Eight Reasons We'll Miss LOST

True Confession: I'm one of the Others. And I'm not talking about the LOST characters who walk around barefoot and then throw you in bear cages. No, I'm a true Other.

Typical people can watch a show and then manage to go about their daily lives without talking about it to strangers and dwelling on obscure connections to literature, religion and science. I'm not.

I've written academic papers on LOST. On a youth retreat, I made 25 middle and high school kids sit through the first four episodes (I hooked a good percentage of the kids who weren't already hooked--for weeks they came up to me telling me about season 1 and 2 episodes they were catching up on). I invite friends over and introduce them to the show. In my life, I have never had the inclination or desire to do any of the above with any other show. LOST is different.

I think I may be that guy. But I'm not the only one. There are other "Others" out there. But our reign at the water coolers is nearing it's end. Here's why we'll miss LOST.

(1) Sawyer's Nicknames: During the course of the show, Sawyer's nicknames progressed significantly from "Lardo" (Hurley)  and "Metro" (Jack) to more clever "Crouching Tiger/ Hidden Dragon" (Jin/Sun). And some were very contextual. When Kate is trying to pilot a canoe around the island, she earns the nickname "Magellan" (a maritime explorer from Portugal), or when locked up by Eko, he earns the nickname "Shaft" (a fictional detective from a 70s television show). Whatever else Sawyer was, he was a smartass and we loved it.

(2) Daniel Faraday's Nutty Professor-ness: Before getting shot by his mother while traveling back in time (WTF?), Faraday couldn't help but win our respect on the show. The passengers of Flight 815 are on the island for nine months before figuring out how to take a dump in the forest without getting attacked by polar bears and smoke monsters. Faraday is on the island for five minutes and he's already run tests that tell us that the island is dislodged from Time. Dude. He finally brought us some answers. He made us feel smart just by being on the show.

(3) Desmond, brotha: It's hard not to like Desmond. He has the most engaging love story (statistically, viewers favorite episode of all time is "The Constant"--a hippydippy time travel episode about Desmond's love for Penny). And there's just something about the Scot. He spent some time as a monk. He also spent some time as a pint-guzzling soccer fan. And he also spent some time traveling around the globe as part of an Around-the-World-in-80-Days-esque race. Oh, and he spent some time pushing a button that kept the world from ending. Quite a resume.

(4) Hurley, for representing us: While the rest of LOST characters slowly buy things like the smoke monster, giant polar bears, the Others and time travel, Hurley is the guy who represents us as viewers. His comic relief kept the show from becoming too serious--and this is something other narrative shows need to learn from (*cough* Flashforward, *cough* V).

(5) RAZZLE DAZZLE! They Killed Nikki and Paulo: Yeah, everyone thought it was ridiculous when two new actors suddenly started showing up and doing things with the Flight 815 survivors--especially since we knew they hadn't been there in any previous seasons. Other shows may have been able to pull it off but LOST has fans who literally re-watched old episodes to look for signs of the characters. The producers heard our grief and buried them alive. RAZZLE DAZZLE!

(6) Boone Survive Plane Crash 1 To Die in Plane Crash 2: He survived a 30,000 ft plane crash but died in a 30 ft crash. We kind of liked Boone for a while, but then we found out he and his sister...er....did some laundry in a unique way. So it was time for him to go. What better way than ANOTHER plane crash?

(7) McBeardy: Jack's character has fallen-been redeemed-fallen-and been redeemed again more times than Johnny Cash. The guy seems to be addicted to the process. The emblem of all this is, of course, the beard. At the end of Season 3, we got a twist ending in which a flashback turned out to be a flashforward--and that flashforward featured a mangy-bearded Jack Shephard who had turned to pill-popping and whiskey chugging. Thank God he's our leader.

(8) Dead People Keep Showing Up: The magic of LOST flashback structure (and now it's "flash-sideways"/alternative reality structure) is that folks who have been dead for seasons show up all the sudden. Charlie Pace drowned in Season 3 but has shown up numerous times since then because, well, Hurley sees Dead People and because in an alternative world, he's still just a washed up rock star. And Christian Shephard? Man, that guy was dead before the show started but he's been practically a regular on the show. Put his name in the credits.

All these and for many more reasons, we salute you LOST. Thanks for the ride.

