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I've been hearing things about ABC's Lost for a few months now, all of it good. The guy at Movie Poop Shoot who does their TV article raves about it. It's got Dominic Monaghan in it, which was enough to get my Tolkien/LotR-addicted wife interested in it. So we sat down and watched it last night.

For those who don't know, it's a series created by J.J. Abrams, the creator of Alias (a show I've never watched but have been told is excellent). The premise is that a commercial jet crashes on an island, and in the process of getting their shit together in the hopes of being rescued, the survivors discover something on the island that likes munching on people and makes big, loud roaring noises. Through the first hour (and according to a friend who downloaded the first 2 eps), the "monster" is not shown, only its effects. Whatever it is, it's huge, knocking down trees and making great big noises. According to the same friend, they may not show the monster for the entire first season, which will be a helluva trick.

The show is pretty damn good. Acting is tight, the dialogue is fairly good, the sets and effects are decent as well. It's also a bit more violent than one would expect for an 8 pm Eastern time slot. It isn't like NYPD Blue or Shield violent, but it certainly pulls no punches. In the first five minutes, a guy gets sucked into a still-running jet engine, which summarily explodes. Even though some of the "scares/thrills" like that are pretty heavily telegraphed, it's still good fun.

In short, it's actually a network TV show worth watching that doesn't involve sports or competitive insect swallowing and the gag reflex.

ABC, Wednesday nights at 8 pm EST, 7 pm CST, etc.

Yea. I'm downloading that after I finish downloading hi-def Smallville 4x01. Unfortunately I'm super pissed at ABC for taking Alias off the air while Lost is running. It better be fantastic if they are going to pull shit like that.

I saw about 4 trillion commercials for it during MNF the past couple of weeks, but somehow thought it was a mini-series or something. I may have to TiVo it and check it out.

It was decent.  For the most part it was well acted, Mathew Fox and the hobbit did a good job in their roles. The female lead was really hit and miss.  Not bad to look at though. There's already some bitchy blond chick I want to die. Please God, feed her to the monster.

I'm not sure I like the "monster" direction especially if they don't show it all season.  Whatever it ends up being, it's going to have a huge build up to what ultimately is probably going to be disappointing.  The experience will probably less painful than watching Contact but I'm pretty sure it'll suck in a similar fashion.  Perhaps they can save it and have the monster acompanied by Sleestaks.  If they manage to impress me with this, they've got a viewer for life.

The production values were impressive.  A lot of money put toward this pilot.  Of course, unlike Firefly, they don't really have to keep them up and just let the island take the show from here.

The previews for next week were a bit wierd. First, there's a character we've yet to see with a gun and some potential rapist that didn't make an appearence either.  Perhaps all of the bad people washed up on another shore.

Anyhow, the pilot was good enough to keep me watching.

The guy with the gun was seen, but he never spoke during the first episode. There was like one shot of him framed against the backdrop of the plane smoking a cigarette.

Apparently they are going to sort of revolve the characters a bit, going through the 48 or so and not always focusing on the same 3 or 4. Though, there won't be 48 all season, but apparently the deaths won't be exactly "red shirt" fashion either.

Though I just KNEW the pilot was going to buy it.

I saw it, and I enjoyed it, but there were drawbacks. The immersion was great IMO, and I actually got the feeling that the characters were really reacting to a plane crash. Screaming, hysterics, various hanging corpses, CPR, stitches. It was really well put together. The show has a good foundation built now around believable if not likable characters. I personally liked the crazy old man who pulled a Godfather with the orange about midway through. It made me chuckle.

The downside is the monster angle, which seems to be the focus of the story. Suspense is good in not showing it, but once we see it, that will be over. The people will complain that it was shitty CGI or that it's just another dinosaur flick, or something like that. Then the bubble bursts.

I thought it was ok. The real test is going to be what direction the show will take and if it will still be interesting when the survivors find out whats going on with the monster.

As Paelos said, thats probably when the bubble will burst.

I've got to see this show.  I forgot it was on last night and didn't record it.  I think they are re-showing it on Saturday night.  The monster thing is almost sure to disappoint.  Remember the first half of "IT"?  That clown was scary as fuck...of course, I never read the book so I had no idea it was some cheesey spider with mind powers.  Big let down.

I'd watch the show just to see if they mess it up.

Isn't that the same plot for "Lord of the Flies"?

Yes + M0NST3RZ!!!

Wasn't there a monster in "Lord of the Flies?"

I have it on TiVo.

Ill try and watch it tonight after my Survivor/OC/CSI: Worth Watching/Apprentice TV hollick evening.

Schild, can you pm me with where I can find the premiere of Smallville to DL?

I have "Lost" on PVR as well. Hopefully I'll get to it this weekend.

and hobbits!

Anyone see 'Rescue Me' last night on F/X, not sure if that was new episode or a repeat but there was a scene which just might have been the grossest thing Ive seen on TV. If you saw it you'll know which one Im talking about.

