Lost : Les Disparus

With so many high-quality shows ending or getting cancelled recently (Friends, Frasier, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel), and with the decline in quality of many others (The West Wing, Smallville), not to mention the egregious rise of turgid and tasteless "reality" programming, I'd just about written off TV as an entertainment medium. I was seriously considering ditching my TV and cable subscription in favour of my computer screen and broadband Internet connection.

Then along comes "Lost". I missed the first few episodes, but was able to catch up thanks to BitTorrent. Now I'm hooked. There are several things to like about this show, but here's a quick list:

1) Outstanding, intelligent, layered writing. There are multiple mysteries here, and for every answer we get, more questions emerge.

2) Rich, complex characters. Just when you think you've got a character pegged, you find out something new about them that's often surprising or even shocking. I'm enjoying watching the various relationships emerge and develop.

3) Strong performances. This is a remarkable cast of mostly journeymen actors with a couple of newcomers, and they're all turning in star-making work. Even some of the cameos have featured recognizeable, talented actors (e.g. Mira Furlan, Victoria Hamel).

4) A mysterious and fascinating setting. Of the four main story elements you learned in school, plot, character, theme, and setting, the latter is often the poor, neglected cousin. Not here. The island is dangerous, beautiful, creepy, and undeniably intriguing. It's like a character unto itself. Part of the fun of this show will be unravelling the Island's secrets.

5) Thematic depth. This isn't just a soap opera on a desert island. There are rich metaphors and themes to be mined here, such as on the challenges of morality; on the nature of communities and civilization; on our relationship with nature/the environment; and on spirituality, even mysticism, as well.

I'm grateful to see this show is a hit. Too often lately I've committed to a quality show early on ("Wonderfalls" being the most recent and much-lamented example) only to have a jittery network cancel it prematurely. I'm hoping "Lost" will have a long, successful run--if its creators, cast, and crew keep up the level of quality they've shown so far, I'm sure it will.

This is a really good program with very good writers. There are many subplots that keep you interested and waiting for next week for more answers to the many growing mysteries surrounding the island where a group of plane-crash survivors have wrecked.

I also like how the writers go into the history of each main character, making them more interesting for the watcher. This looks to be a hit.

There are a lot of mysterious goings-on at the island and a lot of drama between the characters of the show.

Great to have some TV that doesn't involve CSI, cops, lawyers or doctors!

At first blush, "Lost" seems like an impossible concept: a bunch of people stranded on a mysterious island. How many story lines can you POSSIBLY take from that before the idea's been sapped completely dry?

It's a legitimate concern, but in the case of "Lost," totally unwarranted. "Lost," unlike many shows today where the plot drives the characters, is in fact the opposite: the characters drive the plot. This isn't "CSI" or "Law and Order," where each week is a variation on the same theme. On "Lost," you have a group of fascinatingly different, tragically flawed characters who must somehow learn to survive together, while at the same time trying to keep their secrets hidden. That's a method for disaster. After living together for a long time, the characters are going to find out it's impossible to keep their pasts a secret.

Yes, there's a monster on the island. Yes, there are mysterious happenings.

Yes, a sense of dread often hangs thick in the air. But to me, the exterior problems presented by the island itself are NOTHING compared to the INTERNAL problems the characters must face, both with themselves and with each other. That's where the REAL drama lies. And it's fascinating to watch.

LOST transcended TV Drama writing and encapsulated theme theroy when it burst onto the scene in 2004. That's 14 freakin years ago, and the show still holds up. Seriously. Jack, Kate, Saywer, Hugo, Locke, Sayid and yes, even Benjamin Linus' story lined were crafted in a manner few, in any have since. My then-16 year old Son said it was the best written show of its time, and now that he's 30, and a writer himself, maintains that commitment to this day: all the other show follow in the shadows of LOST

I've watched lots of TV in my lifetime, perhaps too much. However this is the best TV series i've seen in ages. Probably even the best ever. You just can't predict what is going to happen. Each week the show seems to tell you something new about the Island and its inhabitants. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what's going to happen, then before I know it the programme is finished and I have to wait to find out what happens next. Utterly gripping! This show is amazing and I hope they continue to make it because often fantastic US shows get cancelled because the ratings start to dip slightly or the executives think the shows are too weird. I really hope the series continues so that we get it over here in England because it is a fantastic show and I would like to have DVD's of this series so I can get all my friends hooked too.