• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, November 7, 2006

The "Gilmore Girls" offers up plenty of on-again, off-again relationships. But a recent episode may have delivered the most amusing of all: A broadcast network and TiVo.

Talk about fear of commitment or indecision or not ready to move forward. First, networks had TiVo pegged as the enemy--the most perilous threat to their continued prosperity since fin-syn. Then, they couldn't decide how they felt: Sure, people might zap the commercials, but at least they're watching our shows while doing it.

Now, could it be total infatuation? Or could their door just be swinging both ways, perhaps biding time before discovering whether commercial ratings will be a help or hindrance?

More than six years ago--has TiVo really been the apocalypse for that long?--CBS declined to air a humorous TiVo spot where a network executive got tossed out the window, the message there being that the device puts consumers in control and allows them to decide what to watch and when. The network said it didn't support such malevolent behavior, but the subtext was clear: It was none too eager to plug a machine that might degrade its leading revenue stream.

In 2004, NBC allegedly tried to throw a wrench in TiVo users' plans to record the entire "Friends" finale by moving its start time up by a minute.

Now, the CW has seemingly opened its arms--willingly making TiVo look like a darn good reason to stay in for the night. That, of course, is assuming viewers saw the TiVo valentine and weren't fast-forwarding through it.

Even if the FF button was in use, the scene in the Oct. 24 episode of "Gilmore Girls" was hard to miss (one of the top-ranked product placements of the week, according to measurement firm iTVX.)

It began with Lorelai (Lauren Graham) furiously hitting the keys on her boyfriend's TiVo remote with full sound effects ... bdoop, bdoop, bdoop...

She gets a pretty good rhythm going and the TiVo begins to sound like a synthesizer backing Depeche Mode. It's a pleasant sound--almost as delightful as a commercial skipped?

Then, Lorelai's bemused boyfriend enters and says, "you're killing my TiVo."

Not so, she says--"I'm composing on it. I'm composing a symphony. Finally, an instrument I can play."

The lovebirds playfully tussle on the couch for the remote, but Lorelai amusingly won't give up until he explains why he's selected certain shows for recording (a.k.a. time-shifted, non-linear, commercial-skipping viewing--the once and future death knell of network TV).

Why has he chosen "The View" and "Girlfriends" (another CW show--product placement in product placement?). He blames the nanny.

Then, he romantically wrests it away, and the two settle in for presumably a night of TiVo-facilitated snuggling and "live plus seven day" television.

The "Gilmore Girls" scene doesn't mention TiVo's ad-zapping powers, but otherwise the device comes up roses, looking like a whimsical aphrodisiac.

Maybe the networks have decided they're better off as friends.