Wednesday, November 08, 2006

GET LOST


Admittedly I've only watched 1/2 the first season and some sporadic episodes of Season 02 /03 of LOST, while keeping a pulse on what happens through various media, and fans of the show. I was hooked for most of the first season as the stories were kept simple, keeping in mind how a cool show like this could end up like the X-Files where original questions are buried by introducing new ones, and answering those with newer questions; while introducing newer characters. So I kept an interest, at a distance...

So, not to sound elitist, but I generally shake my head when I talk to genuine fans of the show. This is not to put a damper on their enthousiasm, but rather a nodding grimace to the machinations of overstylized writing that grifts its audience into thinking it's better and more complex than it is.

Or simply put: pretentious writing. TV writing for that matter.

LOST started out with a simple premise - survivors of a crashed airliner on an uncharted island.
Now the first season had flashbacks of each established character, and some genuiune surprises with a Polar Bear, and a Dinosaur making their presence known. Wow. An Ex Iraqi soldier, a fat guy, an ex-Hobbit, a black dude and a Korean couple living in harmony? Interesting. Bring on the cannibals.

But alas poor Yourik, conspiracies, a hatch and a bunch of ass clowns named The OTHERs make themselves known, so like the X-Files, nothing gets resolved with the first batch of questions. At which point I give them the finger.

Also now there are 2 islands with one with "The Others" having a submarine and access to civilization.....I thought they were F**kin' LOST!

When Rod Serling created the Twlight Zone back in 1959, that show had a budget that paled in comparison with the 1-2 million Lost costs per episode. In fairness TZ was a 1/2 hour show, but the storytelling element of the paranormal was simple and straightforward. It's twist endings left the viewer bewildered, and amazed due to the magic just shown their way, but never frustrated for not understanding the story. Furthermore shows like Land of the Lost, Danger Island, The Planet of the Apes Tv Show although seemingly dated by visuals, are still fresh due to the simplicty of the stories they tell. I'm not saying that Sci-Fi has to be dumbed down, but even Star Trek (the 1967 / 1990's) had generally one mission to complete per episode.

So LOST gets lost until next year. I hope for their sake the writers get some direction.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah!

Oh, how X-files ruined us didn't they? Chris Carter. F#@* him!
;)

I'll probably watch the last few eps of this third season and still be able to follow along with the plot [ like I did with season 2]

I can skip all the friggin flashbacks. They really need Tom Hanks ' SNL character Mr. Short Term Memory Guy for this show.

I'm in the same boat with Heroes.
-k

Anonymous said...

Mr Short Term Memory: We're on an island? What?!

Mr Short Term Memory: Hi !

Mr Short Term Memory: Oh my god I'm on an island! Is this my vacation?

Mr Short Term Memory: Hi !

Mr Short Term Memory: Hey, how did I end up on Gilligan's island?

-k

Lori said...

Yeah! Everything's all new all the time for Mr. Short-Term Memory!!

And go Devo...you tell 'em, man. It's a real shame that as a viewer you feel like you have to protect yourself from major disappointments like 'X-Files' and more recently, '24.' Sorry to hear that 'Lost' is going down the same road. Hopefully they can turn it around before it's too late.

JOHN DVI-VARDHANA said...

I just want to reiterate that I'm a casual fan of the show...The show that has my eye right now is DEXTER - on Showtime.

Unknown said...

both dave & i love heroes, and are still watching lost. i totally agree with everyone here, but it was nice to see nathon fillion last night.

i wished we had showtime, dexter looks good.

a show that i fear may not be returning could be shark. i enjoy this one, being a fan of james woods. he is a huge actor, and literally engolfs each scene that he's in. they need to punch up the notches on the scripts to match his talent more...i feel that there could be more to this show..but then what do i know :D

we enjoy ugly betty, it's fun and light hearted written in the style of the novelas that my grandparents & my mom, watch on univison, but with better lighting and sets :) i still say that the novela, rosa salvaje, was the best one to date! ooo! it was soooo good!

of course there's grey's anatomy, which is awesome! and not just for the eye-candy ;) CSI: vegas is really good this season, same with L&O SVU.

still catching up with last season's battlestar galactica so that we can start watching this season that we have recorded. eureka had a good seaon ending, looking forward to what happens next.

deirdre

Anonymous said...

Heroes has some good 'shocking' scenes. But I'm not really caring about where it's all headed and who are the bad guys.
I like the Lost cast, it's a strong cast.But I feel like the writers are filling up space with 'meaningful flashbacks' until sweeps or something. I watched the first two eps this season and gave up. I'll catch up later at the end of Nov sweeps.
--k

TheOneTrueGuy said...

Damn dude! Are you channelling me lately? Or is it just an age thing?

Either way... welcome to my world, welcome to my world, welcome to the world of Guy!

Anonymous said...

"welcome to my world, welcome to my world, welcome to the world of Guy!"

-----
Holy crap. It's like an amusement park theme. Except it's all about Guy.
Ride the coaster of Impending Bitterness.
Log Flume of Doom.
Screwed the Pooch teacup ride for the kiddies.

-k
[who is avoiding actual work at all costs this morning]

TheOneTrueGuy said...

Don't forget everybody's favorite... the "Who Got Caught F**kin' the Cat Stunt Show"!

Harharhar.

JOHN DVI-VARDHANA said...

I'd WATCH that for a DOLLAR !

Hahahahahahahaha!

Unknown said...

how about "who got caught in the teacup spout ride"? a sure winner with the boys :D HAAAARRRRR

kegn_15 said...

ew you got spam juice on your blog

Unknown said...

eeewwww!

TheOneTrueGuy said...

Spam + eeeeew!= Speeeeeew!

Harharharhar!