Lost

In the US: Wednesday, 10pm, ABC. Starting in the fall.

In the UK: Not yet acquired (the bidding continues)

We talked on Friday and yesterday about how US networks like to copy the success of other networks’ shows by making their own, slightly altered versions. What should also be remarked upon is that networks that have a hit on their hands like to try to repeat the success with variations on the same theme.

So it is with ABC, home of Lost, which would really rather like to have another Lost-scale hit on its hands. The network’s first attempt to emulate Lost‘s success is The Nine, an everyday story of a bank robbery gone wrong. I say first, because I just don’t think it’s going to go the distance

Continue reading “Preview: The Nine”

It’s been a while since we’ve had a “money changes people” show but NBC’s Windfall cheerfully revives the format for the post-Lost age, complete with a large range of words with capital letters. It’s not fantastic writing, but it’s good enough to keep the interest over the summer and may well develop into something better.

It’s party time somewhere in the US and a group of friends, all with Very Important Problems, are drowning their sorrows. Cunning plan of the evening is a large pot into which anyone can put a dollar towards the state Lotto. Is that an American thing, Lotto parties, or merely a narrative device so that we can have an ensemble cast like Lost? I don’t know, but it seems an odd idea either way.

Anyway, wouldn’t you know it? One of the lucky lines comes up and the group is $386 million the richer (on only five numbers – clearly we’re being shortchanged with our system’s odds and jackpots).

With tax, etc, that means 21 people, including the pizza delivery girl, now have nearly $20 million dollars they didn’t have the day before (I know. If you do the maths it doesn’t seem to work out. But those are the numbers. Maybe couples are sharing their allotted wins). Cue inordinate amounts of jumping around whooping and waving arms in the air, impulse purchases of Mercedes when rubbish car breaks down outside a dealership, etc. Clearly, that’s just the beginning though, and this is going to Change Their Lives. But for good or for better?

With 21 people (not all of whom get their Very Important Problems explained), there’s bound to be a broad spectrum of issues and since it’s television, none of them are the same. We have the minor with the hard-to-please father; the married woman having an affair with a married man; a murderer who works in a flower store and cannot reveal his true identity; the couple undergoing a divorce who bicker over who gets what share; potentially thieving Russian mail-order brides and so on. It’s to the show’s credit that all these scenarios don’t seam totally stale, but it would have been nice to have seen some different scenarios from the norm, such as a pair of fundamentalist Christians who decide to use their winnings for good works or a pair of Muslims who set up an Islamic bank for their friends. You know, something different.

Most of the cast are unknowns, although 24 fans will spot Sarah Wynter – Jack Bauer’s squeeze from season two – as the Slightly Dull Wife Who Could Soon Be Jilted Now Her Husband Has Money; Murder One aficionados will recognise that bloke who played Neil Avadon in the good first season; and Luke Perry finally sheds his 90210 image to play the Slightly Dull Husband Who Could Soon Be Jilted Now His Wife Has Money.

There is enough plot to make future episodes worth watching for a while, as we try to work out Russian bride’s game, whether murderer is trustworthy or untrustworthy, whether husband and wife will leave wife and husband, and so on. I’m not saying it’s going to be spectacularly thrilling. But as a summer filler, we could do worse. On the other hand, if it airs in the UK in winter, give it a wide berth because it’ll be like watching The OC on Ovaltine.

Lost‘s finale was just so plain weird and wacky, it deserves its own entry in my continuing season finale guide. Worry ye not, UK viewers, I won’t spoil it for you.

Most of the second season has been dull. Sorry to say that, but it’s been dull (and, it turns out, mostly pointless). The last few episodes have reversed that with several hours of shocking carnage that have wiped out all kinds of popular characters you never thought would get the chop (assuming they don’t make miracle recoveries, hide under large objects, etc). It’s all been really rather good. The finale was some really tasting icing on the cake, though.

First off, don’t expect any answers to questions you might be having. You won’t get any. At least, you won’t get any that make any sense or that couldn’t be elaborate bluffs. Yes, you will find out what happens if you don’t keep pushing the button down the hatch, but you won’t really know why. You’ll find out why the plane crashed on the island, but again, it won’t make too much sense. Etc etc. Lots of revelations. Lots of flashbacks where you see characters’ pasts intertwining. My theory of a live-action role-playing game is starting to make more sense, too, given the number of wigs and false beards that people are starting to sport.

But it all doesn’t matter because all the new questions are even more interesting and send the show in all kinds of odd directions. I got the feeling while watching the finale that Lost was turning into 70s weirdo Bermuda Triangle show The Fantastic Journey. Look at the picture above. That’s a giant statue of a foot (we’re assuming there used to be more to it than that, but who knows). Now count the toes (click on the picture to make it bigger, if you need to). See what I mean? Weird. And there’s a whole lot more weird where that came from (this was purely incidental weird that doesn’t affect the plot in any way, BTW, so don’t think I’ve ruined anything for you).

It’s going to be a long wait for the next season, given they’re going to try to run it without re-runs (January start instead of September, next season?) and the ending is particularly gripping, so I’m giving this a high tension rating

Tension rating: 10/10

PS One of the great things about Lost incidentally, is that it uses Australian and other non-American actors. Apparently though, there are enough Australian actors in the US for them to be used to play non-Australian roles in Lost, too. I say this because the finale casts Alan Dale (Jim from Neighbours) as a posh English bloke. Odd.

PPS Am confidently expecting an article from Lucy Mangan to appear in The Guardian in about 18 weeks or so about what she’d like to see happen in the finale. At about 1600 words for a double-page spread and at the standard freelance rate for The Guardian, that would be about £350 or so that could be mine if I wrote it right now. But I’d never pitch it because it would be a complete waste of time and space for everyone including the readers. Sigh.