I thought the whole point of a Tivo was so that you didn't have to tell it when to stop and start.

Actually, you don't.

For example, I have my TiVo set up to sniff out any auto racing it can find. At the same time, I have told it to automatically extend the end time of any automobile race by 30 minutes. I could do the same thing for football or baseball games if I hadn't told my TiVo to never, ever, under any circumstances record any sporting event played with a ball and/or stick.

If the Oscars program had even the slightest interest for me, I could do the same with that show -- and once a year TiVo would record it with the extended end time with no intervention required.

As a general rule, however, I do not specify extended end times, because often as not they will then prevent the recording of some other program. It is interesting that TiVo has the option to start recording early and end recording late, but not vice versa.

I have "fooled" my VCR into dealing with our local TV stations by deliberately setting its clock to be three minutes slow.

tanstaafl.