Ahira's Hangar

When you are channel surfing, are there any shows that invariably stop your remote control?

For us they would include:
Star Trek (the original series)
Star Trek Next Generation
Meerkat Manor
Mythbusters
Digging for the Truth
Dirty Jobs (unless the job involves poop, in which case we might well change it)

For the guys, most close sporting events will also get the remote to stop.

We will also usually pause to watch the occasional big dog show or horse show on Animal Planet; also good documentaries on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, etc.

And my husband likes to watch cooking shows.

Yep.
Star Trek (anything)
X-Files
Any History of Egypt
Sell This House
Flip That House
King of Queens
Seinfeld

Oh, how could I forget Flip This House and its ilk? Those shows will stop my husband's remote control finger in its tracks!

My younger son and I also get into Engineering an Empire.

This Old House
The New Yankee Workshop (Norm rules!!!)
Lost
NCIS
Two and a Half Men
Law and Order: CI (when Vincent's on)
Mythbusters
any football or basketball game
Sports Center
STNG

For me not so much TV series; however, a few:
Star Trek (really depends on the episode. For examples, Yesterday's Enterprise, I. Huge, the one that sends Picard back into a dead planet's history, etc.)
West Wing
CSI (Grissom, Willows, Sidle, Brown, Stokes)
Sopranos
FWIW, there was a time when Hill Street Blues would have probably had that effect.

Movies, a completely different story:
Godfather series (I, II or II)
Great Escape
Pulp Fiction
Jackie Brown

PBS.
KCTS (more public broadcasting)
Mythbusters
(Ask) This Old House
Roy Underhill
Curling
Any good live music.