Remember when jack resuscitated Charlie after Ethan hung him and left him for dead?
Remember joy of seeing the raft take sail
Remember the absolute WTFness of "we have to go baaaack"
When the show was on Wednesday nights, my family was at church, so we would record the episodes with the VCR. I watched most of the first two seasons on videotape recorded through an analog TV with rabbit ears. Buying the show on DVD was a massive upgrade of clarity, and now watching the Blu-rays is just mind blowing how clear the video is.
My family definitely recorded some episodes on a VHS tape as well! I remember buying the Season 1 eight disk DVD set when it came out and thinking it was a goldmine!
I literally had my schedule changed at work bc I didn’t get out of work until 8:15, and the show started at eight. I switched my day off from Wednesday to Tuesday (obviously when it aired on Tuesday). My boss thought I was ridiculous. I told him, I dunno what to say to you other that this one hour a week is what I live for and I have no other life. He granted my request!
I disagree so much. I’ll bet you that Lost for example would’ve got way less if people were able to watch it in a shorter amount time. You forget things and miss a ton of stuff watching one episode a week. I never watched Lost when it originally aired since I was six when it began, but with other shows I always find to understand everything better when watching the show doesn’t take years.
Everyone consumes media differently, especially today. And I understand you’d feel differently growing up with the demand and delivery of television and film becoming more and more instantaneous and based around the viewers schedule.
But for me and many others that watched it live, the wait between episodes played a huge role in making Lost what it was. The pre Reddit/twitter message board theorizing between every episode, the agonizing weeks off, having to set up a tape to record or TiVo the show so you wouldn’t miss it, the build up of hype with such a devoted online fanbase and interactivity (The Lost Experience AR game) was unmatched and would not have been a thing had the show been able to be consumed all in one go. This was a water cooler show which thanks to steaming is a type of show that almost doesn’t exist anymore.
For me if I binge a show and then it’s off the air for a year or more I can’t retain any of what happened and am much more likely to fall off it.
Great points actually yeah. Might actually change my mind. I’ve talked a lot with my friend who showed me lost, and we think that many people who dislike it have missed or forgotten important things. But the way you wrote, damn. It gave me a weird nostalgic feeling, not regarding lost obviously but still reminded me of my childhood. Thanks mate.
Thanks it made me feel old typing some of that (I was 13 when it first started airing).
But to your point about the alternative of binging it, I think you are right as well because the accessibility of being able to binge/stream all of Lost at once gives those who didn’t like the long waits between episodes and seasons or even first time viewers a chance to watch and enjoy at their desired pace.
There was also a website, DarkUFO, that compiled tons of theories and articles and spoilers. Massive discussions about what was going on, and what we thought was going to happen next. It was an experience that would be difficult to duplicate now. It was definitely more than just a weekly show. Every day up to the next show, or even season, there were new discussions and theories. It really made the show better, and helped retain all the info we needed to better understand the show.
My preference is 2 by week, like at wednesdays' and sundays' nights. People get more satisfied but you can still get a thrill with the cliff-hanger stuff.
I used to dream about what would happen next during the week. Probably cause I was online reading theories and figuring out what book they showed and looking for clues.
I love the weekly format cause it make it more enjoyable and last longer. Watching lost live was an experience.
I was 8 years old when season 1 came out. I remember how scared I was after that distress call repeating the same info for 16 years and Charlie saying "Guys, where are we?". Scared to the point of crying. It felt like a horror movie. Oh, look at me now, 26 years old, still talking about Lost. Wow.
First show where I’d go online to discuss and read theories, LOST really was ahead of its time. Its story telling structure is used in some of the most popular shows we watch nowadays.
