An Open Letter To Lost
To the creators of the tv show Lost, the people in charge of Lost and anyone at ABC who is affiliated with, or makes decisions on behalf of, Lost:
I have been loyal. I have watched every show in every season since the beginning. When you had that one season, the one I like to call The Season That Went Nowhere And Made Me Think About Tuning In For The 43rd Season Of ER Instead, I stuck with you. I’ve swallowed the idea of polar bears in the tropics, a smoke monster that’s just silly and now time travel all in the hope of a payoff that will be worth it. I did not complain that you kept Claire around much longer than necessary (and thank you for taking out Shannon before I had to beg). I’ve tried not to snicker at the idea of that Daniel Faraday guy being a genius. I have ignored the fact you made Jack the leader when he is clearly a putz. [Would it kill the guy to tie up the people from the boat and insist they answer a few simple questions? ] I’ve been disgruntled but accepting of the fact you brought in a really interesting character - Miles - and now never use him. I weep that we do not see more of Desmond or Sawyer, but I accept it. I’ve even put aside my lawyer training and tried to believe that the survivors never ask a follow up question of the people trying to kill them. I mean, come on. Locke tells Hurley that Ben killed all the people in the Dharma Intiative and shows him the mass grave, and Hurley doesn’t ask why? More importantly, he doesn’t ask how? See, those are tidbits the rest of us not involved in the crash would ask. The how part is something I might want to know in case Ben decides the kill again and I need to run.
A sojourn to Tunisia? Fine. A disappearing cabin? Sure, why not. Dead people walking and talking? Bring. It. On. But you’ve gone too far this time. You have now journeyed into the one area that is sure to lose me (and many of the other loyal followers who continue to insist you guys are brilliant while fearing you are dragging us into the abyss). Do you know what I’m talking about? Let me be clear. I am bemoaning the number of commercial breaks this season. Honestly, what the hell are you people thinking? Last night’s episode had almost as many minutes of commercials as it did of the show. I don’t care what the financial folks at ABC are telling you, that’s too much. My husband reads the paper during commerical breaks, so he’s pretty tolerant. Last night even he got ticked off. See, a man should not be able to read the entire Wall Street Journal while waiting for the show to come back on.
Look, I get it. Shows cost money. You’re nearing the end and want to wring every penny out of this baby. Got it. No one is more appreciative of a commerical artist’s need to make money than I am. I tried paying the Countrywide mortgage in ARCs and that didn’t work. Truly, I feel for you. But there has to be another way. Maybe you could stop with the whole Lord Of The Flies thing where you have unnamed survivors wandering around the island, never speaking to the attractive leaders of the group. Just get rid of them and save on their pay. They bug the fans anyway. We think they’re losers for not standing up now and then and at least demanding a line or two.
Whatever you need to do to go back to a more rational number of commercial breaks - preferrably fewer than one every four minutes like last evening - do it. Really. Do. It. You have made some risky moves in thie past. This is the worst. It is guaranteed to lose fans. It’s too much. And, frankly, you owe us. If we’re going to have to wait from May to January for a new season, the absolute least you can do is give us episodes that are longer in content than 29 minutes.
Sincerely,
Your humble fan, HelenKay
May 9th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Now I’m really glad we DVR’d last night’s episode due to the Celtics messing up our viewing schedule. It sounds like we can watch the entire episode during one of commercial breaks in NUMB3RS.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:34 am
I dvr’d last night too. Looks like I will be able to watch the entire episode in less time than I spend on the treadmill. I totally agree that all the shows, not just Lost, have gone over the top with commercial breaks.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I so agree with you. The first season was so brilliant, now … not so much. For every great episode (like the one with Sayid earlier this year), we get something like last night’s show. Locke used to be one of my favorite characters, but the writers have turned him into a total nutcase. And Jack … I can’t stand Jack.
What I want to know is this — why doesn’t somebody just shoot Ben already? Everyone knows what an evil snake he is. Let the scary mercenary guy kill him. Big problem solved.
Yeah, the commercials are aggravating. There were what five, six breaks last night? Seems like the show itself just keeps getting shorter and shorter …
May 9th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
LOL! I’ve never watched one episode of LOST. I am a devoted ER junkie. I still love it. Oh, I watch Grey’s now, too, but I’m getting really sick of how the Grey’s couples never stay together longer than a few episodes, and I’m starting to feel like the producers are jerking me around. I don’t feel that way about ER. Characters come and go, but they way they handle it works for me. It feels real. To me.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Ha! Fabulous diatribe, HelenKay. I’ve never seen Lost, but I’ve heard the show has a reputation for absurd (in a good way). Glad to have it confirmed!
Cindy, I used to watch Grey’s Anatomy, too, but got really fed up with the whiney-ness of all the characters. I realized “our relationship” was over when I was hoping Meredith would die when she nearly drowned. Yep, that was the end of it for me. Too bad, because there was some really great drama going on in the early episodes…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Great letter, HelenKay! I don’t watch Lost, but plenty of my favorite TV shows allow for far too many commercials too. The dh and I have gotten into the habit of pausing a show (we’ve got a DVR) right before it starts, then waiting 20 minutes or so before we sit down to watch. That way we can fast forward through the commercials and still be on time for the next show if there’s one we like. Sorry advertisers.
May 9th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Well, it’s been a couple of days now, so anyone who has DVR’d this last episode better skip my comment…
…
…
k. Polar Bears transported into the desert? K, I can get into that.
Time travel in the mind? Okay, a bit out there, but why not?
Time and space travel? Quirky, but that’s about it.
Claire having a meeting with her dead father now back to life in a darkened cabin in the middle of the island? Dude, she had the weirdest look on her face, like they had just been finished having a sexual liaison. Yeah, that look. Now, I know that since it wasn’t sex, it means that she’s dead, too, and that’s just her spirit thing in the cabin, I get that. But that’s just creepy. And not even creepy in a good way, either.
The show is quickly going off into TWIN PEAKS territory, as far as I’m concerned, anyway. Too many whacked out situations, not enough explanation. I almost expect a backwards talking midget any episode now.
It’s nice to see the revelation that John Locke was special to the island, and that John went through a few “refusals of the call” before the island called to him. Ben “passing the mantle” to John certainly sounds interesting enough, but Ben is getting off the island
so we know this had to happen.
The fact that Micheal can’t be killed is getting downright humorous.
And if anyone hasn’t guessed who “the big kiss” involves with the season finale, you just haven’t been paying attention. (and this is not a spoiler, but a deduction on my part) . Yes, there’s a big important kiss that is in the finale of the season.
Who do you think it’s between?
May 13th, 2008 at 6:13 am
Thursday’s episode was certainly freak-y, but my problem is I cannot look away. I became irritated in … one of the seasons by the new episode/rerun/new episode/rerun ABC played during that season. So, I stopped watching because I was truly lost.
Then a friend told me about the flashforward at the end of last season. And I got hooked once again.
Watching the episodes on ABC.com provides “minimal commercial involvement;” after 30 seconds, you can click to return to Lost. What I do not like about watching online is no previews for the next’s week show.
And can I just say as a non-Jack fan (he does not compare to Sawyer), Matthew Fox is awesome as Racer X in Speed Racer. Seriously. Drool and swoon.