I'm seeing that season 2 is generating a lot of interest among folks otherwise indifferent to it during season 1. I've loaned out my season 1 DVDs to 3 different people now. Which one should I eat?

I was thinking about this last night. I started to wonder if maybe they showed the pilot again as if to say "we really have had this planned out all along, and you should watch the pilot again and pay attention, because important things that refer back to the pilot are happening soon!"

And then I came to my senses.

Which one should I eat?

The third one. Or you could have them draw straws without knowing why.

And then I came to my senses.

I think it's a little much to expect writers to have a coherent, series-long story in mind while writing a pilot.

eta Though, rereading everything, I don't think the above is germane to what was being said.

I think it's a little much to expect writers to have a coherent, series-long story in mind while writing a pilot

I don't. Show bibles are good things, and the beginning isn't too early to start.

Sure you can diverge from it, but I've never gotten the feeling that the Lost team was diverging from an existing text.

I think it's a little much to expect writers to have a coherent, series-long story in mind while writing a pilot.

This depends on the type of show. A sitcom? No, all you need is a premise, you can see where it goes. A mystery? I think that you need a tentative plot that takes you all the way to the resolution of the mystery.

I don't. Show bibles are good things, and the beginning isn't too early to start.

It is too early when the beginning of the story may be the end of the story. I think to ask for a well-developed story, whether it be for 9 episodes or 9 seasons, when the pilot may only go as far as a few suits, is to ask a lot from the writers.

A mystery? I think that you need a tentative plot that takes you all the way to the resolution of the mystery.

But the end of the pilot may have been the end of the mystery (as unsatisfying as that would have been.) When the writers are guaranteed an opportunity to tell the rest of the story, then they should get their asses in gear.

I do agree one should write a pilot with a notion of what the answers to the questions it raises are but anything beyond a one-line it's-a-psychological-experiment, or whatever, is a waste of the writers' energy.

I mean, a mystery series should have a strict idea of what lies ahead. But it has to become a series first.

I do agree one should write a pilot with a notion of what the answers to the questions it raises are but anything beyond a one-line it's-a-psychological-experiment, or whatever, is a waste of the writers' energy.

I disagree. The writers are not selling a one or two hour movie. They are selling a series. The pilot is just the product they create to sell the series to a network. If they intend to sell the show to me, I want them to have more than a "notion" of where they intend to go with it.

Amen. If I were one of the network suits, I'd certainly want more than "we'll figure something out as we go along" in terms of assurances about future storylines before commiting $40+ million dollars to a year's worth of television.

It is too early when the beginning of the story may be the end of the story

Then why do some series start out with show bibles? Are they doing it wrong?