What does TiVo think of me?

Tivo sometimes uses the extra DVR space to record stuff for me that it thinks I will like. It recorded Legends of the Fall, A Few Good Men and While You Were Sleeping for me last night. Now, I've seen these movies, and they are ok but not anything I'd seek out to watch; I'm going to delete them forthwith. Currently it's recording Meet the Parents and at least twice a week I get an episode of The Twilight Zone. One Friday it recorded three straight hours of home improvement type shows like While You Were Out, Debbie Travis' Painted House and the oddly-named I Want That! Kitchens.

TiVo has these little keys, Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down that you use to indicate shows you like or hate. So I guess I must have liked something related to these shows... Yep, I clicked on a couple of Brad Pitt movies, hence Legends of the Fall. And according to TiVo, Meet the Parents and A Few Good Men are both 'similar programs' to Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Sometimes I get mildly offended by some of the things TiVo suggests for me. Like what makes you think I want to watch Cribs? Or any reality show, especially on MTV? I'm trying to think what I clicked on to give that impression.

The Daily Show's list of similar programs is fairly spot on. It lists Chappelle's Show, Arrested Development, Scrubs (my favorite cancelled or nearly cancelled shows). Also, Office Space, The Office, SNL, South Park, The Simpsons.

Because I used to record the X-Files regularly, all manner of inferior sci-fi is recommended for me. Don't they get it? Stargate is not the same! And I thumbsed up (yeah, I said thumbsed up) Starsky & Hutch (the movie, for the butterscotch stallion, natch) and TiVo thinks that means I wanna watch The Whole Ten Yards? You don't know me at all!

There have been some software updates recently that I have found discomfiting. Fer instance, instead of Pick Programs to Record, the menu now invites me to Find Programs. And there's a Recently Deleted Items folder, so if you accidentally hit delete, the Very Special Episode of Blossom isn't gone and lost forever, you can recover that shit if you want. It's convenient but it's weird and new and upsetting.

There are also little ads at the bottom, for movies, cars, Disneyland; you just click on it to play the ad or request information. One of the ads says TiVo wants me to throw it a party? (What a weird marketing thing. Check out http://www.houseparty.com. Huh? Coffee house party? K-Mart house party?)

Would you go to a TiVo party? Any pretext for a party is great, but TiVo isn't as party friendly as say, Tupperware or sex toys. If for some bizarre reason I do end up having the TiVo party -- or tupperware and/or sex toys for that matter -- I wouldn't expect anyone to buy stuff. That's not what a party should be about. It's supposed to be about drinking, people, and we shouldn't sully that with commerce.