Did Leary show his white Irish ass again?

When does Leary NOT show his white Irish ass on "Rescue Me." That episode was full of some "EWWWWWWWWWWW" moments, from Leary and that chick licking whipped cream off of each other, to the great, big raging hardon the freaky guy had over the probie, to the two fags in the tree.

You'll have to be more specific.

I must have missed that one- last night was the first time I have watched Rescue Me (I had 3 TiVo'ed). I like it so far, although some of the actors are less than stellar.

I saw 2 episodes with Dean Winters (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0935921/) playing Denis Leary's brother, and 1 with some other chump in the same role. WTF?

I think they switched actors in the role of his brother. I liked the other guy better.

Also, apparently the premiere of Lost did quite well, especially in the juicy 18-49 crowd. It won its time slot or something.

castaway shows can't maintain the edge long enough to be any good. Earth 2, Voyager, et. al. - you can't keep dragging viewers week-to-week with the promise of some kind of rescue or with a quest whose conclusion cannot be realized until you actually end the show.

Admittedly, its a good show so far, but historically, this platform hasn't done well.

Gilligan's Island went a long way on the premise.

Because comedy can rehash itself. Drama cannot. Drama requires a progression of story from point A to point B: a resolution.

Speaking of Gilligan's Island, there's a reality show based on it coming up called "The Real Gilligan's Island" - a bunch of people get dressed up like the TV show characters and dropped off on a genuine uncharted island.

Yes, it's a Gilligan LARP.

Caught the first  2 episodes of Lost. Very, very good show. It may be the first interesting sci-fi/horror show since, well, X-files. Besides the X, I can't remember a tv sci-fi or horror show that remotely interested me. Wait no, I guess I liked Sliders. Hmm, I must really hate SG-1, Farscape, Buffy, and Angel. Anyway, good show. Thanks for the pseudo-recommendation (though I was guaranteed to get around to it, JJ Abrams is on my tv whoring list).

I think that's why JJ wrote enough characters in to keep the show going for at LEAST 1.5 seasons. This Fall and next year (I'm sure he's hoping) a full season. Alias is one of the most watched shows on TV. JJ can pull strings like that. Oh, and comparing JJ to the creators of Earth 2 (who had only done My So Called Life) and a Star Trek Spinoff, well - that's kinda insulting. Though, I'll admit - JJ's movie career has been total shite.

Anyway, assuming 48 characters, 13 episodes this year and 26 episodes next year (or vice versa) with no room for 'Monster of the Week' episodes (because there's really only going to be one monster and in-fighting, which will probably never result in death) - we can probably assume that at least 4 people will survive. If enough people are watching it, my money is on the black father (who _will_ lose his kid), the mysterious backgammon playing white dude (who will have a wicked scar across his eye), Emilie de Ravin (who you might remember from Roswell) and her kid, and the lead woman from the first episode.

Ah, and I think the Japanese woman will kill her husband. That's the only murder that will occur between the castaways. I don't think the angry white dude will kill the token middle eastern guy.

Heh, the pilot just finished and I want to start a dead pool. Anyone want to do this? Should we make it a weekly thing (starting after next week since the pilot ties things up in pretty little bows)?

One little gem that was probably before your time would be Kolchak: The Night Stalker (http://www.scifi.com/kolchak/).

While the age certainly means the effects are not on par with anything remotely considered B today, the stories and plots were interesting.  The x-files might even have been conceived by this show.

I loved this show, even though I was pretty young when it was on.  Sometimes it seems campy, but other times...

Wonder if it's on any networks anymore?

Caught the last few minutes of Lost last night, just because the husband had the TV on and ready for the Bachelor (he's a reality TV whore).  Looked really interesting, but I'm going to miss the replays on Saturday night (no tivo, so I'd have to videotape it if I wanted to see it).  I've seen plenty of good scifi shows that would interest me, but getting me to remember that the TV exists and when the shows are on is another story.

Actually, I think the scar-eyed bald guy is going to buy it next week, at least that's what hinted at in the previews. Hopefully, the whiny blonde bitch buys it soon. Something really squirrelly is going to come out of the pregnant mother.

And notice in the second episode that they killed a polar bear. I'm not sure there is just one monster or type of monster now. Perhaps it's a time warp zone, like The Land that Time Forgot (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073260/), one of my favorite movies as a kid.

Also, the last great sci-fi show on TV was Firefly.

Strangely enough, you're right for once!

Bruce

I can't decide if they are going for "Land of the Lost" or "Island of Dr. Moreau" but either way I'm interested.  Admittedly the gratuitous underwear shot of the lead girl (who happens to be an unknown actress/model from my area) helped pique my interest a little.

Oh and the Asian couple are Korean, not Japanese. What was with everyone turning up there noses at sea urchin roe?  Sheesh.

