# what do you think of LOST ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2006, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893 "2006-05-23T13:43:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/81 "2006-05-24T19:19:00Z")
[QUOTE=Roadfood] …It’s not that because something is popular I “decide” or “refuse” to like it, it’s that experience has shown that the more popular something is, the less likely it is that it will be to my tastes… [/QUOTE] Duly noted. And yeah, that makes sense. I just think a ton of what we think is popular (such as, say, pop music) is only _presented_ as being popular, when in reality most people loathe it. It’s just that things presented in such a manner innevitably reach most of the population, so the minority that DO actually like Ashlee Simpson (for example) will buy her product. I went through the I-don’t-like-it-because-it’s-popular-phase in my life but Tom Petty dragged me out. God Bless Petty. Sorry for the continuing tangent. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/82 "2006-05-24T20:05:12Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Mudd] Dude, it’s just rude to laugh _in front_ of someone’s back. [/QUOTE] (Draws diagram, looks, turns it upside down, looks) Yup. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/83 "2006-05-24T20:06:07Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Mudd] Yeah, I felt the same way until I was maybe twenty or twenty-one. [/QUOTE] I’m close to fifty, and I feel that way more and more. **Lost** is a perfect example. When I first heard about the show, before it had even started, it sounded like something I’d like and I eagerly tuned into the first episode. I have, as I said, watched every episode of the first season and the first two episodes of the second, so no one can accuse me of not having an informed opinion. My opinion went down steadly throughout the first season. The show just sucks, in my opinion. It’s the biggest pile of excrement ever to waste TV screen pixels. It’s dumber than **Lost in Space**. I absolutely, truly, cannot fathom how any sane person with an IQ over room temperature could find even the tiniest shred of redeeming value in that show. But, demonstrably, many, many people not only enjoy it, but absolutely love it, get totally wrapped up in it, talk about and dissect every tiny incident, and truly care what happens. Which just bears out that my tastes are mostly far removed from popular tastes. In contrast (and, not least, to show that it isn’t true that I just “decide” to not like something that’s popular or becomes so), I still enjoy **Survivor** , and for a long time I really liked **CSI**. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/84 "2006-05-24T20:19:20Z")
See, Survivor depresses me. Different strokes, I guess ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/85 "2006-05-24T20:22:42Z")
**Roadfood** , if we were roomies, we would be fist-fighting over the TV. _Lost_ - I can take it or leave it. I do watch it, but I don’t get ‘into’ it. _CSI_ - It takes a lot for me to like yet another ‘cop’ show. This show doesn’t have a lot. _Survivor_ - I’d have to get rid of the TV, if it broadcasted a full episode. Maybe even every other TV in the household, just in case they were infected. Monday nights, from January to May, would be good. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/86 "2006-05-24T20:24:29Z")
**Roadfood** has pretty much hit the nail on the head- I’ve long since accepted that my tastes are generally so different to the mainstream that any show that is hugely popular- eg _24, Lost,_, or any of the myriad _CSI_ or “Reality TV” shows is invariably not my cup of coffee. Look, in an ideal world there’d be a TV Channel devoted exclusively to screening _Duckman, Futurama, Blackadder, Red Dwarf, The Brittas Empire, The Young Ones, Black Books, The Simpsons, Strangers With Candy, Family Guy, American Dad, Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, Seinfeld, Dilbert, South Park, My Name Is Earl, Married… With Children, Oz, Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law, Arrested Development, The Simpsons,_ and whatever other shows I like. Possibly some hardcore porn, too. 😃 Fortunately for the world at large, I’m not the sole arbiter of What Gets Screened On TV. But like **Roadfood** , I find a lot of what’s on TV to be interminable crap, and the more popular something is, the less likely it is to appeal to my tastes. That doesn’t make _every_ popular TV show “awful”, of course- but it does increase the likelihood I’m simply not going to like it, simply from a tastes/enjoyment point of view. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/87 "2006-05-24T20:39:13Z")
**Martini** , you must really like _The Simpsons_. You listed them twice. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/88 "2006-05-24T20:41:43Z")
[QUOTE=Roadfood] It’s dumber than **Lost in Space**. I absolutely, truly, cannot fathom how any sane person with an IQ over room temperature could find even the tiniest shred of redeeming value in that show. [/quote] Heh. My IQ is nearly a hundred degrees above room temperature (I’m Canadian, so that’s not _quite_ as boastful as it might be) and for me the main appeal of _Lost_ is that the show provides plenty of opportunity for the old bean to tick over, unlike most of the vapid pabulum that the networks have on offer. I’m not entirely sure that I self-identify as a “sane person,” though – so that might be beside the point. > [@Roadfood](#): > > I still enjoy **Survivor** , and for a long time I really liked **CSI**. …which brings us right back to the land of _de gustibus non est disputandum_. Now _there’s_ a show that seems (to me) to insult the intelligence of its viewers. > [@Martini Enfield](#): > > In an ideal world there’d be a TV Channel devoted exclusively to screening […] shows I like. And if there were, I’d be sure to subscribe; those are mostly top-notch shows. That said, you _must_ be aware of how alarming narrow your tastes are, right? Is there anything that holds your attention that isn’t outrageous farce? (I mean, besides the hardcore pornography.) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/89 "2006-05-24T21:11:06Z")