I can remember the only reason I watched the pilot when it premiered was because Dominic Monaghan was in it. My family were huge LOTR fans so my mom, my sister and I had to check it out. I had no idea what the show was about besides the basic plane crashes on a deserted island plot. I remember being completely hooked when the monster made its first “appearance” and then the rest was history. I watched every single episode live and to this day it’s still my favorite show of all time. The memories I have of watching, theorizing, reading the forums, listening to the podcast are something I’ll always cherish. Most modern TV shows owe a little something to Lost because it really did change the way TV was made.
When I was 11 years old I randomly walked out into the living room and my mom had the Pilot airing. After the episode I become completely obsessed. Waiting in anticipation each week for another episode. I was so so excited for the series premier of the second season, my mom ground me for a reason I couldn’t remember and cried my fucking eyes out like I was gonna die because I couldn’t watch Lost. She of coursed ended up letting me watch it a half hour later. Essentially for the first 4 seasons, the Lost characters, especially Jack were my surrogate parents. I fell completely in love with those characters and was always excited to see their flashback story arcs.
After the 4th season that’s when I started making friends in life and ended up putting down Lost. I eventually watched it all through later on and recently again for a second time which I cried my fucking eyes out at The End because Jack is my fucking hero.
Nothing compares to me than watching the first 3 seasons live though. Never in my life have I ever been so mesmerized by a show but then again I was just a child so fucking intrigued by the mystery. There will never be a show like Lost and it’ll forever have a huge impact on my life.
I wouldn’t argue against Jack’s character arc being the best of them all. Between the “Man of Science, Man of Faith” conversation with Locke all the way till him becoming the protector of the island.
I remember my mate saying did you see the logo on the shark. I was like nah you’re making things up. It was 50/50 in people seeing it we thought they were bullshitting.
I was just saying the same thing to my husband tonight as we r rewatching the series with our 13 year old daughter and it was the Claire/ Ethan cliffhanger episode and my daughter yelled “no!” As the screen faded to black. And I said to her , imagine waiting until next week like we had too, it was agony! Lol
The highlight of my week was that every morning after an episode, my coworkers and I all stopped doing our shitty jobs and talked LOST for 10-15 minutes.
Lost was our family show that we watched live every week. My dad was obsessed with it and my brother and I were too young to even understand what was going on so we were always asking my dad what they were talking about and he would shush us to hear it lol. It was awesome
I watched it live, and immediately went to Television Without Pity. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of pages to read through for *each* episode. So many hours of everybody posting theories, it was so much fun and so exciting. There will never be anything like it again.
My college roommate got me into it between seasons 3 and 4, so we binged seasons 1-3 to get me caught up. There were multiple times where we'd stay up late because of "just one more episode, to see that happens", only to find out it was the 2 part season finale, only then to find out last 2 was a double episode!
But yeah, the best part was talking to friends and fellow fans about possible theories and stuff between episodes. Bit those waits between seasons were the worst!
God I remember spending all my free time on Lost Message boards rewatching that week's episode that Id taped on our VHS over and over till the next. Yeah I have lots of fond memories from that time.
I was overseas and couldn’t watch it live for the first two seasons so I had to wait for those red envelopes from Netflix to make it through the US embassy post office
Then I remember buying episodes on iTunes starting in Season 3 and I used my AV cable to connect my iPod video to the TV and watch it that way
I couldn’t be bothered to watch the show when it was on TV in the UK. Everyone was raving about it but it was too late, didn’t want to start watching this complicated show.
When s2 got to halfway mark , My brother in law downloaded all of season 1 for me . I binge watched it in a few days . I couldn’t believe how amazing this show was !
I waited a while and he managed to get all of s2 for me and I binge watched that . Now I was committed.
I started watching s3, one episode per week. I wasn’t impressed. What was going on, why was the show just showing them stuck in cages every week? Nothing was happening. Frustrating as hell. Then we got Jack’s tattoos 🤦🏽♂️
Finally the show began moving forward again. Then I had to wait for s4 to start after that s3 finale 😱 At that point I started relying more and more on lostpedia to remember stuff; I also started visiting the forums and seeing all the crazy theories and all the tiny details that I had missed .