I was thinking more along the lines of "secret government genetics project gone awry." With the transmitter and the message on it, that seems most likely.  Expect them to find the lab in the next month or so.  The polar bear will be one of a few animals they'll find, having been there for genetic material. (Because that's how crazy scientists work. They have to have LIVE animals, frozen tissue samples just won't work.. )

The odd part is the transmitter's been going for 16 years, and there's a live polar bear! There's got to be a heck of a food source out there somewhere to have kept the monster from eating the bear, AND kept the bear alive.

The polar bear was a nice twist, I honestly would have never guessed that would be on the fictional island. I was more in the mind of dinosaurs for the big monsters. I wouldn't mind seeing a band of killer monkeys either ala Congo.

The chick is hot, and I'm interested to know why she was in custody. I'm thinking something white-collar since she didn't know how to use a gun, or perhaps drug/mafia related or something. Also, the effects of the tail ripping off the plane were very well done as far as TV goes. This show does have many theatre-production aspects which I am enjoying.

For the transmission, does anybody wonder why the message was in French? Does that have any significance other than the fact that only the blonde bitch could understand it? By the way, she won't die early, they'll keep her annoying ass around a long time so people will want to see her eat it, or they will play up the "island made me a better person" angle and she'll stop being such a tool. Either way my guess is we're stuck with her.

I was thinking of letting this go, but I won't. It wasn't even half a season in length. A judgement call can't be passed on the show - it may have turned (from gold) into total shit, like Harsh Realm did (recently released on DVD).

I think the island is Isla Nublar. No, really, I do....Ok, maybe not.

Dude, did you WATCH Firefly? It had 12 or so episodes, which is plenty to demonstrate the quality. Hell, it took X-Files what, 3 or 4 seasons to degenerate into total shit? Even Babylon 5 had a weak 5th season.

I'm off a mind that no show can really maintain consistent quality over more than say 4 seasons.

I'm also forgetting that John Doe, which only lasted a full season, was a good sci-fi-esque show.

Seinfeld.

Yep, as soon as they got beyond their shakey start (season one was less than good), it was golden till lights out.

Edit: To agree with Haem, no television cancelling has ever made me as angry, sad, and overall disappointed as when Firefly got axed.  At least when Buffy and Angel saw the door, you could see a noticable decline in the series quality so I wasn't so bummed.  But this show had just about everything going for it: interesting characters, a good solid plotline, good writing, a very cool setting/vibe, and romance to keep the wife interested.  

I hope the Firefly movie sees the light of day.  Still doesn't replace what could have been at least solid 4 seasons of a great sci-fi/western show. I just wish FX or USA or hell even HBO could have picked up the series (it'd be a lot better than goddamn Entorage).

I actually think the last season of Seinfeld was a bit of a letdown in quality. The episodes "felt" wrong for lack of a better term. They were meaner. I correlate that to the time he broke off the engagement with the 18-year old chick.

YMMV

Barney Miller
MASH

Law and Order

oh, and Doctor Who for sci-fi!

Ok, Im kidding, the show sucked after Tom Baker, but I think his run alone was probably over four years long.

Buffy seasons 2-5 were certainly quality.  Season 1 was pretty inconsistent.  I thought 6 was pretty good too, but 7 was a big letdown.

I would be tempted to argue that every season of Angel was good, but I hated Connor, so I can't really defend that.

ST: TNG seasons 2-7 were almost all good, but there were certainly bad episodes.  Still, it would be possible to defend any 4-year stretch in that period.

I think Deep Space Nine seasons 3-6 were also pretty darn awesome.  2 was pretty good too; 7 gets a big minus because of no Terry Ferrell.

Tom Baker did indeed last more than 4 years (7 I think?) but there were certainly some weak episodes in that run.

Bruce

Every episode of Doctor Who was weak. Thats what made it so great.:)

Oh yeah and how many seasons did the Goodies go? Thats pure TV gold right there.

Even a season and a half of a whiny, brooding & angsty Connor is better than 95% of the other shit on TV at the same time.

I actually really liked Earth 2 when it first came on. A lot of these kinds of series are more about promise than delivery. You have to move towards some sort of resolution, and often that is flimsy.

You see the same sort of things in comedies, especially when there is romantic tension. The old "will they or won't they" can only last for so long before it gets contrived.

For the record, Buffy and Angel were both terrible shows IMO. Cutesy teenie-bopper drivel. Way too smug and 'clever' for my tastes. X-Files had some very good episodes (and lasted about 4 or 5 years too long). ST:TnG was pretty consitently good. I also have a soft spot in my heart for Space:Above and Beyond. A sci-fi show that was a lot less space opera or witty banter than the typical fare.

Red Dwarf. However, they didn't exactly stretch themselves for number of episodes per series. Recent animation has done rather well maintaining quality over many seasons.

Apropos of nothing but we were amused to hear our town "Denton, TX" named during the memorial service in the white rabbit episode.

We're not exactly a cultural epicenter... ;)

We know...the TX gave it away.

Muhahaha - as opposed to which other famously cultural "Dentons" of the planet... :P