Analysing Depictions of Faith in LOST

It’s no secret that people of faith often feel mistreated and misrepresented by a mainstream media that oversimplifies their beliefs (GetReligion: Martinez; An-Na`im; "Christians Misrepresented"). In the midst of numerous movies and television programs is a television show where the broken find redemption, the lame walk and the dead rise. This blog will analyze the ways in which LOST educates on issues of religion. Issues of faith are mainly represented in three key characters that appear on the show: Locke, a self-proclaimed “man of faith; Jack, a self-proclaimed “man of science”; and Eko”—a drug dealer turned Catholic priest. Entertainment Weekly recently noted the Biblical connections seen in LOST (Click for an 8 minute, 15 second run-down of the show):

It is safe to say that from the outset LOST has been a rare show that allows those able to pick up on its Christian symbolism to appreciate it on a deeper level than the average viewer. Some of those symbols are writ in neon and some in postscripts (ask Christian fans about the thrill they experienced when the character Charlotte Staples Lewis—ahem, C.S. Lewis—arrived on the scene), but they are an ever-present, ever-developing feature of the story (Basham).

What NOT to do in a broadcast

I realize it's been a while since I've updated. Some intelligent thoughts (and some less intelligent) coming soon. I'm snowed in with my thesis. For now:

The World's Most Generic News Report

I think you could teach all you need to know about TV new reports just using this single clip from Newswipe:

LOST's Last Supper

The last season of LOST starts tonight and it seems worthwhile to examine the bizarre promotional pictures they put out in preparation for the show. The picture above is a very obvious recreation of Leonardo Da Vinci's "Last Supper." (Psst! Da Vinci Code readers: check out the "V" between Kate and Locke. Sacred Feminine? Is Kate Mary Magdalene?!)

For those who aren't familiar with the show, LOST is a show about err...everything. It started with a plane crash where a bunch of people of broken pasts end up on a Mysterious Island together (for Mysterious Island, read: there are Smoke Monsters/Giant Polar Bears/Weird Time Travelling Occurances/People rise from the dead/Cancer and paralysis gets healed/People have pregnancy problems/the beer is subpar). On this island, some find redemption and some become a bit more broken.

The guy center, Locke (a play on the philosopher), was a cripple who ended up walking when he reached the island. Locke, throughout the story, has been one of two or three characters with which the faith conversations take place. And similar to Locke, many of the other characters have names that reveal something of who they are, what is symbolized with them. At one point, we had a character named Charlotte S. Lewis (C.S. Lewis) and there's of course Christian Shephard (who died, but the rose from the dead? His son Jack, who is to the right of Locke, finds the coffin empty). Numerous other characters have similar intertextual references.

LOST is no stranger to religion. Throughout the show they've frequently used explicit Judeo-Christian narratives (Locke possibly rising from the dead, the empty coffin of Christian Shephard, and the frequent Faith Vs. Science arguements between Locke and Jack). The show understands faith and understands how to get people talking about faith. And here's some interesting thoughts on what can be gleaned from the photo above. This was on the MTV comments board:

There's a lot to analyze with an image like this. Few things to keep in mind: This supper was held before one of Jesus' 12 apostles in the Da Vinci painting betrayed him. This scene is also told via the Gospel of John. I'm surprised you didn't cover who they represented. From left to right: Bartholomew (Illana), James (Richard), Andrew (Miles), Judas (Sayid), Peter (Kate), John (Sawyer), Jesus (Locke or Flocke), Thomas (Jack), James the Greater (Sun), Phillip (Claire), Matthew (Ben), Jude

Thaddeus (Hurley)....wait. While searching for a higher res version of this photo...I found an ALTERNATE version. Hmm. Here is what's worth discussing: Will Sayid be the Judas to F/Locke's Jesus? Jack is in the spot of Thomas, who is known for doubting Jesus' resurrection.

It's been hard to avoid coverage of the promotional photo for the last season, which starts next week. It's a re-creation of Da Vinci's Last Supper with Lost characters substituting the 12 disciples. Some of the coverage has been a bit ignorant (Entertainment Weekly, I'm looking at you), where the author tried to explain a religious doctrine he clearly didn't understand.

What Happened to "How I Met Your Mother?"

How I Met Your Mother is dragging. I know, I know. I love How I Met Your Mother, but we're beginning to feel the strain of the "who is the mother?" story line. Part of the problem is that the key plot line of the show (Ted finding Mrs. Right) has dragged on now into the fifth season. This is probably the result of the money makers realizing that they can get more money out of a show if they drag it out. We were feeling this same thing in season three of LOST with the "will they get off the island" question. There, they artfully answered the question while raising others that kept (most) people watching.