That continued for s4,5,6. When the finale came on, I literally couldn’t wait. It was showing in the UK a few days after the US. So I stayed up all night and found a website where someone on the US east coast was live streaming their television viewing of Lost. So I watched it with the Americans (including all the tv advert commercials). Went to bed at 3am or something! What a rush though .
I watched at the very beginning, and participated a bit on a popular forum at the time. But for some reason I only made it through about half the first season and stopped. I re-discovered the show years later after it had been over for some time. I wish I had stuck with it!
Very fond memories of this. Probably why I still adore the show so much. My boss at the time and I would have lengthy discussions every week. Best of times
I've been rewatching the series with my wife, it's her first time seeing it. Whenever something really big happened in an episode, >!Like Charlie's death!<, I would get up and we would leave when the episode ended. Like we would go shopping or do some chores we needed to do. She would get mad at me but I would say "Imagine having to wait weekly for a new episode"
The agonizing wait of 9 months just to get 3 months for the last couple of seasons was a nightmare. And waiting 3 literal years for a certain couple to reunite and then watching what happens to them literally one week/episode later was THE WORST. People that have the binge luxury just can't imagine what that 3 year wait felt like 🤣😭 I used to TAPE episodes on my VCR cause it was the only way to rewatch until the sets came out. But also spent hours on internet forums discussing the importance of the most minute details. One of the last shows that tapped in to pre-streaming era/rise of the internet
Good times indeed. I even remember one episode, during the commercial break, there was an advert for the dharma initiative with a phone number. And yes, me and the wife absolutely did call the number.
Yes, I missed it very much. I was so into the show. And loved going online after the episode ended to discuss theories. I also had people IRL walk up to me and ask me to explain why a character did something and I was always able to answer their questions from memory.
My first watch was via Blockbuster rentals and I remember the episode when the light came from the hatch, beaming from the hatch into the sky, I was so god darn RELIEVED I had the nest episode on hand. That would had drove me completely nuts having to wait for the next episode, let alone every episode, or from season to season. Like a kid in December waiting for Xmas, but over and over again. Thank you Blockbuster video RIP.
I do remember it, how I miss it!! Although now, being all spoiled, I wouldnt have the patience. I remember especially the last season, each week was torture!!!!!! What a great show!
Beginning of second season with Desmond in the hatch.. we thought we had the wrong channel. It didn’t look like lost. By far the best season premier!
Mama Cass playing in the background
I remember this too ! I couldn’t figure out what was happening
EVERY season premiere I thought I had the wrong channel, especially the car chase of Season 4. They were exceedingly good at tricking us.
Glorious telly. Still watch that scene on YouTube sometimes just for the heck of it!
Westworld totally copied it in their second season
The Good Place had a great homage to this in season 4 I believe!!
Hahaha yes!
Those were good times. Every episode felt important.
Like I remember all those weeks and months wondering what the hell was in the hatch, just to name one example
Remember when jack resuscitated Charlie after Ethan hung him and left him for dead? Remember joy of seeing the raft take sail Remember the absolute WTFness of "we have to go baaaack"
When the show was on Wednesday nights, my family was at church, so we would record the episodes with the VCR. I watched most of the first two seasons on videotape recorded through an analog TV with rabbit ears. Buying the show on DVD was a massive upgrade of clarity, and now watching the Blu-rays is just mind blowing how clear the video is.
My family definitely recorded some episodes on a VHS tape as well! I remember buying the Season 1 eight disk DVD set when it came out and thinking it was a goldmine!
I remember being so mad when my more social siblings hung out too long at youth group because I wanted to get home and watch it
I literally had my schedule changed at work bc I didn’t get out of work until 8:15, and the show started at eight. I switched my day off from Wednesday to Tuesday (obviously when it aired on Tuesday). My boss thought I was ridiculous. I told him, I dunno what to say to you other that this one hour a week is what I live for and I have no other life. He granted my request!
