[UPtimist]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I think Lost is a nice (even great) show and I watch it, but they totally lost the point that made it very interesting: the whole metaphore of the subconcious and the human mind overall. The first couple of seasons were full of wonderful, clever references to the human psyche (the whole setting was just that), but then they totally forgot about that and went on with the drama and the mysteries (which isn't bad per se, but then they lost the main intellect point). Every now and then they picked it up for a while but not at all to the same level as before.

I guess they commercialized it.

[MoriartyL]

Originally Posted by kuze

tl;dr, but apparently you draw parallels to the Bible - I was just about to write that I sure hope the writers don't come up with a biblical excuse for their mess of a story.

What do you have against stories connected to the bible? It's not like it would be out of character for this particular show, with all its biblical references and philosophizing and mysticism.

Originally Posted by UPtimist

I guess they commercialized it.

You must have a very different idea of what "commercial" means than I do. The show has gotten progressively more ambitious, year by year. It's astonishing that any network has allowed a show as gutsy and complex as Lost to stay on the air.

[kuze]

Religion just seems like the easy way out of the entanglement they created, just like in BSG. I'm not against the biblical themes of course, I love what they're doing in Supernatural (reminds me of Good Omens), but solving a mystery with religion? No thank you (admittedly I haven't read your essay, maybe that's THE ONLY real solution the writers were planning all along).

I also think that not solving the mystery at all would be the better way to go for the writers. People don't like solutions, they like the mystery. Just give us a few hints what might have really happened, and I'll be a satisfied man, thinking about it before sleep. Or not, since I'm not a huge fan of Lost.

[MoriartyL]

Not presenting a good solution, after all these years of hinting and teasing, would be a total cheat. They can't get away with a less-than-satisfying explanation, and I'm sure they know it.

By the way, I really loved the way BSG got more religious in the end.

[UPtimist]

Originally Posted by MoriartyL

You must have a very different idea of what "commercial" means than I do. The show has gotten progressively more ambitious, year by year. It's astonishing that any network has allowed a show as gutsy and complex as Lost to stay on the air.

Oh, I wasn't exactly serious, and what I meant was that they focused more on what made the show more appealing to the masses instead of the more intellectual nuances. And I don't think it's so astonishing considering the viewers it gets.

Of course in the beginning it was probably a bit of a leap of faith to let it air in the first place, but I don't think it's such a bizarre show, the story is not so much complex as it is starting to be all over the place because they understand that (mysteries, I mean) is what the viewers want (I bet it wasn't at all as complex when they first designed it but then it got a little wind under its wings and they just started doing what came to their heads) and most importantly as I said, considering the amount of viewers it gets it would be much more astonishing if they took it off the air...

Originally Posted by kuze

I also think that not solving the mystery at all would be the better way to go for the writers. People don't like solutions, they like the mystery.

While true (as I said above here - they want the mystery) I'm pretty sure the masses want a solution (and possibly like the mystery only because they think there will be a solution). Just look at Sopranos - wonderful ending (absolutely brilliant) and people complained like heck because there wasn't the closure they wanted.

[MoriartyL]

Well, it would have been a better ending if Tony Soprano had died a bloody death.

[kuze]

Originally Posted by MoriartyL

Well, it would have been a better ending if Tony Soprano had died a bloody death.

Oh, you.

As a sidenote: wasn't Lost initially planned to run for one season only?

[MoriartyL]

I haven't heard that. What I have heard is that by the middle of the first season they'd already worked out a lot of the mythology.

[Crunchy in milk]

Anyone else giving that new Stargate Universe a go?

I'm not a huge fan of the cast yet (just seen s1e1 and s1e2 so far). Nothing revolutionary has happened yet. When Robert Carlyle's character was on his bed weeping after the first dial failure and reaching for the drawer we immediately had a vote on if there would be A) a picture of his dead wife in it or B) a bottle of Scotch or C) both. Still waiting for the scotch, maybe in episode 3.

If they pick up some wild tribal guy and a female teal'c in the recent future to complete the crew, I'm not watching anymore of this show. The series needs more than a whole new cast playing the same old characters, striking the same dramatic group pose for a rabid fan's PC wallpaper.

[MoriartyL]

It's Stargate. I expected Stargate, I got Stargate, I'm happy. It's not as good as Atlantis or SG-1 were in their last seasons, but it's as good as they were in their firsts. The characters are the same, but younger. (Incidentally, why are there only three adults in the cast?) The plots are the same, but with different technobabble justifications. I expect them to eventually "awaken" some villains who are the same as all the others but look different. So it's a different color palette, a different setting, but it's Stargate. Look, these writers don't have a tremendous amount of range. This time they'll be adding more romance; that's about as far as they can stretch. But no one ever watched Stargate for something new and exciting. You watch Stargate because it's fun to watch. I expect Universe to be fun to watch by the end of the season.

