They have a story, it just doesn't make any sense since the group was artificially divided at the start of the season.
I've no end of problems with Lost, but that complaint makes no sense to me. What would have constituted an organic division of the group?
Not so much "What" but "How long". At least three-four episodes should have been devoted to tensions in that group, who stayed together since the crash.
Instead we got "Hey, you go that way, I go that way, by the way we are enemies now!", with everyone behaving like robots in order to put people where writers want them.
Posts: 636 | Location: NYC | Registered: 02 November 2007
pisher, why do you keep bringing up BSG when discussing Lost? They're not that comparable. At least with BSG, there's stuff to actually care about, instead of just waiting for the story to be over.
Originally posted by Marc Berman: Prime-Time Ratings: Monday 5/19/08 Did I miss something here?
---------------
-Yesterday’s Winners: Smallville (CBS), Supernatural (ABC), Lost (ABC)
-Honorable Mention: Nothing
-Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats): Ugly Betty, (ABC), CBS’ CSI and Without a Trace; NBC’s My Name is Earl, The Office and ER; Fox’s Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and Don’t Forget the Lyrics;
Fixed!
Heroes, Smallville, Lost Fan
Posts: 35 | Location: Texas | Registered: 18 October 2007
They have a story, it just doesn't make any sense since the group was artificially divided at the start of the season.
I've no end of problems with Lost, but that complaint makes no sense to me. What would have constituted an organic division of the group?
Not so much "What" but "How long". At least three-four episodes should have been devoted to tensions in that group, who stayed together since the crash.
Instead we got "Hey, you go that way, I go that way, by the way we are enemies now!", with everyone behaving like robots in order to put people where writers want them.
I agree. That bugged me. Also, Claire not grieving Charlie at all. Like I said before, there's no character drama anymore. Only "plot drama". And they're pulling things and telling the audience they were always there. I don't buy that. It's obvious they decided them later on. It was so obvious in the ep "The other woman". Also, Ben was to be in 3, 4 episodes when he first appeared. Are we supposed to belive he was always intended to be such a key in the mistery? Come on.
Originally posted by tvchtw: I agree, if earl is a loser than so are 5th grader and lyrics (coming in distant 4th all around). at least earl won the demo for the hour
quote:
Originally posted by Zitrone: Loser: My Name is Earl (NBC) Viewers: 7.13 million (#2), A18-49: 3.0/ 9 (#1)
Not a loser: Don’t Forget the Lyrics (Viewers: 6.66 million #4; A18-49: 2.3/ 6 #4)
Hum...
I gave up arguing about the stupid winners/losers list a long time ago. Just know the "rules":
FOX: almost impossible for a show to be a loser because for some reason Marc still judges them like they are a "4th network" when they are obviously one of the big boys. When in doubt he uses the year to year reasoning, which for some reason is never used for any of the other networks.
CBS: Very easy for a CBS show to be a winner. usual weak 18-49 ratings don't matter. Year to year erosion does not matter.
ABC: If Marc is a fan of an ABC show it is always a winner, regardless of retention or the rating itself. If he is not a fan this is the network he is mostly straight on with.
NBC: Marc hates NBC, so it is almost impossible to be a winner (granted NBC does not have many real winners) and even with a solid 18-49 rating, it is very easy for an NBC show to be a loser. He even creates new categories for NBC just to avoid making a show listed as a winner.
Funny, AL you remind me of the smoker who says he quit while still puffing away or the dieter who claims to be sticking with the diet as you notice the chocolate cake.....
Originally posted by AL: FOX: almost impossible for a show to be a loser because for some reason Marc still judges them like they are a "4th network" when they are obviously one of the big boys. When in doubt he uses the year to year reasoning, which for some reason is never used for any of the other networks.
With NBC in the mix, you can't be the 4th network.
But yeah, save for a couple of hit shows, everything on FOX scores lowly ratings.
Posts: 406 | Location: Arkansas | Registered: 25 January 2008
pisher, why do you keep bringing up BSG when discussing Lost? They're not that comparable.
Not in terms of actual interest, no--Lost is still a mainstream show with decent if no longer awe-inspiring ratings--BSG gets low ratings for a cult show.
But yeah, I think they're very comparable. Both shows start with a disaster, that leaves a bunch of people essentially trapped together in a limited space. Those people have to figure out what happened to them, and how to escape their predicament, while coping with mysterious enemies whose motivations and internal divisions gradually become more clear, while also dealing with the sexual tensions inherent to such a situation, and the haunting spectre of past emotional traumas and personal failures.
In both shows there is a strong suggestion that forces beyond anyone's understanding are at work here, shaping the destinies of all the characters, and in both shows the ultimate aim is to escape the limited world of The Island/The Fleet and reach a more expansive world--which may or may not prove to be the solution the survivors/refugees want it to be. Whatever ultimately happens, the one sure thing is that nothing is what it appears to be, and that the protagonists have to understand their past to grasp the present, and find a workable future.
quote:
At least with BSG, there's stuff to actually care about, instead of just waiting for the story to be over.