[QUOTE=Roadfood] I’m close to fifty, and I feel that way more and more. **Lost** is a perfect example. When I first heard about the show, before it had even started, it sounded like something I’d like and I eagerly tuned into the first episode. I have, as I said, watched every episode of the first season and the first two episodes of the second, so no one can accuse me of not having an informed opinion. My opinion went down steadly throughout the first season. The show just sucks, in my opinion. It’s the biggest pile of excrement ever to waste TV screen pixels. It’s dumber than **Lost in Space**. I absolutely, truly, cannot fathom how any sane person with an IQ over room temperature could find even the tiniest shred of redeeming value in that show. But, demonstrably, many, many people not only enjoy it, but absolutely love it, get totally wrapped up in it, talk about and dissect every tiny incident, and truly care what happens. Which just bears out that my tastes are mostly far removed from popular tastes. In contrast (and, not least, to show that it isn’t true that I just “decide” to not like something that’s popular or becomes so), I still enjoy **Survivor** , and for a long time I really liked **CSI**. [/QUOTE] How someone can put [QUOTE=Roadfood] I still enjoy **Survivor** , and for a long time I really liked **CSI** [/QUOTE] and [QUOTE=Roadfood] It’s the biggest pile of excrement ever to waste TV screen pixels. It’s dumber than **Lost in Space**. I absolutely, truly, cannot fathom how any sane person with an IQ over room temperature could find even the tiniest shred of redeeming value in that show. [/QUOTE] I’ll never really know. How long did it take to realize that **CSI** is a really, really silly show? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/90 "2006-05-24T21:36:51Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] Really? And what was the answer? 😕 [/QUOTE] John was not a robot, not an android, did not have a government-conspiracy chip in his head that connected to every library in the world, he was not a space alien nor had he been abducted by any. Here’s the link to the [real answer](http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271%7C82358%7C1%7C,00.html). ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/91 "2006-05-24T21:44:45Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] How someone can put [I like Survivor and CSI] and [I loathe Lost] I’ll never really know. [/QUOTE] Yes, well, that’s my whole point, isn’t it? I’ll never understand how you (apparently) can enjoy Lost and not enjoy Survivor. [QUOTE=Merijeek] How long did it take to realize that **CSI** is a really, really silly show? [/QUOTE] Never. I never thought it was silly, and still don’t. In the first few seasons, when it dealt with more or less your standard, if a bit offbeat, murders and crimes, the show was great. The reason I stopped watching was that it went from dealing with offbeat crimes to trying to top itself each week in how truly bizarre it could get, and how far it could go in dealing with the furthermost fringes of aberrent human behavior. That and more and more making children the victims and perpetrators of henious crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/92 "2006-05-24T21:52:12Z")
[QUOTE=Roadfood] Yes, well, that’s my whole point, isn’t it? I’ll never understand how you (apparently) can enjoy Lost and not enjoy Survivor. [/QUOTE] Sure…But I don’t refer to those who like CSI as a bunch of pooh-flinging monkeys who have an IQ comparable with curdled milk. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/93 "2006-05-24T23:34:00Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] I find it pathetic that other’s taste in TV shows causes you such ire. I can’t stand daytime TV or any faux-reality show so much that I would rather watch a test pattern. People who enjoy such shows aren’t, however, pathetic. They just have different tastes than me. [/QUOTE] I stopped reading this thread because I am only 2/3 of the way through season 1 and spoilers are starting to come out so I don’t know if anyone else has responded yet. That said, it angers and saddens me that any adult found or finds Full House entertaining. This show would be greatly improved by replacement with a test pattern. Taste is subjective… most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/94 "2006-05-25T00:50:58Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] Sure…But I don’t refer to those who like CSI as a bunch of pooh-flinging monkeys who have an IQ comparable with curdled milk. [/QUOTE] Uh, and I’ve never referred to people who like **Lost** in any derogatory way either. I’ve said the **show** sucks, but I have not said that those who watch it do. I said that I “cannot fathom how any sane person with an IQ over room temperature could find even the tiniest shred of redeeming value in that show”. Demonstrably, many sane people with a whole range of IQs do, indeed, enjoy it. I just cannot understand why. That’s not derogatory of those people, just stating a difference of opinion in a strong way. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/95 "2006-05-25T00:56:06Z")