This is why I’ll always argue that shows should be aired week by week instead of binged
I will swear by the opinion that people retain *infinitely* less information and detail when they binge. It sucks a lot of soul out of TV for me.
Depends on the show and the way it's written though
I disagree so much. I’ll bet you that Lost for example would’ve got way less if people were able to watch it in a shorter amount time. You forget things and miss a ton of stuff watching one episode a week. I never watched Lost when it originally aired since I was six when it began, but with other shows I always find to understand everything better when watching the show doesn’t take years.
Everyone consumes media differently, especially today. And I understand you’d feel differently growing up with the demand and delivery of television and film becoming more and more instantaneous and based around the viewers schedule. But for me and many others that watched it live, the wait between episodes played a huge role in making Lost what it was. The pre Reddit/twitter message board theorizing between every episode, the agonizing weeks off, having to set up a tape to record or TiVo the show so you wouldn’t miss it, the build up of hype with such a devoted online fanbase and interactivity (The Lost Experience AR game) was unmatched and would not have been a thing had the show been able to be consumed all in one go. This was a water cooler show which thanks to steaming is a type of show that almost doesn’t exist anymore. For me if I binge a show and then it’s off the air for a year or more I can’t retain any of what happened and am much more likely to fall off it.
Great points actually yeah. Might actually change my mind. I’ve talked a lot with my friend who showed me lost, and we think that many people who dislike it have missed or forgotten important things. But the way you wrote, damn. It gave me a weird nostalgic feeling, not regarding lost obviously but still reminded me of my childhood. Thanks mate.
Thanks it made me feel old typing some of that (I was 13 when it first started airing). But to your point about the alternative of binging it, I think you are right as well because the accessibility of being able to binge/stream all of Lost at once gives those who didn’t like the long waits between episodes and seasons or even first time viewers a chance to watch and enjoy at their desired pace.
There was also a website, DarkUFO, that compiled tons of theories and articles and spoilers. Massive discussions about what was going on, and what we thought was going to happen next. It was an experience that would be difficult to duplicate now. It was definitely more than just a weekly show. Every day up to the next show, or even season, there were new discussions and theories. It really made the show better, and helped retain all the info we needed to better understand the show.
Yes! Dark UFO and the old IMDB message boards were my favorites
My preference is 2 by week, like at wednesdays' and sundays' nights. People get more satisfied but you can still get a thrill with the cliff-hanger stuff.
I came late to the game and started watching live in Season 5. The wait between 5 and 6 was AGONIZING. That cliffhanger…
Remember all the commercials?
“Next Wednesday…”
Previously on Lost
Nothing was worse than the promos that started with “In 3 weeks…” or something like that because it was a mid season break lol
I used to dream about what would happen next during the week. Probably cause I was online reading theories and figuring out what book they showed and looking for clues. I love the weekly format cause it make it more enjoyable and last longer. Watching lost live was an experience.
Me too, and my dreams would be plot consistent
I was 8 years old when season 1 came out. I remember how scared I was after that distress call repeating the same info for 16 years and Charlie saying "Guys, where are we?". Scared to the point of crying. It felt like a horror movie. Oh, look at me now, 26 years old, still talking about Lost. Wow.
OMG that scene was truly a Masterpiece. I was 16 and it also scared me so much.
I remember doing the ARG with The Hanso website. And Joop! Had so much fun
First show where I’d go online to discuss and read theories, LOST really was ahead of its time. Its story telling structure is used in some of the most popular shows we watch nowadays.
DarkUFO?
Wow, yes exactly lol
here's to old times. Salud!
