I agree on both points, P-C. The problem with Lost's first 6 episodes last series wasn't the way they aired, so much as the pacing. (Or, my polite way of saying - they sucked).
It's possible Lindelof is saying 'Yeah, the first 8 episodes this year? Not much happens'. I hope he isn't.
I actually feel really quite bad for the Lost team about this. From getting the network on board with a 16 episode season to having a lot longer to plan the season arc... and now I'm willing to bet it's all been blown out the water. Knowing the Lost people (as in, seeing their work), they probably spent the first few episodes setting up the ending of the season, as that's the way they work - they like to build to something, a bit like Buffy did. And now the payback for the audience is probably very little, hence why he's speaking out about it. I think. If it doesn't work and the creators know it, the ratings are going to suffer.
Shows do move at their own speed ... but if that speed is glacial, do they really expect people to hang around for whenever they actually deliver something?
Remember: they're promotional!
They will carry banner ads which say 'Ner ner ner ner nerrrrrr!'
So even though he's a member of the WGA's negotiating committee, he's returning to work, at least to do some post-production on the eight episodes that have already been shot. "We feel we owe that to our fans," he tells the New York Times. "We would harm our franchise if we didn't do it ourselves."
Errr... Kinda missing the point there, Carlton...
Lost: Missing Pieces:
Lost: Missing Pieces are 13 two- to three-minute stories of compelling, new, never-before-seen moments from the hit television show LOST. These newly-created scenes (not deleted scenes from previous episodes) reveal answers and new details about your favorite characters. For each story, we leave it up to the fans to figure out where these pieces fit into the overall mythology. The new stories are from the same creative team responsible for the series and feature the show's main actors in stories that have all the compelling values that make LOST one of the most popular dramas on television around the world.
Of note, the writers actually made a deal with ABC on these things whereby they both got paid upfront
and
get residuals. So it's actually not scabby to watch them.
So it's actually not scabby to watch them.
good to know because i was totally going to boycott them. still might. don't know.
So it's actually not scabby to watch them.
I don't think it's scabby to watch anything short of scab-written work. I support the writers unequivocally, but I don't think they want their creations boycotted - even the ones they didn't get paid for. Also, scab is a very charged term, and should probably be used very cautiously.