I love both series - they both rank well up there with Greats - but BSG has the edge for me. I think the writing is that bit tighter, the psychology/characters are more on the money, and overall, I think it is more engaging on a human level.
But "Lost" is still a fabulous piece of tv
And in Ben Linus it has one of tv's greatest characters
And I agree with the poster above that in order to truly love "Lost", you really need to be the sort of person who loves to analyse the heck out of everything! Waves!
It's hand down, no contest, the best show on TV right now. But only for those who have followed the show from Series 1 episode 1 and stuck with it.
I think it appeals to a specific group though, it's not mass viewing. You have to be a fan of mystery, intrigue, sci-fi, kind of out-there type programmes to be a true fan.
The nearest comparison I can think of is Twin Peaks.
I have to say though, the characters in Lost are fantastic.
Totally agree with this.
To be honest, I was very surprised that "Lost" became the huge international hit that it did, especially so quickly. I see it as being very much cult, as opposed to mainstream, viewing, in some ways a modern version of "The Prisoner". I don't think it was designed to appeal to the mass-market at all, and that caught everyone a bit by surprise.
It's the sort of thing I've always loved since I was a child - mystery, intrigue, imagination, sci-fi, a quirkiness and a surrealness and an other-wordly quality to it all - meet and drink to me - fantastic 'brain-food'! - but not to most tv viewers, I'd have thought.
It annoys me that people are always wanting 'answers' - part of the thrill and enjoyment of programmes like "Lost" are working those answers out for yourself... don't watch such complex programmes if you like everything spread out ready on a plate for you. You're expected to do some of the work yourself!
We'll have to agree to slightly disagree - I thought this week's would've made just an average S1/2 episode, and so yeah, is a country mile better than the **** we've had so far this season (exempting the opener, which was ok).
Post-New Caprica, the tone of BSG changed, and I enjoy it a tenth as much as I used to.
I totally agree, after the first 4 or so episodes of BSG Season 3 I started to lose interest and it doesn't feel like we are going anywhere storywise. This latest and last season of BSG has been very disappointing and honestly the reception it's been getting here has been far more positive than for me and people I know. Lost, however, has been consistantly on form this season with maybe one or two duff episodes in the whole season. We've had a proper and decent season arc, mysteries have been answered, new mysteries have been posed and by the end of the season I felt they'd done a great job.
Lost and BSG are neck and neck in terms of having me completey sold. I'll miss both badly when they're finished Dexter is worthy of note as well but it isn't geeky enough as it's too real world. In every other sense though it's as good as they come.
After season 4 finale of Lost I truly think Lost is one of the greatest ever television shows and will still be talked about, theorized and referenced too in years to come.
I can't say I always like everything Lost does with storylines or characters or plot devices, but I can say this is my favorite show at the moment. This season is probably as strong as the first.
After season 4 finale of Lost I truly think Lost is one of the greatest ever television shows and will still be talked about, theorized and referenced too in years to come.
I am SO looking forward to this tonight - counting down the hours!
I am prepared to change my mind about BSG being the best show on tv right now...
Anyway no doubt many on here will say it is but then again this is the cult forum. Try asking this topic in the TV shows forum and you will find different results. It's ratings are much lower than many other shows and only averages 3 million more viewers than ER which has been on TV 14 years in the US.
For me personally Greys Anatomy,Heroes, Dirty Sexy Money, CSI:New York, CSI:Vegas, ER, Brothers and Sisters and Desperate Housewives are better.
Funnily enough I had thought over the last three months that BSG was my favourite show, but I had been wading through S1 to S3, watched Razor last week and now have seen S4 E1... and I have to say that I enjoyed LOST much more... for mem LOST holds true... in that even when the characters and/or plot surprise me... I can 'understand' where it's coming from.
I also feel that LOST, is so good, at what some people dislike, but I love... cliffhangers and limiting information... not delivering the goods, but keeping me waiting and increasing and compounding the mysteries.
I was so pleased to see the return of the 'numbers' at the end of S4
I really love BSG, and actually like more of their characters... I just find myself spotting too many holes in BSG reality, which doesn't take away anything from the Show, but just makes it inferior to LOST imo...
Still, I really enjoy Pushing Daisies and Weeds, but overall, LOST does it for me... when eqach season begins it's like catching up with old friends...
I am also relieved that we didnt't have to wait until S5 to see them get off the island... that would have annoyed me
.
The actors in LOST, are really good at what they do and convey so much with body language without being hammy... I also find the revolving supporting cast hugely impressive in what they do.
I suppose most of all, every episode of LOST comes across as a slick movie, I like that attention to detail and professionalism... although I suppose they have teh budget to finance it.
In context, I write this as somone who had Twin Peaks as the best show ever for about ten years!
Yeah I'd say Lost has got the 'Best show' cap on at the moment.
