There was a time of high TV where Lost, The Shield, and BSG2004 were all on and I loved all three shows dearly. Lost took a lot of veering sidesteps the last couple of seasons that made me feel like I was just trying to get to the end rather than enjoying it, but I watched the whole thing over maybe 10 years ago and enjoyed most of it.

I'd put it in my top 10 dramas ever, but not sure top 10 shows.

Sawyer is the only answer for #1 character.

I'm struggling to understand the thread's purpose. Is this a discussion on the top TV shows of all time, therefore a rebuttal is on topic? Or is this just a thread dedicated to a lovefest around a TV show that didn't ultimately know where it was going and went off the rails?

I think it's to show off a different typeface/font for the thread title.

Lathspell said:

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I'm struggling to understand the thread's purpose. Is this a discussion on the top TV shows of all time, therefore a rebuttal is on topic? Or is this just a thread dedicated to a lovefest around a TV show that didn't ultimately know where it was going and went off the rails?

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That's when it got good

Count me a one of the people that absolutely despised this show. I thought it was dumb and so poorly written, they just gave up because they had no idea what they were doing.

I think I posted this the night it happened, but the episode where Linus takes John Locke to Jacob's cabin was the one that really got me.

I had gotten home from work late and was watching it with the lights off in my apartment. I had gone to the kitchen for something right when Jacob or Christian or whoever says "HELP ME" and I about jumped out of my skin.

Still not sure I know WTF is going on there - was christian the man in black at this point ? But jesus was that scary.



Unfortunately the island just kept on popping up more and more locations as the show needed them, like the temple that the Rebels attacked the Death star from that just showed up full of people at one point.

About watching in real time.

When the show started in 2004, I was working on the Disney Lot in the Production Building which was adjacent to the writer's offices on the other side of the sound stage where they filmed ALIAS.

I moved to Australia at the end of 2007 and I don't remember off the top of my head how much of a delay was induced due to the Writer's Strike that was going hot and heavy at that time. Obviously I could look it up on IMDB.

In Australia, a lot of times they will show US or UK shows with a delay of several months or even years. By 2008/2009, they had the technology to send the episodes across immediately after they aired in the USA. They called that "Fast Tracked from the US".

The problem was, In the USA, the episodes aired on Monday night (I think) and in Australia they also aired on Monday night but it was the following week (six days later - Sunday US time). This meant that I only had 1 day to get online and read the latest theories before the next episode would spoil everything on the Internet.

This show is like none other that I can think of where it needed to rest between episodes and let your mind run wild with what was going to happen next.

After a while, I had a close Australian co-worker show me how to download bootleg videos from USENET News Groups (yeah, USENET from the 1990s).

It usually took a day or two for a HD copy to make its way onto USENET which now gave me 4-5 days to watch the show and chat on the message boards before the next episode aired.

I've still never seen a single episode.

Great first couple of seasons but I really thought it went off the rails soon and I stopped watching . It kinda reminded me of the original twin peaks. Great and gripping first few eps then off the rails she went (for me at least)

I love stories like this.

Very timely post. My mother-in-law is visiting, fell, and is immobile so we started rewatching Lost with my 17 year old daughters. They. Are. Enamored.

They can't get enough...watching 3 episodes a night and can't wait to start again the next evening.

My wife and I watched it live and even hosted watch parties at our house. I can relate to reading the message boards, speculating, and then being wrong every time...and we loved it! It was a great live experience.

I'm BORED with the second viewing. I know there are some great moments coming up but I can't get over the feeling that they reeled us in with no plan and just played us all for fools week after week. I'm a hater but I can't say anything because I don't want to ruin the fun for my daughters who are experiencing it for the first time.

Your watch party comment reminds me, my wife worked with some folks in Austin in the early-mid 90s who were doing X-Files watch parties.

When I'm watching old series with my kids, I'll do 2 series at a time rather than 2 episodes of the same show each night.

With one like LOST, it's a good opportunity to teach them to let each episode rest and percolate.

Frustrating for the younger kids who want to consume all 6 seasons in a week to two but, it's worth the extra pain.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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The Constant is still in my top 10 all time TV episodes.

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Agreed here