And granted, How I Met Your Mother is not your typical sitcom. Here's the Chicago Tribune:

A lot has been written about the supposed demise - and even the comeback - of the half-hour comedy on network television. Traditional sitcoms, we’re often told, are too stodgy and predictable and are just not cutting it anymore, while “single-camera” comedies such as “The Office, “My Name Is Earl” and “30 Rock” are all the rage.

But the line between “30 Rock” and “HIMYM” is not that distinct. Just as “Ugly Betty” isn’t quite a comedy and isn’t just a drama, “HIMYM” is something of a hybrid.

For one thing, some “single-camera” shows use more than one camera at a time. And though “HIMYM” does have a laugh track, the fact that the laughs (from a studio audience that watches a tape of the show) are put in after filming means the comedy is not “a slave to the audience” as executive producer Greg Malins says.

How I Met Your Mother is unique show and it has a unique problem. Ted's future wife could be any number of women who've gone through his life--or some mysterious, yet unmet person. The problem How I Met Your Mother faces is that whoever the mother is will have to have a strong on-screen presence--strong enough to stand on equal footing with actors/actresses we've seen onscreen for years. This trumps even the problem with Castaway: we have Tom Hanks alone on camera for almost two hours and only maybe twenty minutes of the wife, yet she's supposed to hold the audience. In the case of Castaway it worked, because of Helen Hunt. I have to argue that How I Met Your Mother will need an equally strong, if not stronger, presence to introduce the mother.

But that said, here are some quotes from everyone's favorite skirt chaser:

(Barney talking about how easy it is to run a marathon)
Barney: "Step 1: You start running. There is no Step 2."

(Talking about Barney's dating strategies)
Ted: These strategies ever work for you?
Barney: The question is: Do these strategies ever NOT work for me? Either way the answer is about half the time

(Lily asks Barney to come with her for wedding dress shopping)
Barney: I can’t go, I’ve got this thing….
Lily: What thing?
Barney: ...a penis.

Lily: Marshall and I are just growing up.
Marshall: And it's gonna be sweet, too. Like tonight, we're tasting all these different wines, pairing them up with these cool, gourmet cheeses.
Barney: Wow. Who knew being in a committed heterosexual relationship could make a guy so gay.

(Ted talks about visiting a girl and her family)
Barney: Did you sleep with her sister?
Ted: No..
Barney: Did you sleep with her mom?
Ted: No..
Barney: I'm losing interest in your story

Ted: Why are you sleeping in our tub?
Barney: The porcelain keeps the suit from wrinkling.
Lily: Wait, were you here when I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night?
Barney: Don't worry, I slept through it. I totally didn't sleep through it. For a little girl, you've got a big tank.

(talking about Carl the bartender)
Lily: These look kinda like blood.
Marshall: OK, I know that you've all dismissed this theory before, but is there any chance that Carl is a vampire?
Barney: That's ridiculous.
Marshall: I'm serious. Think about it. He always wears black, we never see him in the daylight, only after dark.
Robin: Oh my God, that does describe a vampire, or you know, a bartender.

[Barney just discovered he did not sire a baby with his latest conquest and tells Marshall about it]
Barney: Marshall, great news: I'm not a father.
Marshall: Congratulations. [Shakes Barney's hand]
Barney: I know, this is the happiest moment of my life! Marshall, the way I feel about not having kids. I never knew I could love something this much. That's why, I'm creating a holiday. From now on, today will be known as "Not A Father's Day"!
Marshall: Wow, you're creating a holiday.
Barney: Why not? Everybody gets a day - mothers, fathers, Bastille's...why can't there a be a day for those who are single and like it that way?

Sesame Street's Grover discusses what Marriage is

Classic Quotes from "The Office"

Ladies, Gentleman: We have a stirring event coming up tomorrow--Jim and Pam's Wedding on The Office. If Obama was on at the same time, no one would watch. But part of my tradition, is that at the start of The Office each season, I compile a list of classic quotes from The Office (see here and here). Check out the preview of tomorrow's episode at the bottom!

Michael: I will be honest. The dating has not been going well. Look, men are visual creatures. We crave beauty. Like a piece of fine art by...any number of renowned artists. Or an arty photograph of Cindy Crawford nude. But the women I'm getting fixed up with are...blech. Not that they aren't nice, or that they don't have great personalities, it's, they just lack a certain...Crawfordness.

