Fall TV 2006

Haven't posted in a long while, so why not re-start with something easy- TV!

The fall TV season has begun! More accurately LOST is back! Season 3!

So far, through three episodes, it has been pretty awesome. They always find a way to start the season in an incredible way- that "What the heck is going on?" moment:

Season 1: Open on Jack's eye and we follow his horrendous discovery of the plane wreckage.
Season 2: Some dude wakes up, eats, excercises, does dishes, and punches something on a computer... pull back to see Lock and Jack peering down the hatch shaft! HOLY COW- they just showed us everything in The Hatch!
Season 3: A book club discussion... rumbling... outside we see the Oceanic 815 coming down, breaks in two... "Henry Gale" comes out! WHOA! They just showed us where The Others live!

Of concern though is LOST's Nielson ratings are going downhill. YIKES! Tim Goodman of the SF Chronicle and many others have good theories on this. The mystery is too complex. The serial nature of the storyline makes it hard to gain viewers compared to shows that have self-contained stories in each episode. Further, viewers that miss an episode or two may get lost (pun) and stop watching. Also, seeing the success of LOST and Desperate Housewives from two years ago, serial dramas are everywhere now. Anyways, the LOST producers say the story runs about 5 seasons, so as long as they have enough time to finish the story w/out rushing it, I'm happy.

Speaking of serial dramas, I've started watching "The Nine" (on ABC, after LOST) and "Heroes" (9PM Mondays on NBC). Both are very LOST-like shows based on a high-concept premise. "Nine" is about 9 people survive a 52 hour bank robbery hostage crisis. "Heroes" is about various individuals discovering they have superpowers. From there, the show is about the characters and how they deal with the situation and it's effects on those around them. Interestingly, there is no "bad guy" (yet) in "Nine," whereas "Heroes" has a mysterious one. BTW, "Heroes" might as well be called "Unbreakable: The Series."

On a side note, shows from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and probably other Asian countries are mostly serials. The key difference from their U.S. counterparts is that they usually only span one season of 20-40 episodes. A second season, if any, is usually considered a sequel rather than just a continuation of the story, a la LOST season 1, 2, 3 etc.

The last few nights, I've also been feverishly watching "Taken," the 2002 Steven Spielberg produced miniseries on Sci-Fi channel about alien abduction. There are "only" 10 episodes, but each is about 1hr 20mins. I watched the 1st few episodes when it first premiered, but got busy with other things, and then M was born; hence I'm finishing it now. Highly recommended- well written stories and good character development. I'm going to watch the final episode tonight.

Anyways, LOST will still be my main show. I don't have time to keep up with 3 shows at once. I'll probably try to stick w/ "The Nine" through the season, though I hear it's ratings aren't so good, so it's in danger of getting cancelled. I'll save "Heroes" for the summer when I'm counting the days till LOST starts again.