ABC moves 'Lost' out of 'Idol's' way

[dravot]

All of those shows are in their first season. You didn't see these same complaints that you see now about Lost during it's first season either. Everyone liked it because it had this great character interaction and had all these mysteries with stuff happening. Now people are getting frustrated by the lack of answers, which is fine, but using shows in their first season as an example of "doing it better" is misleading. We'll see where Jericho and Heroes are in a couple of years - my bet is they'll slow down much like Lost did. This isn't to excuse Lost, they still have to provide some answers soon, but rather this is to say the comparison shouldn't be made.

I disagree.

The pace for Lost is the same now as it was 2 years ago. At the time I thought it was ok, because I really didn't have any point of comparison. The pace for Heroes (and the other shows I mentioned) is, for me, a better pace, and leaves Lost in the dust.

 

[Agamon]

I wonder why no one complained about not getting "answers" in X-Files. Man, now that was a show that had onion peel mysteries that dragged on and on and on. And anytime there was an answer, it was either weak or false and led to more questions. Not only that, but the main plot was only looked at every once in a while, interspersed between a bunch of non-serial shows.

I understand that in this day and age, people get bored when they aren't instantly gratified, but it's a shame, really.

 

[Crothian]

I wonder why no one complained about not getting "answers" in X-Files.

People complained then and still complain about it. So, by "no one" you must mean plenty of people

I understand that in this day and age, people get bored when they aren't instantly gratified, but it's a shame, really.

I'm not sure three years counts as instantly anymore.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I wonder why no one complained about not getting "answers" in X-Files. Man, now that was a show that had onion peel mysteries that dragged on and on and on. And anytime there was an answer, it was either weak or false and led to more questions.

I did complain. So did everyone I know who watched the show, and why most of us stopped watching around seasons 4-6.

And again, it's not about instant gratification. (See my prior post about Babylon 5.) It's about the show runners and writers knowing how to set the pace. X-Files failed miserably. (You can only do "false answers" so many times.) Babylon 5 succeeded. (I have no problems with answers that lead to more questions, as long as the answers are solid and satisfying in their own right.)

Lost, in the opinions of a lot of people, is teetering on failure.

 

[Arnwyn]

I wonder why no one complained about not getting "answers" in X-Files.

Loads of people did complain - so much so that it spawned at least a couple of articles way back when in my local newspaper that it went so far as to finally "insult its audience" in the final seasons and finale. While I think that might be a bit much, the complaints were there - and numerous. (And interesting that it was X-Files that was brought up - I used X-Files as a warning as to what Lost could become if the writers weren't careful in an ENWorld Lost thread a couple of years ago...)

Oh wait - already noted by a bunch of others.

I understand that in this day and age, people get bored when they aren't instantly gratified, but it's a shame, really.

What's with these freaky either/or "black/white" false dichotomies given by certain apologists (not necessarily saying you're one of them) that crop up every now and then in these Lost threads? It does not have to be either 1) painfully slow loaded with misdirection or 2) "spoonfed" and "instantly gratified". There's a middle ground, y'know.