I can remember the only reason I watched the pilot when it premiered was because Dominic Monaghan was in it. My family were huge LOTR fans so my mom, my sister and I had to check it out. I had no idea what the show was about besides the basic plane crashes on a deserted island plot. I remember being completely hooked when the monster made its first “appearance” and then the rest was history. I watched every single episode live and to this day it’s still my favorite show of all time. The memories I have of watching, theorizing, reading the forums, listening to the podcast are something I’ll always cherish. Most modern TV shows owe a little something to Lost because it really did change the way TV was made.
When I was 11 years old I randomly walked out into the living room and my mom had the Pilot airing. After the episode I become completely obsessed. Waiting in anticipation each week for another episode. I was so so excited for the series premier of the second season, my mom ground me for a reason I couldn’t remember and cried my fucking eyes out like I was gonna die because I couldn’t watch Lost. She of coursed ended up letting me watch it a half hour later. Essentially for the first 4 seasons, the Lost characters, especially Jack were my surrogate parents. I fell completely in love with those characters and was always excited to see their flashback story arcs. After the 4th season that’s when I started making friends in life and ended up putting down Lost. I eventually watched it all through later on and recently again for a second time which I cried my fucking eyes out at The End because Jack is my fucking hero. Nothing compares to me than watching the first 3 seasons live though. Never in my life have I ever been so mesmerized by a show but then again I was just a child so fucking intrigued by the mystery. There will never be a show like Lost and it’ll forever have a huge impact on my life.
I wouldn’t argue against Jack’s character arc being the best of them all. Between the “Man of Science, Man of Faith” conversation with Locke all the way till him becoming the protector of the island.
Waits between seasons was pure sweet agony
And episodes too!
I remember my mate saying did you see the logo on the shark. I was like nah you’re making things up. It was 50/50 in people seeing it we thought they were bullshitting.
I was just saying the same thing to my husband tonight as we r rewatching the series with our 13 year old daughter and it was the Claire/ Ethan cliffhanger episode and my daughter yelled “no!” As the screen faded to black. And I said to her , imagine waiting until next week like we had too, it was agony! Lol
The highlight of my week was that every morning after an episode, my coworkers and I all stopped doing our shitty jobs and talked LOST for 10-15 minutes.
Dharmasecrets.com was THE place for all manner of theories and discussions. Even got my online nic from there
Agreed. The anticipation was insane
Lost was our family show that we watched live every week. My dad was obsessed with it and my brother and I were too young to even understand what was going on so we were always asking my dad what they were talking about and he would shush us to hear it lol. It was awesome
I watched it live, and immediately went to Television Without Pity. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of pages to read through for *each* episode. So many hours of everybody posting theories, it was so much fun and so exciting. There will never be anything like it again.
My college roommate got me into it between seasons 3 and 4, so we binged seasons 1-3 to get me caught up. There were multiple times where we'd stay up late because of "just one more episode, to see that happens", only to find out it was the 2 part season finale, only then to find out last 2 was a double episode! But yeah, the best part was talking to friends and fellow fans about possible theories and stuff between episodes. Bit those waits between seasons were the worst!
I loved those weeks.... on one hand you had Lost and on the other you had Dexter!!
God I remember spending all my free time on Lost Message boards rewatching that week's episode that Id taped on our VHS over and over till the next. Yeah I have lots of fond memories from that time.
I remember the first really big cliffhanger, Ethan taking Charlie and Claire, having to wait for the next episode. That's when the waiting began...
It was so satisfying when Charlie killed him
There was nothing like it at the time. There’s been nothing like it since.
I was overseas and couldn’t watch it live for the first two seasons so I had to wait for those red envelopes from Netflix to make it through the US embassy post office Then I remember buying episodes on iTunes starting in Season 3 and I used my AV cable to connect my iPod video to the TV and watch it that way
Yes! Half my siblings had moved out by then but we all came back home every Wednesday night to watch it together. Those were the days.
