Terry O'Quinn, ABC's Lost Character, John Locke
Lost, the ABC-TeeVee series that began in 2004, ends tonight.
I was among the first two generations of humans who grew up to the rhythms of mid-1950's television: The sound of teletypes, and a man saying "The CBS Evening News -- with Walter Cronkite"; or Chet Huntley and David Brinkley's voices (actually, I'm old enough to remember watching Edward R. Murrow); the theme music to everything from Checkmate and McHale's Navy and Combat!, to Police Story and The Dick Van Dyke Show.
I grew up like a good, trained American consumer with the habit of following story lines in episodic weekly series, and it took some effort on my part to wean myself off what Harlan Ellison calls The Glass Teat. Now, I watch very little commercial television; I haven't purchased cable access in ten years, and am very selective about what I want to watch on commercial stations -- which is all I receive via my Analog-Teevee Converter box.
Even when I still had the habit, I was always a latecomer to whatever teevee series became popular. Partly, it's been a knee-jerk response to following crowds: I don't like to. So, when it seemed everyone was following Thirtytsomething (1987 - 1991) and having conversations on public transportation about its characters as if they lived down the street, I still never watched it when it was on regular, commercial broadcast television. It took being laid off in the early 90's, and having time to watch the 'Lifetime' channel to get me to watch it, and I loved it. Ditto with Seinfeld -- everyone was watching it; I wouldn't follow the crowd, and I realized I'd missed out on the action while it was happening. I was determined not to do that again.
The Cast Of ABC's Thirtysomething (On Floor: Cousin Gonzo)
So with STNG (1986 -1994) and Star Trek: Voyager, I simply jumped in and started watching -- both series had been broadcast long enough that they were already in syndication, and I could catch up on the arc of the plot through prior episodes.
Jerri Ryan, Seven Of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager:
And -- Yeah, I Watched The Series For The Science. Sure.
My favorite series of all time is (aber natürlich) the X-Files, and after missing the first two years of it never skipped an episode, straight through until The End in 2002.
I didn't go to see the recent, second X-Files film, X-Files: I Want To Believe (even though Billy Connolly was in it); Chris Carter, the X-Files' creator, had said that if the film did well enough he would bring the series back to television. It didn't, and I guess... Rats.
David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson; X-Files: I Want To Believe
For six years, I developed -- along with a lot of other Dogs in America -- a deep and abiding crush on Gillian Anderson; and when in a high-rise-side elevator at my Place Of Witless Labor™ (which displays an 'X' when passing some lower floors), I occasionally had an idle wish that the car would slow, stop, and the doors open; I would look out into a corridor at the Hoover building in Washington, D.C., and Mulder and Scully would be standing there. "Where the hell have you been?" Mulder would say, and I'd reply You won't believe me when I tell you -- well; maybe you will..
Gillian Anderson (Like You Had To Be Told)
With Lost, I never made the connection with the characters as I did with X-Files -- with the exception of the John Locke character, played by Terry O'Quinn (who turns 58 this year, as I will). I've been an on-again, off-again viewer, and in point of fact don't intend to watch the final concluding episode tonight. I may invest in the box set of the series which undoubtedly will be on the market.
The Main Cast Of Lost, Third Season
Lost has been an intriguing dramatic experiment; television has come a long way since The Twilight Zone, which was seen as a risky gamble in 1959 but became the trailblazer that made 'Outer Limits', 'Lost' and 'X-Files', 'Star Trek' and STNG and 'Voyager', 'Deep Space Nine'.
And, if I really want to see it on the tiny screen at a specific time every week, there's always syndication...
UPDATE: I watched it. I caved. I'm such a tool, etc., not to put too fine a point on it.
And, (1) I enjoyed it; (2) The ending made sense, even though I'd missed over four years of the show. Does that mean Lost was the television equivalent of an Egg Cream (tasty withal, yet free of substance), or that I'm just smarter than the average Dog? Who knows.
There was however, a dog in the last scenes, which guaranteed the finale had my vote.
No comments:
Post a Comment