Tangent, I already have said list of threadcrappers (from last season). I was thinking ahead. 
I’ll post it a bit later, but I know Trunk is very near the top, if only because his name is the first to come to mind when thinking of folks who have nothing to contribute, yet continue to post.
Yay! I’m looking forward to the return of “Lost”.
As far as all the complaining is concerned - it hasn’t affected my enjoyment of the show one bit. I like to hear the concerns and criticisms. They can lead to interesting discussions. And no show is completely above complaint.
I just wish that the criticisms were more thoughtfull. Most of the time it comes off as just dumping on a show, nitpicking and bitching. I love a good snark as well as the next guy and nitpicking can be fun, but when I come to the Dope I’m usually hoping to get something more than I would get on TVWOP.
(And I’m not just talking about “Lost” here.)
The writers have admitted that they initially pitched the show and wrote the first season on the assumption that the show wouldn’t last to the second season. So, they had no long-term plan set with all the “foreshadowing” they were doing. I put that in quotes because it only really counts as foreshadowing if it’s showing something that you know is going to happen some day. They’ve been able to retcon a future which fits with what they showed us in the first season because they’ve made a second and third season, but that doesn’t mean what they showed us in the first season was true foreshadowing: it’s like writing up a to-do list on Sunday night of all the things you did that weekend, then checking everything on the list and saying, “Woohoo! I finished my to-do list for the weekend!” and feeling all proud of your accomplishment.
They are also on record as saying that every single thing you see on the show will have a quantifiable, believable scientific explanation. Explanations offered to date: Inexplicable luck, psychic powers, and a magnetic anomaly that can pull a plane down out of the sky, tear it apart, and “soft land” it by having one part fall in the ocean and another part cartwheel through the jungle before sliding to a stop upside down, an incident which over 70 people survived with little more than scratches. Yeah, I know; one guy lost a leg. What was his name again?
They have since said that actually, the show is about the people and the relationships between them, not the mysteries they’re facing. It’s all about the journey, man.
Me? I watch because some of the people are really, really pretty, and because some of the really annoying people occasionally get punched in the face, which is, at times, hilarious.
The problem here is that some people abide shitty TV, and some people don’t.
Yes, some shows start with a complete plan, and fill in the blanks wisely and adeptly as the shows move through time. They’re shown on HBO and PBS.
I mistakenly got involved in a show on network TV thinking someone had pulled their heads out of their asses. Instead, the show became not about moving towards an explanation of what happened to these people, and the characters own desire to find that explanation, but rather about stringing viewers along until the next episode because the ad dollars were pouring in.
All that these threads make me realize is that people don’t know good television drama when they see it. Even IF they start resolving mysteries on Lost – and that’s a big IF – it’s too late. IF they start resolving these things, they’re doing it in an untimely, unorganized, convoluted fashion and they’ve already introduced too many fallacies and chasms of believability to redeem themselves without nonsensical explanations (and there’s no need to rehash these since they’ve been brought up in past threads, and plenty of other places on the 'net).
Go watch a few good shows. . .go watch a season of Deadwood. Go watch Rome. Go watch The Wire. Go watch a British series like Prime Suspect and get back to me about Lost.
A little criticism isn’t a problem. Saying “This episode didn’t tell us as much as last week, boo” is much more acceptable, IMO, than “I’m never watching this again after that hour of crap” repeated weekly be the same people.
If nobody could bitch at all, we wouldn’t have a thread! Because, you know, our teasing about the waaaaaaaaalt thing was most definitely not praise for good writing of dialogue!
Ya know what? I already did.
… you’re addicted to lost. <— (YouTube link.)
[sup]Apologies if this has been posted before.[/sup]
.
Oh, I invested a large chunk of my viewing time to Deadwood and Carnivale. HBO may plan out a series a little better, but when those fuckers decide to pull the plug, everybody is left hanging.
Trunk is riding his high horse in good form today.
I’ve watched every HBO series including the three you listed, Trunk, and whilst having incredible budgets and exceptional production values, they are not amongst the network’s most successful shows. The fact that you use HBO as an example of a network that really plans out their series is also interesting since I’d be hard-pressed to think of a series that didn’t appear to suffer creatively premature fates. They have a tendency to lose steam and then rush to a premature resolution. I suppose if Deadwood were so hot, it might have lasted longer than three seasons and a pair of soon-to-air TV movies made to address the fact that it ended without a clear resolution. Same thing is happening to Stargate SG-1: excellent show with a record number of seasons which has now sadly lost steam and got sidelined by MGM, but was still lucky enough to recuperate some of the show’s remaining budget for two made-for-TV movies to finish the series. Still, if I really wanted to hear gratuitous F-bombs ad infinitum, I’d just pop my Scarface DVD in rather than watch Deadwood. I bet if they said “fuck” on Lost every seven seconds, people would have a lot more patience with it, wouldn’t they?
