Yup. Recording TV shows and movies aired on TV was far more common than copying tapes. No copy protection to worry about (although there were some attempts to prevent fast-forwarding over ad segments, IIRC) and you only needed a single tape mechanism instead of two.

free preview hbo was my jam; recorded black sheep and tommy boy; and our tv was one where you had to record it at max level and the vcr would record all of the on screen stuff from the cable box. so i was absolutely meticulous NOT to touch the remote while recording.

sigh. i wish i still had all the tapes i recorded now.