Heroes could quite possibly regain it (imo) in the Autumn, a LOT of potential if the direction is to be believed.
I said at the start of this series that Lost had the chance to produce some of the best TV moments ever in this series. Surprisingly, it delivered. The amazing amounts of threads about the show would seem to show agreement.
The 2 shows that Lost gets compared to the most are Heroes and Battlestar. for me, I find Heroes totally overrated and I've never understood why it's so popular, so I shall eliminate it from my enquiries!
Battlestar I agree is great but I think Lost edges it. Battlestar always seems a little confused to me and while neither show makes a huge amount of sense, with Lost I always feel like it will make sense at some point and everything will fall into place, whereas with Battlestar I can't help thinking it might all turn out to be a big mess! we shall see.
For me personally Greys Anatomy,Heroes, Dirty Sexy Money, CSI:New York, CSI:Vegas, ER, Brothers and Sisters and Desperate Housewives are better.
How funny, I find ALL of those shows (with the exception of Desperates, which has been really good this year) utterly unbearable!
Most-watched TV show is a VERY different kettle of fish from BEST TV show. A lot of the critically acclaimed shows (Buffy, Twin Peaks, Veronica Mars) have been far from ratings-busting. As people further up the thread have been saying, I'm surprised Lost gets as many viewers as it does considering it is so heavily serialised and difficult to follow, let alone its sci-fi/supernatural elements. It really should by rights be getting a lot less.
I don't think any of those shows you mentioned will end up being in any Top 20 TV Shows list in future decades, although I'll bet Lost will be.
Most-watched TV show is a VERY different kettle of fish from BEST TV show.
And what YOU consider to be the BEST TV show may be a VERY different kettle of fish to what I may consider to be the BEST or what Randomguy83 might consider to be the BEST.
As you say what he considered good shows you found "unbearable!" He may feel the same about your top ten.
Tastes DIFFER, how funny.
So really no one could ever label a TV show as "the Best Show on TV", only "my favourite show on TV at the minute" or if you prefer "our favourite show on TV at the minute".
And what YOU consider to be the BEST TV show may be a VERY different kettle of fish to what I may consider to be the BEST or what Randomguy83 might consider to be the BEST.
As you say what he considered good shows you found "unbearable!" He may feel the same about your top ten.
Tastes DIFFER, how funny.
So really no one could ever label a TV show as "the Best Show on TV", only "my favourite show on TV at the minute" or if you prefer "our favourite show on TV at the minute".
So there really isn't any point in this entire 6-page thread then is there?
And by that token, we should also cancel the Oscars because if tastes differ, who is to say that No Country For Old Men really is the Best Film of 2008?
It's a thread called "Is Lost the Best Show on TV", you have to expect a little bit of "yes it is", "no, it isn't these are better", "no they aren't, they're rubbish". I was objecting to the criteria of ratings being a consideration.
I would certainly expect to see people putting forward both sides of a viewpoint. I would certainly hope for lots of "yes" and "no".
What I would hope not to see however would be a post which seems to completely belittle the previous poster telling them that their taste in TV is "unbearable" and that no one will consider their favourite shows to be any good in "future decades" and which use punctuation to helpfully point out the plainly obvious that QUANTITY does not equal QUALITY.
Because you see no one poster can claim to be correct, or state that other posters are wrong, because their personal views are just that. A view, not a fact.
As for whch shows will appear in a Top 20 in decades to come it will of course entirely depend on who is assembling the list.
I think we can all agree that if SFX put together the list, Lost will most certainly be on there whereas the other shows mentioned will most certainly not.
However if the list was being put together by future readers of TV Quick then I'd put money on Lost not even making the top 100
Comments
Me too.
I love both series - they both rank well up there with Greats - but BSG has the edge for me. I think the writing is that bit tighter, the psychology/characters are more on the money, and overall, I think it is more engaging on a human level.
But "Lost" is still a fabulous piece of tv
And in Ben Linus it has one of tv's greatest characters
And I agree with the poster above that in order to truly love "Lost", you really need to be the sort of person who loves to analyse the heck out of everything! Waves!
LOST IS THE BEST ON TV AT THE MOMENT
Totally agree with this.
To be honest, I was very surprised that "Lost" became the huge international hit that it did, especially so quickly. I see it as being very much cult, as opposed to mainstream, viewing, in some ways a modern version of "The Prisoner". I don't think it was designed to appeal to the mass-market at all, and that caught everyone a bit by surprise.
It's the sort of thing I've always loved since I was a child - mystery, intrigue, imagination, sci-fi, a quirkiness and a surrealness and an other-wordly quality to it all - meet and drink to me - fantastic 'brain-food'! - but not to most tv viewers, I'd have thought.