Dwight: Am I scared of a stupid computer? Please. That computer should be scared of me. I have been salesman of the month for thirteen out of the last twelve months. You heard me right. I did so well last February that corporate gave me two plaques in lieu of a pay raise.

(Jim tries to steal a copier with Dwight and Michael and accidentally runs into his ex-girlfriend, Karen)
Jim: Oh, no. I didn't want to see you. Not that I'm not happy to be seeing you right now. I'm just saying ultimately I was here for the copier. Equal. I'd say it's equal. So good to see you.

Michael: Attention everyone, hello! Yes, I just want you to know that this is not my decision but from here on out, we can no longer be friends. And when we talk about things here [the office], we must only discuss work associated things. And uh, you can consider this my retirement from comedy. And in the future if I want to say something funny, or witty, or do an impression I will no longer, ever, do any of those things.
Jim: Does that include "That's what she said?"
Michael: Mmm hmm, yes.
Jim: Wow. That is really hard. [Michael grits teeth] You really think you can go all day long? [Michael struggling] Well, you always left me satisfied and smiling.
Michael: That's what she said.

Dwight: I have been Michael’s number two guy for about 5 years. And we make a great team. We’re like one of those classic famous teams. He’s like Mozart and I’m like...Mozart's friend. No.
I’m like Butch Cassidy and Michael is like...Mozart. You try and hurt Mozart? You’re gonna get a bullet in your head courtesy of Butch Cassidy.

Michael: [To Martin Nash, who is black] Follow me, I will show you where all the slaves work. Uh, not...

(Andy is seeking Jim's advice to get Pam on a date)
Jim: Quick question — do you play the guitar?
Andy: I play the banjo.
Jim: Hold on, let me think about that...yes, that'll work. But can you sing in a sexy high falsetto voice?
Andy: [singing] You know I can, my man.

Michael: [to Ryan during a "scared straight" seminar] You, my friend, would be da belle of da ball.

Jim: After you
Dwight: No thank you, I never let anyone walk in front of me
Jim: How come?
Dwight: 7/10 attacks come from the rear
Jim: That still leaves 3/10 attacks that could come from the front
Dwight: But I would block the attack, rendering it-
(Jim slaps him)

Jim: Ding dong.
Michael: Who's there?
Jim: KGB.
Michael: Dwight get the door.
Dwight: I'm not answering the door.
Michael: Answer the door.
Jim: Ding dong.
Dwight: No way. It's the KGB.
Jim: Ding dong.
Dwight: I'm not answering that!
[Dwight and Michael start arguing as Jim is still ringing the doorbell]
Michael: Yes you're going to!
Dwight: I'm not going to answer it it's the KGB!--
Jim: [slaps Michael] It's the KGB we wait for no one!
Michael: Ha ha ha!
Dwight: [to camera] It's true.

(The episode where Michael imitates SurvivorMan)
Dwight: Do I believe Michael possesses the skills to survive in a hostile environment? Let's put it this way: no I do not.

Michael: When I was in training many years ago, not so long ago. I worked side by side with a fellow named Todd Packer, and together we rocked the office. Packer and I once spent the whole day with our pants off, and when people noticed we convinced them that they were crazy. Another time Packer held this guy's head in the toilet for like a minute. The guy had no sense of humor about it. Probably why he wasn't hired.

LOST on Flash Forward

LOST makes an appearance on the pilot of the new pre-apocalyptic show Flash Forward. Anyone see the reference?

H/T the illustrious Tom Peeling.

The Unvampiresque Vampires of Dead Until Dark

Review:

Dead Until Dark

So I just finished reading the book Dead Until Dark, by Charlene Harris. As a fantasy fiction writer, I try to keep up with the hot trends in books, movies, television etc. and True Blood (which is based on Dead Until Dark) has been getting quite a bit of press. If you've watched an episode, it's easy to see why. You've got sex, you've got murder and you've got...well, more sex.