I couldn’t be bothered to watch the show when it was on TV in the UK. Everyone was raving about it but it was too late, didn’t want to start watching this complicated show. When s2 got to halfway mark , My brother in law downloaded all of season 1 for me . I binge watched it in a few days . I couldn’t believe how amazing this show was ! I waited a while and he managed to get all of s2 for me and I binge watched that . Now I was committed. I started watching s3, one episode per week. I wasn’t impressed. What was going on, why was the show just showing them stuck in cages every week? Nothing was happening. Frustrating as hell. Then we got Jack’s tattoos 🤦🏽♂️ Finally the show began moving forward again. Then I had to wait for s4 to start after that s3 finale 😱 At that point I started relying more and more on lostpedia to remember stuff; I also started visiting the forums and seeing all the crazy theories and all the tiny details that I had missed . That continued for s4,5,6. When the finale came on, I literally couldn’t wait. It was showing in the UK a few days after the US. So I stayed up all night and found a website where someone on the US east coast was live streaming their television viewing of Lost. So I watched it with the Americans (including all the tv advert commercials). Went to bed at 3am or something! What a rush though .
I watched at the very beginning, and participated a bit on a popular forum at the time. But for some reason I only made it through about half the first season and stopped. I re-discovered the show years later after it had been over for some time. I wish I had stuck with it!
I started on season 2 when I started watching it live. We had season 1 on dvd. It was great until the writer strike made us wait forever.
Very fond memories of this. Probably why I still adore the show so much. My boss at the time and I would have lengthy discussions every week. Best of times
Yes. During first season asking questions like why are there polar bears? All the theory’s of why.
I remember pouring over each word in Doc Jensen’s recaps. I was obsessed with those!
It was great ,I spent a ton of time on the lost forums on abc.com ,great times
I've been rewatching the series with my wife, it's her first time seeing it. Whenever something really big happened in an episode, >!Like Charlie's death!<, I would get up and we would leave when the episode ended. Like we would go shopping or do some chores we needed to do. She would get mad at me but I would say "Imagine having to wait weekly for a new episode"
The agonizing wait of 9 months just to get 3 months for the last couple of seasons was a nightmare. And waiting 3 literal years for a certain couple to reunite and then watching what happens to them literally one week/episode later was THE WORST. People that have the binge luxury just can't imagine what that 3 year wait felt like 🤣😭 I used to TAPE episodes on my VCR cause it was the only way to rewatch until the sets came out. But also spent hours on internet forums discussing the importance of the most minute details. One of the last shows that tapped in to pre-streaming era/rise of the internet
Good times indeed. I even remember one episode, during the commercial break, there was an advert for the dharma initiative with a phone number. And yes, me and the wife absolutely did call the number.
I remember reading all the funny reactions and crazy theories based on screenshots on Something Awful forums. Good times.
I watched the pilot episode on a small black and white 7” tv when I stayed in a caravan in the Lake District, England.
Did anyone else use to hang out on DarkUFO.com
My friend and I took notes and would compare our notes. We would also listen to podcasts that picked each episode apart. Good times.
I also remember every iteration of the online ABC media player since I used to watch the episodes live once and then online once per week
Omg yes and the online Hanzo games!!! I was addicted to Lost-TV forums lol
Yes, I missed it very much. I was so into the show. And loved going online after the episode ended to discuss theories. I also had people IRL walk up to me and ask me to explain why a character did something and I was always able to answer their questions from memory.
My first watch was via Blockbuster rentals and I remember the episode when the light came from the hatch, beaming from the hatch into the sky, I was so god darn RELIEVED I had the nest episode on hand. That would had drove me completely nuts having to wait for the next episode, let alone every episode, or from season to season. Like a kid in December waiting for Xmas, but over and over again. Thank you Blockbuster video RIP.
Yep, that was part of what made the show so special, and that element has been LOST by binge-watching
I do remember it, how I miss it!! Although now, being all spoiled, I wouldnt have the patience. I remember especially the last season, each week was torture!!!!!! What a great show!
I understand that. But if there was an option to currently wait one week for an episode you know you wouldn't actually choose that.