TiVo troubles: a word to interaction designers about having a "Happy GUI"

Today my TiVo started needing a re-boot literally every 4 minutes to prevent the whole system locking up. Eventually I have had to unhook it from my tv set-up and leave it to one side to deal with another day.

So, how well do you think I warmed to the happy TiVo cartoon character accompanied by cheese-synth-light-entertainment music in the wacky opening animation that appears every time you restart the machine?

GUI/interaction designers take note: if you are thinking of making anything with a happy-to-see-you splash screen that takes a minute or so to work its way through with no skip, please have a think about how many times your poor user is going to have to sit through it whilst trouble-shooting a faulty system.

And consider whether it is making them warm to the brand as a personality, or whether it is making them want to put their fist through the screen...