Can Lost Survive Long Enough?

After a three month hiatus, Lost is back on the tube and is suffering badly. This latest article shows how low the ratings have dropped for the first two episodes of 2007. The most recent one, on Valentine's Day, was a series low of 12.8 million viewers.

I guess this is to be expected after a long delay. To draw a sports parallel, the NHL had a lockout that cancelled an entire season of hockey. With the second post-lockout season coming to a close, the league is still struggling to stay relevant. The problem they created for themselves is the same as Lost team now - people have learned to live without them.

I was a die-hard hockey fan and season ticket holder for an NHL club. However, with the lock-out, I realized I could get by just fine without hockey. There are so many things with which we Americans can occupy our time. Think about all the things we don't really need, but think we need - iPods, the Internet, video game consoles, sports teams, music, etc. If you take one of those things away, we will easily switch to something else.

This is not to say that the three month break is the only cause for the drop. The drawn out storytelling approach of answering a question with a question with a question is starting to fatigue even the most die-hard fan. I am willing to be patient and have faith that they will eventually provide answers to the sixty or so mysteries they have created. But, like I said above, many people have other competitors for their Wednesday nights.

Producers Lindeloff and Cuse have said repeatedly that they didn't want this show to drag on past the story it wanted to tell, like Twin Peaks and the X-Files did. However, based on the ratings in this hyper-competitive world, they may not have enough time now. It would be a shame if the show is cancelled before the story is finished. It is even more of a shame that cerebral shows such as this don't appeal to Americans. How is that for an indictment on the state of our schools and culture!

I don't want to see Lost become another Push, Nevada.