But to rage against and harangue the writer of this article is simply demented — and hilarious. Reminds of the classic “girl with the abusive boyfriend who is obsessed with him and viciously defends him against all criticism.” Some of y’all are suffering from a TV version of Stockholm syndrome.

I like this litmus test — if you’re into Kabbalah you like “Lost”, and/or vice versa.

“De gustibus non est disputandem’ the Romans said — don’t argue over matters of taste. If you like soap operas or reality shows, fine, but don’t make yourself red in the face trying to convert me to “The Bold and the Beautiful” or “Top Model” or whatever. They aren’t logical choices but largely arbitrary emotional reactions, often backwards rationalized.

If so many viewers of this program experience Cognitive Dissonance Rage when it is criticized, I’m glad I’m not like them and not among them.

Great television, FOR ME — “Extras”, “The Office”, “The Daily Show/Colbert Report”, “Arrested Development”, “Seinfeld” and to a much lesser extent “Curb”, and of course “The Simpsons”. “The Sopranos” and “Entourage” are among my rare favored dramas, along with select episodes of “The X-Files” and “House”.

A special note on “Scrubs”: hated it at first for its manic camera-work, then grew to enjoy it for its rapier wit and Python-esque verve, then grew annoyed with it for its fundamental flippancy and recyclable sentimentality. Great actors though.

And one near and dear to my heart (no surprise given my maxim quoted above): “Rome”, the two-season collaboration between HBO and BBC. Marred by some weaknesses and poor casting in the second season, but still an extraordinary achievement in historical immersion. Now THAT was a cultural event, albeit one missed by far too many. See it if you want to be outraged, entertained, and educated all at once.

The storyline is preposterous. It would make a great comedy, but they take themselves so damn serously. Even the actors do, and many of them are boneheads.

Man, was I a dope. The truth was, I wasn’t into it at that point in my life–it was too hard, basically. My punishment was to fall in love with it two years later and devote a good chunk of my life to acting in and directing that poorly written claptrap.

To use another example, I don’t really like ballet, for numerous reasons, but I hope that I have grown enough as an artist and a person to draw a line between what I don’t like, and what I can argue to be bad art. While a debate over that is a multi-martini endeavor, I will say that at least a part of the equation is the depth of engagement from the audience. The fans of Lost are not fools for watching and enjoying, and there is no rhetorical or logical way to prove them so. Read Aristotle if you disagree. You can argue very cogently why you don’t like it, or why for you as audience its flaws overwhelm its virtues, but that is not the same as being bad art, bad storytelling, or bad entertainment.

On a side note, I would like to mention that part of the art form of serialized storytelling is the space between chapters. Watching all of the shows in a row is not the way it was intended to be watched. While I have marathoned shows in the past (Season 1 of Weeds, Season 4 of The Wire), it is not how the creators envisioned the story being told. I rather doubt that watching it the way it was intended would change your mind, or the minds of my friends and colleagues who have written off the show as well, but it is a factor to consider (Linzy McC made a similar point.

Hope you find something you love for its own virtues and don’t punish yourself by trying to like any work of art just because other people tell you its good. It never works out.

Even if the ending of LOST turns out to be Pam Ewing waking up and finding Bobby in the shower while I will not be satisfied with that explanation, I won’t be capital D Disappointed because LOST is why I’m even here commenting on this blog. LOST and obsessing about it with the like-minded opened me to the world of blogs and a lot of other internet stuff. Through LOST I’ve read lots of things I’d have never otherwise read — some that I’ve loved and some that I haven’t (I’m talking to you Dostoyevsky) And best of all I’ve met a number of people I talk to about lots of things other than LOST.

I personally have loved LOST though there are things I don’t like as well (the now pointless Tail Section arc; the ridiculous Losties in cages arc), but I want to know what happens to these people and why the heck this Island is worth all this trouble.

I’m sorry you don’t feel the same way. I hope there are other things out there that ignite your imagination the way LOST has mine.

Actually, just because I don’t appreciate it is precisely why I have to bash it and to quote your beloved John Locke “Don’t tell me what I can or cannot do.”

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. I am the infamous “Anonymous” that you have all been responding to. First of all, thank you for taking the time to read my article. In turn, I read every one of your responses. In case you are wondering … I am unrepentant. I still think watching LOST was an immense waste of time.

I think I’ve already said all I really need to say about LOST. The fact that a lot of people here had to be reminded that an alternate opinion is indeed acceptable is quite astonishing. Nonetheless, for me, it was enough to know that there are people (even if on this site, there weren’t so many) that agreed with me or at least understood what I was saying.

LOST fans, I’ll be sure to check back with you in 2010 (y’know, after your glorious-Hale-Bopp-comet-finale) so that we can discuss your disappointment. You’ll probably pretend and act excited, but deep down inside we’ll all know that it was a letdown. You’ll also remember that I actually did warn you.
Cheers, LOST fans. Now, please, relax.

Here are a few shows that I enjoy (or enjoyed while they were on):
LOST (just kidding … and you should’ve seen that coming, really)

Arrested Development, Dexter, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, Six Feet Under, The Office (British, then American), Extras, 30 Rock.

The suggestion that by analyzing the shows I watch you will understand why I don’t like LOST is a bit ridiculous (but not as ridiculous as watching John Locke spend several weeks trying to open a hatch in secret).

Someone called me a “deranged” writer—now that was funny. I haven’t heard someone use that in a word since I saw the movie “Everything is Illuminated”. Now that was the highest compliment.

With that in mind, I’ve watched all four seasons of Lost, and like the writer of this article, I regret it. I enjoyed the first season, and some characters I really loved, but the storylines force the viewer to suspend disbelief so such a continuing degree that it has become, frankly, ridiculous, and is continuing in the same vein.

If you like the show, enjoy it, and feel free to have a negative opinion of my opinion. But do not think that your view of my opinion, or, likewise, of the author of the article’s opinion, detracts from the views themselves.

Oh, yes, I really did use the word ‘opinion’ that many times. Because I’m entitled to, if I want to.

Also, there are only so many good things that can be said about any given show. And considering most of the coverage LOST gets is from obsessed fanboys/girls, it’s nice to see someone with the gall to speak out against a show they believe is overhyped.