But I have to admit, I've always liked a good vampire story. I'm the kid that grew up reading Stephen King and Anne Rice (I was actually forbidden to read Anne Rice, so I would sneak the books out of my mothers bedroom or read chapters at a time at the local bookstore). I plowed through Salem's Lot while in grade school and then Dracula while on a family trip one heart-racing summer not long after. Dead Until Dark itself isn't brilliant. It's basic pop fiction fare: lots of dialog, little description, a fast-paced plot that ends in about 300 pages. What is brilliant is the world she creates. Because Harris departs from the traditional vampire lore in some very interesting ways:

(1) Vampirism isn't demonic position, it's a virus. In the traditional Der Vampir/ Dracula story, the vampire is a human person who's been possessed by a demon. One of the key arguments for staking Dracula in the book is that by killing him, they were freeing his soul from imprisonment by a demon. The demon possession is, thus, why vampires can't stand holy water or crosses. Holy water was used in Dracula and Salem's Lot to destroy the vampires living space. The cross fended them off. In Dead Until Dark, this is not the case. Vampires can go to Church, can touch crosses, no problem. Religion is taken off the table and vampires become the new persecuted social group. They have a virus which "they can't help" and they "just live a little differently" than everyone else. In the book, the integration of vampires into mainstream life is equivalated to the early days of the civil rights and, clearly, the gay rights movement.

(2) Vampires still break cultural taboos, but just as much as humans. Its perhaps hard to understand in today's culture. But in the 19th century when Dracula was published, vampires epitomized all the taboos of 19th century life: cannibalism, sexuality, isolation (they weren't part of a local community), and anti-Christian (they couldn't go to Church and were in fact deadly afraid of Christian artifacts.) The vampires of Dead Until Dark are still cannibalistic, they need blood to survive, but they have an artificial blood they can drink: "True Blood." And many show restraint in terms of their blood-sucking habits. Humans, by comparison, burn down vampire homes, conduct kinky sex regularly and have a serial killer on the loose. The book doesn't portray vampires as morally better than humans, but they're certainly not portrayed worse. And that's the point.

(3) Vampires aren't completely animalistic and humans don't always act, well, humane. One of the key frightening points of Dracula is the understanding that a person as wise as Dracula could become a slave to animal desires, losing reason, cultural restraint (as mentioned earlier), sympathy. In Der Vampir, Dracula, and Salem's Lot that holds true. Humanity does eek into Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and it certainly does in Dead Until Dark. But by putting the context of the story into a murder mystery, we get to see one of the worst sides of humanity: the serial killer. Just a brief glimpse over the bios of John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy (here), and Jeffrey Dahmer is enough to make your blood run cold at the inhuman nature of what they did. This is incredibly ironic that Harris would use that contrast, as the original medieval legends about werewolves and vampires are believed to have originated from serial killers.

Role of Media in Islam

Reviews: Essay, “Local Contexts of Islamism in Popular Media,” “Reporting Islam,” and “Muslims and the News Media.”

This post will be a review of the three different works I’ve sampled in the past two weeks. All of them are so interrelated that it makes sense to summarize them together.

“Local Contexts of Islamism in Popular Media”

In this essay, Lila Abu-Lughod talks about the degree to which Egyptian television serials in the past two decades have shaped Egyptian perceptions of Islamism, the piety movement. She notes that Egyptian television serials work differently from other nations. Egyptian serials run day-after-day for a maximum of 30 episodes and then they’re finished. And often these serials run through the nation’s religious authority, al-Azhar. She notes that in the early 90s, there were few depictions of Islam (or Islamism) in television serials. “All that viewers could see were people for whom religion was taken for granted as part of their identity and that sometimes offered solace in times of personal trouble. Piety was seen only among the elderly” (Abu-Lughod 8). But then in 1993, a new policy was announced that Egypt would try to combat terrorism (which was happening through Islamism) through media. Since then serials have begun to appear which show Islamists as swindlers, thugs, etc. In the famed “boy-loses-his-way” storyline, serials tend to have the boy drift toward Islamism which will put him in even more trouble.

For a time, there was outrage from Islamists in Egypt, especially the rural Upper Egypt. Because many Islamists were from rural areas. Well, post-9-11, a serial was released set in Upper Egypt in which the rural people are tempted to join Islamism. They don’t expressing that they don’t do that because “I’m a Sa’idi” (Abu-Lughod 17)! Thereby framing Islamism as criminal activity and Upper Egypt as an honorable place. She notes that the essential movement of television serials has been toward depicting religion as culture (Abu-Lughod 15-16). This narrative does accentuate differences between traditional Islam, Islamism and Coptics (which is perhaps negative), but those differences are made to see culture and perhaps, relative.

This is an interesting essay, because this is a case where there is a good Islam and a bad Islam, but the media gets to tell us which is which.

“Reporting Islam”

This book is the culmination of a study on the depictions of Muslims in British media. Not surprisingly, the British media doesn’t come out well, for numerous reasons.

