Things have changed in the world of TV, not to mention women's lib. These days shows have big elaborate plot arcs that spread out over several episodes. Joss Whedon was a big fan of those arcs in the good seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." The bad seasons were the ones where studio pressure forced the show into single arc episodes. Whedon's spinoff "Angel" suffered the same problems.

Shows like "24" and "Lost" are planned out (hopefully) with a whole season in mind. These shows force people to either reschedule their life around the show or record it.

The newfangled DVRs should be in every home. Not only because it's hip, but it allows the best of both worlds for coach potatoes. No longer do you need to hurry to get home to watch a show. I'd even guess that you will spend less time watching TV with a DVR than you do watching TV now. Every hour TV show is approximately 42 minutes of content. That's 8 minutes that you could be talking to your significant other, cleaning your house, or playing with your kids.

The lesser talked about power is that you can still watch shows on the same night. And with those pesky Web sites (like this one) that run stories on the same day as the new episode, you may run into annoying spoilers. You can start watching the show whenever you want, even while it's still recording.

DVRs are easier to use that VCRs and definitely less of a hassle. Once DVRs know you want to record a show, it takes care of the rest. If you've had some problems with cable DVRs, find a friend who has TiVo and try it out. I've found that TiVo is far superior in user-friendliness to both Comcast and DirecTV's private DVRs.

Don't be afraid of the DVR. You'll find they'll make being a coach potato less of a hassle.