At 04:49 PM Thursday 3/20/2008, jon louis mann wrote: >I gave up on that show long ago. I just passed along the link fwiw >when I came across it because iirc some discussion of the show >sometime back when, and thought it might be of interest to somebody... >(Lotsa other interesting things at that site, which was recently >mentioned in the Bad Astronomy blog.) > >. . . ronn! ;) > >Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? >A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. > >ronn, when do you think 'lost' jumped the shark? i'm still still >hooked, patiently waiting for resolution... > >. . . jon!~}
One thing not unique to that show is that most viewers will not appreciate it when things happen which may be subplots or may be integral to the main plot but because it's an open-ended series rather than something like a mini-series or even a series like "24" where you know everything of significance has to come together by a certain date when the concluding episode of the mini-series or the season will air. Except to geeks who get caught up in the show and discuss it endlessly on the Internet (:P), having something interesting happen in one episode that is never referred to again until sometime the next season is frustrating, as is having an important part of this season's plotline depend on some obscure point from an episode which aired months ago or even in a previous season which you may have missed or if you saw the past episode don't recall that point. And as some of my posts to this list over the year may have indicated, I have an above-average memory for insignificant details about things I read, viewed, or experienced years or decades ago. Unless it is mighty compelling, however, I don't want to be forced to constantly trying to remember such things in order to understand what is going on in a TV show that airs once a week (and frequently not that often): I get enough of needing to remember details from months, years, or decades ago because they relate to something I am doing now in real life. When I want to be entertained, I prefer entertainment I can take or leave, rather than have to work at and constantly be wondering if this particular plot point is going nowhere or if I'm going to need to recall it in detail over a year from now. Also, I tire of constant flashbacks, particularly if they don't serve to illuminate something specific but again you are supposed to guess what character flaw is being illustrated in one of the characters that will turn out to be important in some future episode. (As I believe I have also mentioned here in the past, I am no fan of doing logic puzzles for the sake of doing logic puzzles. I prefer to hone my skills on "real-world" problems to which I want to know the answer (which may include problems from abstract math or theoretical physics or the design of extraterrestrial worlds or plot points for a story I am working on or something like that which others may not consider as having much to do with the "real world" but as I said still not just doing a problem with a known answer for the sake of doing the problem. No, I was never much a fan of homework, especially the "busywork" kind . . . ) But those are my gripes with the format. Perhaps some of the others who report watching the first several episodes or perhaps the first season and then losing interest can share their reasons . . . (hint, hint) . . . . . . ronn! :) _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