(1) Lack of Muslims in newsrooms- if newsroom culture lacks someone who can be a “normal” Muslim model, it’s difficult for the media to determine what Islam is if there’s no model.
(2) Lack of knowledge about Islam- the people in the newsrooms know little about Islam, the most they know is what has been mediated, likely by others who know little about Islam.
(3) Increase in poverty, prison-rates among Muslims- this is perhaps a bit self-perpetuating. In Britain, if Muslims are increasingly criminal and lower-class, society and depicted that way, society to a certain extent keeps it that way (Poole 20).

Interestingly, the study found that depictions of Islam on a local level (ie. The story on the local Ramadan, etc) tended to be far more positive than those on a global level. On both levels, they’re the same religion, but are depicted differently in the two narratives (Poole 258). As a result, Poole notes that discourse is closed between the British and Muslims. The media conditions have resulted in defensive constructions of identity on the part of the Muslims (Poole 18), while simultaneously created the British continue to put Muslims into a presumed narrative.

“Muslims and the News Media”

This was the most helpful resource by far. In this book, Gary Bunt has a chapter foreseeing the information revolution in the Islamic world. He notes that the internet is a tool proliferating through the Islamic world, making freedom of speech and expression more possible even in authoritarian regimes (Bunt 160). To certain extent, the internet is still just a tool of the elite and the government. The governments of some countries have seen the internet as a tool to better survey possible dissidents. But of course it hasn’t worked that way and the internet is a growing force, expanding quickly beyond elites (Bunt 153).

Governments have applied the Internet as a means of observing ‘dissident’ activities online. However, sophisticated encryption programs have made control of many aspects of the Internet more problematic for government agencies in Muslim (and other) contexts, for example in censoring email exchanges…States have been under attack from opponents, including hackers/crackers of varying grades of proficiency (including Muslims) seeking to compromise governmental online interests – for example through changing content of websites or accessing ‘confidential’ databases. These ‘Muslim hackers’ range from individuals to highly organized groups, not all operating with ‘Islamic’ agendas in mind (Bunt 160).

And the internet has allowed differing interpretations of Islam a virtual space to discourse. Indeed, internet skills have grown so important to Islam that they are now being taught in Islamic seminaries.

The online translations of al-Qaradawi [a Qatar-based religious scholar] into other languages, and the reproduction of his materials on affiliated websites, have been extremely influential, particularly following 11 September. His website statements on jihad, denouncing the targeting of civilians as contrary to Islam, were quoted in the international press (Bunt 160).

And finally Bunt notes that authoritarian control is much more difficult in an internet age. The ability to speak out against an interpretation of Islam is more difficult when you need a printing press or a television studio to spread the message than when you only need an iPhone (Bunt 159-161).

TV News this summer needs more...well, news

When it's slow news, count on TV news to make some news, ALOT of news. H/T Marcus Powers

I know I'm biased, but would it be wrong to suggest we stop covering dead celebrities and go back to covering, you know unrest in Iran, the auto/financial crisis?

Jon Stewart satired this very issue night before last with the "RIPpy Awards" for Obitutainment. Some hard-hitting reporting. See below:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Rippy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Obitutainment
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

Why LOST Still Matters

Full disclosure: I'm a LOST nerd. No really, I'm that guy. The one who has all the crazy theories about the Island, who Jacob is, etc. I'm going to try to be objective about my appreciation for this show...actually I won't.

For those of you not similarly addicted, here's a brief summary (is that possible?) from Wikipedia:

LOST is an American serial drama television series. It follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, after a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney, Australia and Los Angeles, United States crashes somewhere in the South Pacific. Each episode typically features a primary storyline on the island as well as a secondary storyline from another point in a character's life, though other time-related plot devices change this formula in later episodes. The pilot episode was first broadcast on September 22, 2004, and since then five full seasons have aired.

When ratings began to drift in season two and early season three and accusations flew that the writers didn't know where the show was going, ABC did something unprecedented. They allowed the writers to set an end date for a successful show.

Now LOST did shed some viewers in the process (in the five seasons, they've gone from 16 million viewers to 11 million). LOST is essentially a niche show on a broadcast channel, yet it has managed to be relatively successful both by critics and viewers. How has it done that? I have no clue. But I have some ideas about why the show still matters:

(1) The writers of LOST, unlike most other broadcast shows, have decided to reward obsessive compulsive viewers like me, while leaving causal viewers in the dust. Some studies have shown that though LOST doesn't have the best ratings during the broadcast hour, it does fabulous online. It's one of the highest recorded shows on DVR, frequently tops iTunes for downloads and tops hulu in views as well. So despite the moves other shows have taken to become more procedural on broadcast, LOST has maintained it's serial nature.

