System and method for saving and recalling state data for media and home appliances

A method for using a controlling device to place a plurality of appliances in a home entertainment system into a selected state as a function of a media content, comprising:

• receiving at the controlling device a command to cause a one of the plurality of appliances to tune to a channel which provides the media content;
• obtaining metadata associated with the media content that is being provided by the channel at the time that the command is received, wherein the obtained metadata associated with the media content contains data indicative of at least one of content genre, content rating, and content category;
• selecting from a plurality of states for the home entertainment system that have each been associated with the channel a one of the plurality of states for the home entertainment system that has been associated with the obtained metadata;
• and
• causing the controlling device to transmit a sequence of commands that causes each of the plurality of appliances to be placed into a state that corresponds to the selected one of the plurality of states for the home entertainment system.