Using DVR on Macbook Air laptop: Solution for when you FF a recording past live limit and screen goes black

When you've FF past the present, all you get is the the twirling circle.  Rewinding by any method doesn't work.  Even exiting the page and going back to Library and clicking on recording's white arrow brings the same result. Strangely, even going to Guide and clicking on the live channel calls up the same twirling circle. 

But, if you click on the three dots in the recording's Library tile, it calls up a full page of episodes, etc. and a line of viewing options.  The only one that seems to work is the last one on the right, "Ways to Watch".  Clicking brings up three options, and the only one that works is "Recording".  Not even "start over" works.

Don't know why they make things so difficult.