(2) LOST has complex heroes. Usually the idea of the hero who saves the day is ceded to procedurals. Serial shows win awards, procedurals don't. Serials are the "don't-miss-an-episode-or-die-shows" (24, Gossip Girl, Mad Men, etc.). Procedurals are your typical cop/hospital dramas (CSI, CSI:Miami, CSI: New York, CSI: Humpsville, Ill., etc.) On the other hand, procedurals get higher viewers. There are a lot of people willing to see Horatio rip off his glasses and deliver dead-pan lines night after night (example: Horatio walks into a bedroom and finds a woman dead. He whips off his sunglasses, "Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed"). Here's the LA Times take on that:

"Procedurals offer the basics of storytelling that people want to
hear," says "Criminal Minds' " Bernero. "It's very Arthurian and basic
to human experience. People like to think that, while they can be
scared and pull the blanket up around them, there are heroes out there
who will save the day. It's very comforting, and that's why there will
always be a huge market for cop shows: People need to know there are
heroes."

I'm not sure all viewers want that. Certainly not those in the younger generation who watch online. Serial shows play to the strengths of the online medium. "What did that smoke monster look like? Lets rewind and look again." And there's a reason LOST has been successful online. It has heroes whocontinue to be heroic despite hefty character development.

(3) LOST knows how to play the current television game. In the aftermath of ER, the idea that any show will command a majority of the viewership is pretty clearly dead.The current game is how to get people excited about your show online, but preferably watching during the actual airing. This is easier on some channels than others. Gossip Girl can afford to be serial because on the CW, the timeslot only requires them to nail down 1-2 million viewers. FOX, NBC, ABC, and CBS still want to be top dogs. But LOST will be remembered for being able to stick it out with the big networks while being able to stay true to a storyline. Not every serial in the same scenario has been able to (Heroes, I'm talking about at you. How did serial-killer Sylar end up a donut munching cop for half a season?)

(4) The writing is still spot on. A lot of shows have jumped the shark long before this point. It takes a great writer to keep a serial going this long and this well.

How Subway Saved 'Chuck'

It's no secret that I'm a TV geek. (Evidence: here, here, here, here and here.) But even those who aren't narrative nerds who love to watch serials in expectation of the next big plot twist have plenty of reasons to love Chuck.

For those who don't know Chuck, Chuck is the only quirky hour-long comedy about a Stanford flunky who works at a Geek Squad-style entity while solving top secret CIA investigations. Chuck is also unabashedly for the children of the '80s. Guest stars include Scott Bakula of Quantum Leap and Chevy Chase of the SNL and the Vacation franchise.

For those of you not obsessively following the story, Chuck was slated for the chopping block earlier this year. The niche television show faces the same conundrum that killed Arrested Development and has threatened both LOST and Gossip Girl--tons of web viewers, tons of iTunes downloads, low ratings in their broadcast slot.

What saved Chuck? Hint: Five Dollar, Foot-long. Yep, thanks to special sponsorship deal with Subway, Chuck will be getting another 13 episodes--not a full season, but hey it's still breathing. What could this sponsorship deal look like?

According to the New York Times:

Chuck’s girlfriend, Sarah, is a top CIA agent but she works undercover at the mall in different eateries. It is no leap to think she could be selling Subway sandwiches next season. An NBC executive said that discussions had been held about the specifics of the Subway tie-in and that the idea had been considered, though the terms were not formally decided yet.

NBC’s president of ad sales, Mike Pilot, said the deal validated what NBC had called its “infront,” process, in which it presented its lineup to ad executives two weeks before the other networks and sought ideas for tie-ins like the one developed with Subway.

What does this mean for the future of television? Well, NBC claims that Chuck will get more than 13-episodes if it improves it's ratings. This sponsorship deal leaves open the possibility of similar partnerships between advertisers and other television shows that lack ratings, but don't lack viewers. For advertisers, the right kind of product-placement in such shows could help prevent the death of niche shows. This sponsorship deal is dry run for such partnerships. Here's hoping that Subway will save Chuck.

