How I got addicted to television part the first or, the moment I got Lost
So I used to never watch television. PTI when I got home from school, maybe a bit of Sportscenter (but let’s be honest…Sportscenter got kind of lame in the 00′s), but after that I’d either watch one of my dozens (now hundreds…gainful employment is great, but I think there might be a reason I’m still broke) of movies or got on the internet or played my guitar or any number of other seemingly more constructive things. Primetime television just wasn’t my bag. In fact, I would proudly say that I didn’t watch any tv shows. Then I went to college and my interest in television shrunk even more, with the small exception of a little thing known as Adult Swim, which I believe is partially a result of late night “bro time” with nothing better to do in the bustling metropolis that is Jefferson City. For those of you who may not know, I only lasted in college for a year. Something about not going to class and spending too much time gallivanting about campus with my crazy friends (side note: gallivanting IS spelled with an I, according to the spellchecker, I was almost positive it was spelled with an A. The more you know…). So once I left college and got a real job and spent most of my nights at home recovering from a hard day’s work, you’d think I would turn to the telly…right? Well, I didn’t…just yet. Still a movie guy…the collection began growing with the paychecks coming in, and I was spending more and more time on the internet doing this and that, and spending many hours reading the pages of the .net, the little nook of the web where I like to hang my hat. In reading the discussion of folks there, I found that a tv show called Lost was a constant subject of ranting, raving, gushing, head-scratching, and overall good conversation. I had seen promos for the show, and knew that that guy from Party of Five was in it, and that hobbit, and that guy who’s that guy in all those movies…but I really had no clue what the show was about so I figured what the hey? I’ll hop on the web and watch the first episode (at this point the first season of Lost was about twenty episodes in). In twenty or so minutes I had the episode found and downloaded, and from the moment it began I was enthralled. This is great storytelling. This is great dialogue. This is great acting. This is amazing camera work. This is television?! I couldn’t believe it. I immediately watched the next episode, and the next, and before the week was over I had completely caught up. I was, how you might say, addicted. I joined the discussion at the .net, and spent hours forming theories about what the hell the monster was, what was in that hatch, what the numbers mean, and how Jack always had stubble, but never a full beard. The season ended and I couldn’t believe it. I had to wait THAT long til there were more episodes? When season two began I couldn’t believe how happy I was to see it. I bought the first season dvd and began to pimp it out to all my friends. I am happy to say I’ve hooked in at least 7 or 8 people to the show. But in all this, Lost was still the only thing I watched on that flashing box. The only show I would devote real attention to…and I planned to keep it that way.
Although, sometimes, things don’t go as we plan…