TV buzz isn't what it used to be. Morning-after gabfests around the water cooler dishing about last night's "Lost" are dying out — or at least spreading out — as more viewers are converted to the age of the DVR, or digital video recorder. The DVR is the most popular home electronic device available right now. (TiVo is the most recognizable brand.)

It's changing the way we watch — and talk about — TV, even during sweeps season, when hot shows are creating buzz. DVRs let viewers watch on their own terms.

DVR owners rave that the boxes have changed their lives. Bruce Willis extolled the virtues of TiVo to Jon Stewart, saying he uses TiVo to catch Stewart's "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central. Even outgoing Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell, a devoted user, called his "God's machine."

Anyone who doesn't have a DVR might suggest that a VCR is just as good. But DVR users say their machines are much easier to use and give viewers more control. Namely:

• Favorite shows can be watched at viewers' convenience.

• There is no need to buy (or run out of) tapes or discs; the recorder stores programs on a hard drive.

• Shows can be paused or rewound, even when they're "live" shows.

• Recording is simple and versatile. A couple of clicks on an on-screen grid do the trick; you can view one show while recording another.

The price tag isn't basic cable: $100 and up to purchase a box, plus a $10-$13 monthly fee for a service such as TiVo, or, if part of a local cable system, just a monthly fee for the service.

DVR use is expected to continue to skyrocket. Last month, San Jose, Calif.-based TiVo Inc., the company that introduced the first DVR in 1999, announced that its subscription base had exceeded 3 million.

The Yankee Group, a Boston-based communications research firm, predicts that the number of DVR homes will rise from 7 million at the end of 2004 to 33.5 million by the end of 2008. That's still a fraction of the 100 million households that own VCRs.

But in a study of households with DVRs, users volunteered the word "loved" in describing their machines and said they had shown them to seven friends on average, according to Forrester Research.

"I don't watch TV in real time anymore," says Bethe Ferguson, 26, of Cincinnati.

Forrester's research shows that in DVR households, prime-time dramas, comedies and reality shows lose half of their real-time audiences. And of the 18-44 age group prized by advertisers, more than 60 percent do not watch in real time.

The impact is rocking a worried ad world as viewers skip commercials. And a watchful TV industry is pondering what the effects will be on programming and ratings.

But there's also a ripple effect changing how we live — and gossip.

"When the ladies in my former office used to talk about 'Desperate Housewives' Monday mornings, I would have to run away just so it wasn't spoiled," says Ferguson, a magazine editor. "Then they would slowly transition into business matters, and I would miss it all because I didn't want the plot of a TV show ruined." She says she "lost out on key business talks because of it."

Arguments not over content, but over talking about content, are becoming commonplace.

"While my friends and I used to call each other when the episode of 'The Bachelor' or 'The Apprentice' or 'The Amazing Race' was over, we now have to wait and make sure everyone has had a chance to watch before we call," says investor Beth Finch, 51, of Lafayette, La.

Teacher Charles Cooper, 28, of Augusta, Ga., says he and his friends have simply changed the viewing times. "I have 'TiV-engelized' all my friends. They have TiVos, and we have a schedule of when we watch the shows, although it may be several days later" than scheduled broadcasts.

TV's opening night

Though viewers create their own schedules for favorite shows, hot episodes are still big draws.

"I think the thrill of seeing something first is what brings people to the movies on opening night or to the record store on the day their favorite group's new CD is released," says Charles Welch, 32, an Atlanta TV producer.

Says Rick Hurst, 41, of Mobile, Ala.: "I have been a TiVo user for five years, and I find that the shows I record are those that I can wait to watch at a later date. However, shows like 'Desperate Housewives,' 'Lost,' 'The Amazing Race' and 'Survivor' must be watched as they air for the simple fact that I don't want to be left out of the loop."

But the DVR universe also can help fuel a hit, says Kwan Lee, assistant professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. "Once a show gets popular, TiVo-ing can have a snowballing effect. More people will buzz about it, and the audience will grow.

"At the same time," he says, recording shows "will segment the audience, and it will be harder for a normal show to take off without big promotional activities."

Jonathan Carlson, CEO of Buzzmetrics, a research firm that assesses consumer word of mouth, says that's what's happening. "With increased selection comes less power of the top-rated shows."

He says that what he is seeing are "huge and vibrant and robust communities of interest that crop up around television in general and around certain programs in particular. In that environment (and with the Internet), you don't have to have the interaction in real time. You can post in a blog, message board. The conversation can take place over the course of days or months. In the end, it makes for a much stronger community."

Mark Doyle, who works in documentary development for ABC, says DVRs are enhancing buzz. "I participate in way more conversation than I used to because I'm watching more — on my schedule."

The new water cooler

Sheldon Wiebe, 53, doesn't have a water cooler because he's at home in Calgary, Alberta, on disability. But he has joined several Internet mailing lists that track his favorite TV shows.

"From them, I can tell you there's a lot of morning-after chat. As long as posts are clearly marked in regard to spoilers, nobody objects, and the discussions can run for days. It seems that the Internet may have become the new water cooler. "

And at the cyber cooler, it doesn't matter when anyone watches the episode, as long as it's before the next one airs, says office manager Jan Buckner, 40, of Livingston, Mont. "It is not uncommon to find a lively 2 a.m. discussion days later about what the heck the latest episode of 'Lost' really meant."

That theory is supported on fan Web sites. On realitytv world.com, so many people want to talk that there are two or three separate forums for some shows. Take "Survivor," for example. There's the Survivor Spoilers Forum, the Survivor Bashers Forum and the Survivor Fanatic Forum. And there's a Spoiler Free Zone, in which that night's episode isn't discussed until after 11 p.m. EST, so folks on the West Coast can read without fear of someone ruining the show.

Kim Barker, 43, a corporate administrator from Baton Rouge, La., says it's all "scary" and potentially isolating. "We're becoming a culture that increasingly finds reasons not to socialize. If 'The West Wing' wasn't a 'thing' at our roof garden (water cooler), I wouldn't have found out several things about co-workers who are now friends, nor would I have gotten support after a family crisis."

But Cathy Dee, 49, of Fort Wayne, Ind., stresses that the DVR technology is still an unknown futuristic acronym for many.