Great Quotes: "The Office"

A month left of "The Office! " That is far too close for comfort. In keeping with my tradition, I think necessary to take note of some of the great quotes of Office fame:

(CPR Training)
Red Cross woman: So, assessing the situation. are they breathing?
Michael Scott: No, Rose, they are not breathing. And, they have no arms or legs.
Red Cross woman: No that's not part of it.
Michael Scott: Where are they? You know what? If we come across somebody with no arms or legs do we bother resuscitating them? I mean what kind of quality of life do we have there?
Kevin: I would wanna live with no legs.
Michael Scott: How 'bout no arms? No arms or legs is basically how you exist right now, Kevin, you don't do anything.

Rose: Ok. You didn't maintain a hundred beats per minute. And the
ambulance didn't arrive because no body called 911. So you lost 'em.
Dwight Schrute: Ok. He's dead. Anyone know what we do next? Anybody? Rose?
Rose: I have no idea.
Phyllis: We bury him.
Dwight Schrute: Wrong. Check for an organ donor card. If he has one we only have minutes to harvest.
Creed: He has no wallet, I checked.
Michael Scott: He is an organ donor.
Dwight Schrute: [excitedly] He is? Give me some ice in a Styrofoam
bucket. [removes a hunting knife from his ankle and cuts open the
dummy] We search for the organs! [digging around inside] Where's the
heart? The precious heart.

(After Michael runs over Meredith with his car)

Michael Scott: Spend your whole life trying to get people to like you and then you run over one person with your car. And it's not even one of the popular ones, and everybody gets on your case. Doesn't make any sense. God is dead.

Michael Scott: Guess what? I have flaws. What are they? Oh, I don't know. I sing in the shower, sometimes I spend too much time volunteering; occasionally I'll hit someone with my car. So sue me. No, don't sue me. That's the opposite of the point that I am trying to make.

(Darryl is writing a song for the new Dunder Mifflin Commercial)
Michael: I was under the impression that this was going to be a rap.
Darryl: What's rap?
Michael: Okay, Darryl, wow. You need to learn alot about your culture. I'll make you a mix.

Dwight Schrute: Rule 17: don't turn your back on bears, men you
have wronged, or the dominant turkey during mating season. There are
forty rules all Schrute boys must learn before the age of five. [sings]
Learn your rules. You better learn your rules. If you don't, you'll be
eaten in your sleep. [makes chomping sound]

(Dwight and Andy prepare for a duel)
Dwight Schrute: What is your weapon?
Andy Bernard: My bare hands.
Dwight Schrute: That is stupid. I will use a sword and I will cut off your bare hands.

Michael Scott: Do I need to be liked? Absolutely not. I like to be liked, I enjoy being liked, I have to be liked, but it's not like this compulsive need to be liked. Like my need to be praised.

Dwight Schrute: I got a knock knock joke.
Michael Scott: No... God...
Dwight Schrute: Michael please! Please please. Please! Please let me.
Michael Scott: Alright.
Dwight Schrute: Knock knock.
Michael Scott: Who's there.
Dwight Schrute: KGB.
Michael Scott: KGB who-- [Dwight slaps Michael]
Dwight Schrute: [in "Russian" accent] We Will Ask The Questions!

GopherLink!Sitcoms online aren't as funny. Looks like script writers will need to learn to write for the online medium. Also, the changing face of American religion. Shunnnnnnnn?

Family Guy and the FCC

This clip came up in my Media Industries seminar the other day (which is conducted by a director in the Federal Communications Commission). Apparently, they got quite a laugh out of it. They were certainly calling out the FCC, not unlike the famed "Seven Dirty Words" by the late-George Carlin. Unlike the "Seven Dirty Words," Family Guy never actually showed or said that which they were forbidden (at least at an hour when they can get in trouble). But it was close.

As it should be. Cheers Family Guy!

Great Quote from "The Office"

Blogging about not blogging: Life is nuts. I haven't updated much this week because I'm just trying to keep my head above water. But here's a quote for the ages:

Michael Scott: "Guess what? I have flaws? What are they? Oh, I don't know. I sing in the shower, sometimes I spend too much time volunteering; occasionally I'll hit someone with my car. So sue me. No, don't sue me. That's the opposite of the point that I'm trying to make."

Comcast....

Since I've experienced this myself, I'm glad to hear about this. I know they've laid the wires and deserve the near monopoly they have in many areas, but I still wish Verizon Fios and satellite providers were available in more areas to compete with these guys....

LOST: Season Five....

We knew this would happen...