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Growing up in the ’90s was the best. Between TV, movies, music and video games, it felt like there was always something worth watching. I was definitely guilty of ignoring homework in favor of shows like "The X-Files" and "Martin."
These days, I mostly bounce between streaming apps and YouTube, rewatching old favorites instead of keeping up with whatever’s new. Every once in a while, I’ll get hooked on a big series ("The Walking Dead" did a number on me), but most nights I still end up doing the same thing: scrolling, flipping and settling on… nothing.
I asked ChatGPT to build me a daily TV schedule — and it worked. Now I have something queued up every night of the week, and I’ve officially stopped channel surfing.
I gave ChatGPT a pretty loaded prompt to get this process started
To get the ball rolling on my new daily TV schedule, I used the following prompt: I'm a huge fan of professional wrestling, documentaries about crime investigations, drama shows, sitcoms, and adult comedy cartoons. Can you build me a daily TV schedule based on my listed interests?
Afterwards, it put a personalized daily TV schedule in front of me that followed a late morning into late night viewing window. One example of the TV show recommendations ChatGPT put up, according to a specified time block and types of shows, matched a vibe that it defined as “engaged but chill — perfect for smart, narrative-driven stuff.” Here’s what it looked like:
Late Morning / Early Afternoon (11:00 AM – 1:00 PM)
Vibe: Engaged but chill — perfect for smart, narrative-driven stuff
Crime Investigation Docs: Dateline, 20/20, The Jinx, American Greed, Evil Lives Here
These reward attention without needing a full emotional investment yet.
ChatGPT laid out even more shows I should adopt, tied to various times of the day. Based on my love for pro wrestling, I paid special attention to its daily layout of shows centered around it. Monday’s for WWE Raw, Tuesday’s for NXT, Wednesday’s for AEW Dynamite, Thursday’s for TNA Impact, Friday’s for WWE SmackDown, and Saturday’s and Sunday’s are set aside for AEW Collision and modern/classic Pay-Per-View’s.
It remembered my sleep schedule and built me a new TV schedule around it
After taking note of everything it laid out for my new daily TV watching regimen, ChatGPT remembered me working with it to improve my sleep schedule. By taking that into account, I asked it to fine-tune my TV viewing habits to a 9:00 a.m. wake-up time and heading to bed around midnight.
I got a few good chuckles from ChatGPT’s listed goals and the advised changes it gave me. Take a look at my AI TV show’s curator's humorous tips:
- Screens Off Goal (11:00–11:30 PM): dim lights, no prestige TV, no wrestling, and no Rick and Morty (it WILL ruin you), and lights out at 12:00 AM, giving you a clean 9 hours in bed
- Key Sleep Tweaks (TV-Specific): adult animation stays before 9 PM (except the cozy ones), crime docs = daytime only, nothing “twisty” after 8:30 PM, and watch the same type of show at the same time daily = faster sleep onset
I had to look up what the heck a “twisty” show is, and Google Gemini described it as a “television series characterized by complex, unpredictable, and often shocking plots designed to keep viewers guessing through constant surprises, mysteries, and narrative reversals.”
So I followed ChatGPT’s lead and avoided series like "His & Hers" and "The Pitt" after 8:30 PM.
The 7-Day rotating grid TV show lineup worked like a charm
ChatGPT helped me finalize my new daily TV schedule when I made a request via the following prompt: Build this sleep-optimized TV schedule into a 7-day rotating grid.
The weekly TV grid my AI partner laid out as daily time blocks (AM to PM) looked pretty manageable to me:
- 10:30–12:30: Crime Docs
- 12:30–2:30: Sitcom Comfort
- 2:30–4:30: Drama Series
- 4:30–6:30: Wrestling
- 6:30–8:30: Prestige TV
- 8:30–10:00: Gentle Comedy
- 10:00–11:00: Pre-Sleep Comfort
- 11:00–12:00: Screens off → wind down
What followed that breakdown were specified TV shows to check out on each day, accompanied by a clever theme and the genres that pique my curiosity most. ChatGPT’s Wednesday TV show lineup (lovingly referred to as “AEW + Prestige”) stood out as one of the most amusing ones I adopted:
- Sitcom: Community
- Drama: The Wire
- Wrestling: AEW Dynamite
- Prestige: Fargo
- Gentle Comedy: Ted Lasso
- Sleep TV: Bob’s Burgers
The takeaway
ChatGPT came in handy once again.
After a few quick questions about what I actually like to watch, it built me a full week of recommendations that fit my mood and my newly rebooted sleep schedule. No endless scrolling. No “I’ll just watch trailers for 40 minutes” spiral.
The best part? It didn’t just spit out the obvious picks.
It gave me a smart mix of comfort shows I already love, classics I’ve somehow never watched, and a few random surprises I didn’t even know existed. My first batch included "Forensic Files," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and "Pluribus" — which I’d never heard of until ChatGPT put it on my radar.
Now I use this as my go-to move whenever I’m stuck in that “what should I watch?” loop. ChatGPT basically became my TV curator — and channel surfing is officially dead.
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More from Tom's guide
- I asked Perplexity to recommend movies and anime based on my favorite games — and it's way better than expected
- This Xbox Mobile App AI Feature Gave Me Shockingly Good Game Recommendations
- I screwed up my sleep schedule — here's how ChatGPT helped me fix it and get me back on track physically and mentally
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