Dish DVR, do you need HD TV for this? We don't have HDTVs, flat screen or any of that stuff. We have 3 tube style TVs (why replace them if they are not broke? Heck I think if we hold out long enough, we will get one given to us by family members upgrading :)