Apples and oranges, of course, and this probably isn’t the thread for comparing them. Network shows and cable shows are developed differently and each has its merits and weaknesses. I doubt you’ll find anyone who doesn’t have some issue with the progress of Lost, but you go a step further to assume that there must be something wrong with the folks who watch a show you no longer like, and that they consequently wouldn’t appreciate the shows that you do like. You know, I watched that Enterprise show for a few seasons because I love Star Trek, but curiously found myself not really caring whether I missed an episode before long due to retroactive continuity issues which were obvious to any fan of the shows (especially the original) and general lack of identifying or sympathizing with the characters. A bit like General Motors did with Oldsmobile, Paramount tried to market the Star Trek brand to a younger audience with a new series that forced sex appeal over plot quality or continuity. It didn’t work out, and the already limited core audience didn’t much care for it either, so the show faded away. I did not, however, go into Star Trek threads and condescendingly shit all over the show for those who were still sticking with it, because uh, it’s generally just a dickish thing to do.
People like all kinds of shows, and no one is a judge or jury of which are good or bad amongst them (with the possible sole exception of the network that airs them), so please get off it already.
I just want to add that I don’t want you to take my post as an attack so much as trying to preserve the peace in CF. I get long-winded with examples because this section isn’t the best place for creative disagreement or judging other people’s tastes … people generally want to discuss television shows rather than gripe about them, or listen to people gripe about them more than is necessary.
You are not changing my opinion of the show. What you (not you in particular but all Lost threadcrappers) are doing is taking all the fun out of discussing the show here. I get it. You don’t like the show. I don’t understand what good TV is. You’ve made your point. Now move on and let us talk about our lousy show.
I’d like to gripe about the time switch, if I may. It’s really inconvenient for me and I think I’m going to write a letter to my Congressman or something. On the one hand, hooray! Now I can watch “American Idol” and TiVo “Criminal Minds” and still get to see “Lost” with no scheduling conflicts. But on the other hand, I’m never going to make it to 11:00, which means I won’t be able to discuss it at work until Friday, and by the time I get here the threads are going to be 75 pages long, oh my lands! I’ll still read them, of course, but heavens to mergatroid! I already spend more time per week with most of you guys than I do with my husband; this is going to further complicate things.
Oh, the show? Yeah, I’m still in. I don’t even care if it gives me agita: it still beats the crap out of spending actual time with actual, you know, people or something, which is against my religion. Plus, if I have to go out and do other “stuff,” I’d never get my laundry done, and let’s face it, I’m running out of socks and underpants.
Since I’m the only one that mentioned the time switch in this thread. . .that’s not official or anything. All I said was that I heard they were moving to 10:00. A friend told me. I haven’t confirmed it.
Second of all. . .loach, and anamnesis, and whoever can jump on what I’m saying all you want. . .I didn’t say shit in this thread (and wasn’t planning on it) except “I’m done watching it” until anamnesis wanted to get into it. Of course, I’m game for that.
But, I’ve said my piece for now.
I’m just looking forward to season three starting here at all - yaaaaaaaaaaaay!
It’s been a long fall - but at least I’ve had the opportunity to watch the first two seasons again.
I don’t care if some people thinks it’s crappy tv - I like it 
-Tikster
This is a little iffy, actually. According to ABC.com, the episode on 2/8 starts at 10:00 – no mention of whether the rest of them do, too, but it looks like that may be the case. So … I guess I’m griping about a possible, perhaps probable, but as-yet-unofficial time change.
I would wager that they’ll be showing last season’s cliffhanger at the usual time, followed by the season opener at 10/9 central.
I think they were responding to this:
So now people are getting back to you. Did you actually not want us to do that?
rockle: The show is now on at 10:00. I’ll be very sleepy on Thursday.
Well, the teaser ads I’ve caught have been saying “at its new time, 10pm”, so I assumed it was a permanent switch. The Canadian affiliate tends to play the episode earlier, though, so maybe I’ll be lucky. I was catching it at 8pm for most of the first half of the season.
You know that other thread about irrational reasons for not watching TV shows? I think I just came up with one for Lost: fans getting into online slapfights over the number of pieces in an imaginary jigsaw puzzle.
I don’t remember you specifically from previous threads. It is just very predictable that within 3 or 4 posts in a Lost thread someone has to come in a say “It sucked after the first season, episode, commercial break…” or something similar. In this one it didn’t happen until post 4 and 5. It’s getting tedious. If you stopped watching a while ago why do you feel the need to jump into a thread about the show? To show how superior you are to those of us who still like the show? If thats not it I don’t understand it. I used to watch ER every week. At some point I lost interest. Now I think it sucks. I don’t open ER threads. Why would I? Just to say I don’t watch it anymore?
Those of you that do this in every Lost thread are taking all the enjoyment out of discussing the show afterwards. To me that is just as enjoyable as watching the show. If that is your goal then congrats, mission accomplished. If you are trying to convert me, don’t bother. I can reach my own conclusions and my tastes don’t have to match yours.
Although this is in reponse to you Trunk I am not trying to put this all on you. It’s something that has been pissing me off for a while. Maybe you are the biggest offender, maybe not. I don’t recall you specifically from previous posts.