Really ... How Lost Is 'Lost' Anyway?

The Island. The Hatch. The Others. There are certainly an awful lot of "the's" in the world and mythology of "Lost." But could the next "the" phrase be followed by "end"?

I certainly hope not, as I have counted myself a fan of the hit ABC series since midway through its first season. Yes, once again, I came into a series late figuring if it was going to be something worth watching, then ABC wouldn't have fired its head Lloyd Braun for commissioning the series in the first place. Normally, network heads aren't booted for a series pickup decision that hasn't even aired yet, but the people at Disney weren't waiting for this one to resolve. And that was certainly a mistake for them.

"Lost" has become the new X-Files for the 21st century, just with a more ensemble cast and a "Survivor"-like feel. Every time a question gets answered, a dozen more questions are spawned. And as we found out in the early episodes of the third season, not a lot of time has passed on the island ... in fact, about 40-something days to be exact. Guess that explains why everyone still seems to be well groomed, when "Survivor" contestants look like hobos before the first immunity challenge.

I've heard the complaints: "The show makes no sense." "It's too slow." "Bring back 'Farscape.'" But sorry, friends, I can't follow that lead.

When I first saw the aftermath of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, I knew I was committed. And if they canceled the show before resolving everything, then I would have to be committed. It's a show so similar in premise to many mythology series, but yet so innovative.

Where else have the use of pre-series flashbacks been used so effectively to not only help define characters, but to actually tell their own story as well? Certainly, "Lost" was not the first series to do this (one only has to think about "The West Wing"), but they certainly turned it from being an occasional production element to an artform.

And then you have the lingering questions. So what if they haven't been answered yet? Who cares that when you get an answer, you get more questions? Isn't that what's great about the show? Why would anyone want to toss that off into oblivion?

I know I use this example a lot, but it works perfectly here. Those of us who have been with SyFy Portal since the early days nearly a decade ago know all about "Earth: Final Conflict." What kept that series fresh and enthralling in its first season is that you didn't have a lot of answers, but a ton of questions. Who were the Taelons? Why is it every time Da'an spoke, the hair rose on the back of your neck? What was this plan? What new mystery would we find out about this week? Is the Resistance right?

They were great questions that could've made E:FC maybe as popular as some of the later editions of Gene Roddenberry's other work, Star Trek. Instead, the revolving door of producers decided to answer all of our questions and remove all the mystery elements for nothing more than two-dimensional bad guys, and boring action better suited for an episode of "Walker, Texas Ranger."

I'm telling you now that changing the course of "Lost" will result in something like that, if certain people have their way. And I'm sorry, I personally have no interest in watching that, and neither would most of the existing viewership.

I don't know how long "Lost" will stay on the air. It seems that the showrunners have a schedule that might not be as long as what the network wants. As much as I would love a show like "Lost" to go on forever, I don't want it to be forced to jump the shark, continuing past its natural end. If that natural end is in five seasons, then end the show after five seasons. If it's after 11, then please, give us another eight years of life on the island!

In any event, don't listen to the critical fans and stay the course. "Lost" comes back to start the rest of its third season tonight at 10 ET on ABC, and I expect each and every one of you to be there watching it with me.

This may have played already buy now.
Well here are the results of what happen last night raitings way.

Lost' Gets Beat Up In Wednesday Overnights

It didn't do as bad as "Medium" on NBC, but it seems the only thing that ABC's one-time hit "Lost" has lost, is viewers.

The ABC show finished with its lowest overnight ratings of the season, posting an 8.5 rating/14 share, finishing well behind "CSI: NY" on CBS, which earned a 10.2/16. It did far better, as expected, than its lead-in clip show, "Lost Survivor Guide," but did have some good news in a key demographic, taking adults 18 to 49 for the 10 p.m. hour over "CSI: NY" and "Medium," which did an overall pull of 5.4/8 according to Nielsen Media Research Fast Nationals.

For the night, Fox pummeled its competition, earning an 11.9/18 fueled by "American Idol," with CBS just behind it at 9.4/14. ABC finished in third place with a 6.1/9, and was good enough to stay ahead of NBC, wich had a 5.4/8 fourth-place finish.

Have fans finally tired of "Lost"? Or will the extended downtime just require a few weeks for viewers to come back. The show is finishing in with numbers similar to "Heroes" on NBC and "24" on Fox, which both networks are considering successes, so while it is down from the double digits the show was pulling in the past, it certainly isn't in trouble ... yet.

Fast nationals usually provide a snapshot of what Americans are watching by pulling numbers from the top urban markets. A rating point generally represents more than 1.1 million households while the share indicates the percentage of televisions turned on that was tuned to the specific program. These numbers typically shift when final ratings are issued.

	Author	Topic: Really ... How Lost Is 'Lost' Anyway? (Read 148 times)
0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.