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How Lost changed TV, or... you know... didn't
TV Squad reader Bebop sent along a link to a TIME article about how Lost changed television. It's an interesting read, but I don't really agree with most of it. To start, I think they are giving Lost way too much credit. People have had this idea that Lost changed TV before. That led to millions of dollars being spent to make Surface, Invasion, and Threshold. And where are they now? A lot of the things attributed to Lost in the article strike me as optimistic at best, completely wrong at worst. For instance, they talk about how in 2004 "procedurals reigned". The idea being that somehow Lost cracked that nut. Well here we are in 2006, and in last week's top 20 shows you will find all three CSI's, two Law & Orders, Without A Trace, and Cold Case. And to add to this, compare the ratings for a repeat of CSI to those of a repeat Lost episode. It's not even close. Lost hasn't changed much in that regard.
The article also glosses over what I think may become an important part of the Lost story. It mentions how serials tend to bleed viewers as the casual fans leave, but never acknowledges that Lost spent most of last season doing just that. Sure, the show does have a devoted and active Internet fanbase, but big ratings numbers don't come from the Internet fanbase. There may be something to the argument that Idol played a role in those falling ratings, but that remains to be seen. 
The subject of downloads and DVDs comes up as well. Now, I get that Lost is moving some disks and selling some episodes for Apple. The thing is, that is nothing that is uniquely Lost. The first TV show I ever purchased, on VHS no less, was the X-Files. And if you want to stick to the more modern DVD sets of seasons, there are plenty of shows with just as much, or more, claim to building that market. Look at what Firefly did. Or better yet, Buffy. You can get each season seperately, a complete collection, or special theme collections. And both of those were selling like hotcakes before that Oceanic plane ever crashed.
Lost hasn't managed to corner the download market either. The Office does very well with their download sales. But that doesn't mean that they have reinvented or changed the sitcom. It just means that they are doing a good job, and The Office's fans like the convenience of the downloaded episodes, just as Lost fans do.
And in the end, that's my point. I'm not trying to put the boots to Lost or to say that they've got it all wrong. However, I think we need to stop short of blowing all that smoke up their asses. Lost is a very good show, and it has the potential to be a classic. It is still far too early to call though.
Getting back to those ratings, if you really want to talk about a show changing television I see two other directions that make much more sense. As I mentioned before, the fact that there are seven procedurals in the Top 20 says a lot. And it would serve as a good starting point for an article on how Law & Order changed TV. Or, consider that Dancing with the Stars is now two top 20 shows, and Survivor a permanent fixture on the list. Couple that with the fact that when Idol returns it will retake the top spot. There is your case for how Survivor changed TV.
The new season of Lost starts Wednesday, October 4th.
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