THE GOOD THINGS

Let's talk about the good things in LOST.

There were a lot of good or interesting aspects to the series:

1. The pilot episode had the pace and twists that hooked fans immediately toward the original story of a bunch of diverse passengers surviving a plane crash.

2. There were some exceptional television acting by cast, including Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson.

3.  The camera compositions and lush tropical backgrounds made a unique background stage for a prime time series.

4. Fans could immediately identify with the various characters, and individuals could find comfort in their favorite actors.

5. The back stories added a lot of information to the characters, their personality, their motivations and their mental states.

6. The concept of flashbacks then flash forwards were startlingly well done in the series format.

7. The various story lines proposed interesting and complex topics, such as time travel, smoke monsters, ancient civilization religious rites, infertility issues and science such as electromagnetic energy sources. In other words, the series made the viewer "think" about these topics in new ways. We, the viewers, were not just spoon fed information; we had to go out and do our own "homework" between episodes to try to piece to together the clues and solve the mysteries of the island.

8. There were plenty of clues, misdirections, plot twists, betrayals, red herrings, and WTH out-of-left field story elements which gave fans a dizzy array of puzzle pieces to refashion into their own theories and opinions about the show.

9. The series last 6 years, which is a long run for a serial dramatic prime time television program. It became must-viewing for several million hard core fans.

10. LOST was probably the first television series that created a vast, interactive, internet fan based community of like minded series fanatics. Dozens of blogs and websites sprang up  so people could talk, discuss, debate, argue and find common ground on their favorite televisions show.  It created a small cottage industry of LOST theorists and pundits, authors and video chat hosts.

11. The series still ranks in critical polls as being one of the better television shows in its era.

12. It continues to fuel strong feelings and opinions about it, but not to the level during its initial program run. But when one asks a person about LOST, they still have feelings for the show, good or bad.

13. The series helped launch a new wave of science fiction pilots and shows on network and cable channels. Sci-fi series had used to be a narrow market place for networks; but now there was a formula to try to pull in non-sci-fi viewers into a drama set in various strange settings. Networks and production companies were more comfortable green lighting science fiction shows.