If that's how you feel about it, that's how you feel about it. Personally, I never gave a flying damn about most of the personal crap on BSG. I thought most of the character arcs were a boring, angsty, soap-ish waste of airtime. And make that TRIPLE for the Apollo/Starbuck thingy, which was an albatross around the show's neck for far too long. I haven't always loved the Jack/Kate/Sawyer thingy either, but sooner a love triangle than a love rectangle--those are so square.
I've liked most of this season's Lost eps.
I've liked ONE of this season's BSG eps. But it was the last one--so I'm still hoping.
Originally posted by metal: pisher, why do you keep bringing up BSG when discussing Lost? They're not that comparable. At least with BSG, there's stuff to actually care about, instead of just waiting for the story to be over.
It is fun to compare the two, and see why BSG is the best drama on the air at the moment.
If BSG was written Lost-style, "Kara is back from the dead and wants an alliance with the Cylons" would be explained in 5 minutes, and everyone would accept it immediately. Instead it takes 6-7 episodes to see how people deal with it; but I guess some people can consider that as "filler", although it is the opposite.
Also, the fleet would have reached Earth at the end of season3, but decided they need to go back to Caprica over 3 more seasons.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Zitrone,
Posts: 636 | Location: NYC | Registered: 02 November 2007
Originally posted by tvchtw: I agree, if earl is a loser than so are 5th grader and lyrics (coming in distant 4th all around). at least earl won the demo for the hour
quote:
Originally posted by Zitrone: Loser: My Name is Earl (NBC) Viewers: 7.13 million (#2), A18-49: 3.0/ 9 (#1)
Not a loser: Don’t Forget the Lyrics (Viewers: 6.66 million #4; A18-49: 2.3/ 6 #4)
Hum...
I gave up arguing about the stupid winners/losers list a long time ago. Just know the "rules":
FOX: almost impossible for a show to be a loser because for some reason Marc still judges them like they are a "4th network" when they are obviously one of the big boys. When in doubt he uses the year to year reasoning, which for some reason is never used for any of the other networks.
CBS: Very easy for a CBS show to be a winner. usual weak 18-49 ratings don't matter. Year to year erosion does not matter.
ABC: If Marc is a fan of an ABC show it is always a winner, regardless of retention or the rating itself. If he is not a fan this is the network he is mostly straight on with.
NBC: Marc hates NBC, so it is almost impossible to be a winner (granted NBC does not have many real winners) and even with a solid 18-49 rating, it is very easy for an NBC show to be a loser. He even creates new categories for NBC just to avoid making a show listed as a winner.
Funny, AL you remind me of the smoker who says he quit while still puffing away or the dieter who claims to be sticking with the diet as you notice the chocolate cake.....
Can't speak for the smoking, as I have never smoked, but even when I diet every here and there I sneak in a piece of cake.
It is fun to compare the two, and see why BSG is the best drama on the air at the moment.
As long as you don't look at the ratings, and notice how fewer and fewer people agree with that statement.
quote:
If BSG was written Lost-style, "Kara is back from the dead and wants an alliance with the Cylons" would be explained in 5 minutes, and everyone would accept it immediately.
And that would be far preferable to "Kara comes back from having been blown into little pieces, then tells everyone she's found earth, then it turns out she has no idea where it is."
quote:
Instead it takes 6-7 episodes to see how people deal with it; but I guess some people can consider that as "filler", although it is the opposite.
Right, and that's an objective fact, instead of a fervent fangeek's fond fantasy.
quote:
Also, the fleet would have reached Earth at the end of season3, but decided they need to go back to New Caprica over 3 more seasons.
They actually DID go back to the original Caprica, remember?
You have no idea, Z. You still think this is about them finding earth. It's not. It's about them finding out who they are, and where they come from, and how they are all connected.
Originally posted by AL: FOX: almost impossible for a show to be a loser because for some reason Marc still judges them like they are a "4th network" when they are obviously one of the big boys. When in doubt he uses the year to year reasoning, which for some reason is never used for any of the other networks.
With NBC in the mix, you can't be the 4th network.
But yeah, save for a couple of hit shows, everything on FOX scores lowly ratings.
Yes, we all know that NBC is in 4th. But my point was that Marc still treats FOX like a netlet (i.e. CW). A show on FOX that gets around 7 million viewers and a decent demo rating is never a loser, whereas the same rating on NBC is always a loser. Obviously a network like CW needs to be judged on a lower scale than the rest. But FOX has shown it has the reach and ability to reach just a wide an audience as CBS, NBS, and ABC. So their shows should be judged on the same scale.
For example Medium consistently gets better or similar ratings than a FOX show like Bones (a show that I like) but Marc continually slams Medium's ratings, while giving the inane "underrated" for Bones, which gets similar ratings. Prison Break (a favorite of mine) gets 7 million viewers and it is never a loser. But Earl gets 7 million and it is a loser.
So as mentioned earlier, just know the "rules" going in...
... yea let's find that mid-season replacement for CSI.