It annoys me that people are always wanting 'answers' - part of the thrill and enjoyment of programmes like "Lost" are working those answers out for yourself... don't watch such complex programmes if you like everything spread out ready on a plate for you. You're expected to do some of the work yourself!
"Lost" is the second-best programme on tv at the moment...
I totally agree, after the first 4 or so episodes of BSG Season 3 I started to lose interest and it doesn't feel like we are going anywhere storywise. This latest and last season of BSG has been very disappointing and honestly the reception it's been getting here has been far more positive than for me and people I know. Lost, however, has been consistantly on form this season with maybe one or two duff episodes in the whole season. We've had a proper and decent season arc, mysteries have been answered, new mysteries have been posed and by the end of the season I felt they'd done a great job.
Lost is the best show....................EVER!!!!!!!!!!
I am SO looking forward to this tonight - counting down the hours!
I am prepared to change my mind about BSG being the best show on tv right now...
Having seen the season finale on friday i decided to rewatch the entire 4 seasons again before season 5 and am currently up to episode 12 of season 1.
A close second would be BSG they have lately mastered the ulitmate cliffhangers.
BSG still slightly ahead for me - but that "Lost" finale was an excellent piece of tv. Top quality
Anyway no doubt many on here will say it is but then again this is the cult forum. Try asking this topic in the TV shows forum and you will find different results. It's ratings are much lower than many other shows and only averages 3 million more viewers than ER which has been on TV 14 years in the US.
For me personally Greys Anatomy,Heroes, Dirty Sexy Money, CSI:New York, CSI:Vegas, ER, Brothers and Sisters and Desperate Housewives are better.
I also feel that LOST, is so good, at what some people dislike, but I love... cliffhangers and limiting information... not delivering the goods, but keeping me waiting and increasing and compounding the mysteries.
I really love BSG, and actually like more of their characters... I just find myself spotting too many holes in BSG reality, which doesn't take away anything from the Show, but just makes it inferior to LOST imo...
Still, I really enjoy Pushing Daisies and Weeds, but overall, LOST does it for me... when eqach season begins it's like catching up with old friends...
The actors in LOST, are really good at what they do and convey so much with body language without being hammy... I also find the revolving supporting cast hugely impressive in what they do.
I suppose most of all, every episode of LOST comes across as a slick movie, I like that attention to detail and professionalism... although I suppose they have teh budget to finance it.
In context, I write this as somone who had Twin Peaks as the best show ever for about ten years!
Heroes could quite possibly regain it (imo) in the Autumn, a LOT of potential if the direction is to be believed.
I said at the start of this series that Lost had the chance to produce some of the best TV moments ever in this series. Surprisingly, it delivered. The amazing amounts of threads about the show would seem to show agreement.
Battlestar I agree is great but I think Lost edges it. Battlestar always seems a little confused to me and while neither show makes a huge amount of sense, with Lost I always feel like it will make sense at some point and everything will fall into place, whereas with Battlestar I can't help thinking it might all turn out to be a big mess! we shall see.
How funny, I find ALL of those shows (with the exception of Desperates, which has been really good this year) utterly unbearable!
Most-watched TV show is a VERY different kettle of fish from BEST TV show. A lot of the critically acclaimed shows (Buffy, Twin Peaks, Veronica Mars) have been far from ratings-busting. As people further up the thread have been saying, I'm surprised Lost gets as many viewers as it does considering it is so heavily serialised and difficult to follow, let alone its sci-fi/supernatural elements. It really should by rights be getting a lot less.
I don't think any of those shows you mentioned will end up being in any Top 20 TV Shows list in future decades, although I'll bet Lost will be.
As you say what he considered good shows you found "unbearable!" He may feel the same about your top ten.
Tastes DIFFER, how funny.
So really no one could ever label a TV show as "the Best Show on TV", only "my favourite show on TV at the minute" or if you prefer "our favourite show on TV at the minute".
So there really isn't any point in this entire 6-page thread then is there?
And by that token, we should also cancel the Oscars because if tastes differ, who is to say that No Country For Old Men really is the Best Film of 2008?
It's a thread called "Is Lost the Best Show on TV", you have to expect a little bit of "yes it is", "no, it isn't these are better", "no they aren't, they're rubbish". I was objecting to the criteria of ratings being a consideration.
What I would hope not to see however would be a post which seems to completely belittle the previous poster telling them that their taste in TV is "unbearable" and that no one will consider their favourite shows to be any good in "future decades" and which use punctuation to helpfully point out the plainly obvious that QUANTITY does not equal QUALITY.
Because you see no one poster can claim to be correct, or state that other posters are wrong, because their personal views are just that. A view, not a fact.
As you say, just like the Oscars
I think we can all agree that if SFX put together the list, Lost will most certainly be on there whereas the other shows mentioned will most certainly not.
However if the list was being put together by future readers of TV Quick then I'd put money on Lost not even making the top 100