[Crunchy in milk]

You only need a couple of adults to shepherd the kidults. Voyager much?

I felt a little cheated when after going to all that trouble to establish 'new' ground to cover they cop out with those long distance body swap thingies and its just 'oh yay, a convenient excuse for regular old series character cameos'.

[MoriartyL]

Whereas I think it's a clever use of some obscure Stargate continuity. I'm a sucker for stuff like that.

Oh, and Voyager's my favorite Star Trek show. I have no problem with a bunch of kids running around, it's just weird that the ages would be skewed young to begin with. Of course, the actual reason for the young cast is that SyFy is hoping to increase the audience of the franchise. I'm dubious that it'll work, but what do I know about marketing.

[Erwin_Br]

Ah, another Voyager fan! I recently completed watching all of DS9's seasons and I still like Voyager better. Although I must also admit that DS9 wasn't so bad as I thought. (An opinion which was based on the first 2 seasons).

I'm currently watching Season 3 of BSG. Needless to say, BSG kicks ass.

I'm also watching Season 1 of NYPD Blue. I'm hooked. There's so much depth in these characters, it's amazing.

[Zack]

I too enjoyed watching Voyager, but I never got really excited enough to see if they were going to make it home or not. The Next Generation is my all-time favorite Star Trek show.

As for what I watch on T.V. I've been devoting my time to record the newest episode of The Biggest Loser, every Tuesday and then watch it later in the evening.

The Biggest Loser is my favorite T.V. Show, mainly because the show fascinates me. I think it is really surprising on how morbidly obese everyone looks like when they arrive at the ranch. But until they have to leave, or when they manage to stay till the finale, they start looking thinner and healthier, as the weeks go on by.

The only thing I don't like about the show, is that it's heavily edited, to the point where everything looks like it's scripted. But that's my only complaint.

I also love SpongeBob Squarepants (And before you ask, I'm 31 years old), and Futurama. Both shows, have hilarious voice acting, and great animation.

[Fantasysci5]

I swear, one of my favorite tv shows no one besides me has ever seen.

It's a British crime show called "New Tricks". Now, I'm not into crime shows at all, but there's something about this one that really just captures my heart. The crime stories themselves are interesting, but it's the characters that get me. The 3 old ex-coppers and their woman boss are so full of life and characterization, I love each one of them dearly. It's seriously my 3rd favorite tv show (after "Red Dwarf" and "Andromeda" and not-so closely followed by the Jeremy Brett version of "Sherlock Holmes), and maybe even moving up ranks. I love this show so much, but it seems like I'm the only person in the world to have seen it! Not even people I've talked to from England have seen it! It's a real gem, and I wish SOMEONE has seen it, if not so I can just rant to them about how much I love it.

So, anyone seen it?

[geggis]

Hey Fantasysci5, I'm English and I've never heard of New Tricks!! Haha

I've been watching True Blood and so far I'm enjoying it, if a little underwhelmed. I find the whole vampires cohabiting with humans thing fascinating but I don't feel the show is focusing on it enough at the moment. Some of the acting is quite cheesy as well but I'm going to stick with it. I wasn't a fan of Heroes and Lost has lost me so we'll see if True Blood gets long in the tooth. Sorry I couldn't resist either of them.

[Crunchy in milk]

Originally Posted by Fantasysci5

I swear, one of my favorite tv shows no one besides me has ever seen.

So, anyone seen it?

My elderly parents watch and love New Tricks. I believe the first 4 seasons where run down here and either stopped then, or just as season 5 was starting. They where well miffed. I get prodded now and then to magically make seasons 5 and 6 appear on their PVR, to watch at their leisure.

I cannot watch it myself. I find it incredibly orchestrated (not referring to musical score here). The stuff between the oldest copper and his wife's murderer is just laughably set up and exploited ad nauseam to annoy the audience. Keeping them good and grumbly and coming back in the vain hope to see the caricature bad guy get his comeuppance. Too often to the detriment of the plot, logic, common sense, statistical probability...

[Fantasysci5]

Well, at least you know what I'm talking about. It isn't everybody's kind of thing. Thanks. I'm sorry you feel like that about Jack.

[inm8#2]

Breaking Bad
Dexter
Lost
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
South Park
The Office
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Bored to Death

[Crunchy in milk]

Just finishing up season 1 of 'The Wire'. Its often excellent and getting even better as politicians and police are outed with drug money in their pockets and coffers.

I gave up on the stargate universe, for now anyway.