Season finale starts in a couple minutes, and they’ve promised a bunch of answers. (Not all, or even core mystery answers, but _some_, as opposed to last season’s finale.) My biggest gripe right now is one that occured to me last night. What possible explanation are they going to give for the Others slaughtering all the tailies? I predict that they will never address the motivation behind the killing of those several dozen people. And that will annoy me to no end. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/96 "2006-05-25T01:16:32Z")
[QUOTE=Ellis Dee] My biggest gripe right now is one that occured to me last night. What possible explanation are they going to give for the Others slaughtering all the tailies? [/QUOTE] Well, as far as we know, they didn’t kill them all – they kidnapped a whole bunch of them. We don’t really know the fate of the kidnappees, but I have a feeling they aren’t dead (like Walt). ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/97 "2006-05-25T04:47:47Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Mudd] That said, you _must_ be aware of how alarming narrow your tastes are, right? Is there anything that holds your attention that isn’t outrageous farce? (I mean, besides the hardcore pornography.) 😉 [/QUOTE] On TV? Not regularly. I mean, my parents have Austar, which gives me access to the Discovery Channel, The Hitler… sorry, History Channel, and about 70 other channels, most of which are just unwatchable (even by my parent’s admission). There’s a new comedy starting on ABC here callled _Absolute Power_, which stars Stephen Fry and looks very promising (I caught the first episode on TV last night before work, and it was most enjoyable!), and I’ve been known to watch _Desperate Housewives_ and _Mythbusters_ if they’re on. _Braniac: Science Abuse_ is also pretty interesting, albeit in an “FHM makes explosions” kind of way- but it’s important to realise it’s about as much of a Science show as _Jurassic Park_ is a textbook on how to resurrect deceased megafauna. And I like _The Simpsons_, but didn’t mean to mention them twice! :smack: Futurama is much better… 😃 I maintain that my tastes aren’t limited, TV is just aimed at different people! I have the internet, and I like to read (and my tastes in books are extensive and varied)- and, besides… who needs TV when you’ve got the SDMB? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/98 "2006-05-25T05:56:25Z")
[QUOTE=Roadfood] Never. I never thought it was silly, and still don’t. In the first few seasons, when it dealt with more or less your standard, if a bit offbeat, murders and crimes, the show was great. The reason I stopped watching was that it went from dealing with offbeat crimes to trying to top itself each week in how truly bizarre it could get, and how far it could go in dealing with the furthermost fringes of aberrent human behavior. That and more and more making children the victims and perpetrators of henious crimes. [/QUOTE] The silliness of CSI is not in the oddness of the crimes it solves, but in the ridiculous magic lab tests, infinitely scaleable digital photographs, and most of all the forensic scientists packing guns apprehending the criminals. I still watch it sometimes, but it violates my suspension of disbelief far more than Lost does. A couple of orders of magnitude more. CSI: Miami would be even worse, but I try to convince myself that it’s an intentional parody of the genre. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/99 "2006-05-25T10:47:50Z")
I’ve tried several times to watch it - I got the first couple of s1 DVDs from netflix, and it didn’t catch my attention. Later, I tried again, with disks from the public library - again, starting at the beginning. That time I made it further into s1 before giving up. For me, it’s not so much about the overall plot that loses me (although I have friends who love it, and the discussion I hear about it from them just makes me glad I didn’t get sucked in). What loses me is what feels like a huge number of subplots along with all the backstory. It gets to the point that I’m confused and irritated by the way it seems to jump from flashback to current time. I know that the whole story isn’t being told, either in the flashbacks or in the current time - and while I know that’s a lot of the point, it also irritates me a lot. That said, there were individual episodes that I enjoyed of what I’d seen, but just not enough of those to make me continue watching the show. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893/100 "2006-05-25T12:31:06Z")
[QUOTE=Gorsnak] The silliness of CSI is not in the oddness of the crimes it solves, but in the ridiculous magic lab tests, infinitely scaleable digital photographs [/QUOTE] They did a joke about this on “Cold Case,” also on CBS. The detectives were looking at a video and they couldn’t make out one part of it. One of them said, “We need to zoom in,” so they all got up and walked closer to the screen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-lost/357893.md?page=6)