Our weekly live 'Lost' chat kicks off February 2
We're going to try an experiment on the "Lost" blog from now on. It could be a successful experiment, or it could be like the one that led to The Incident. I don't really know, so make sure you're not near anything metal as we kick off a series of weekly live chats here on the blog.
Here's a basic gist: Every Tuesday night, I'll be hosting a chat starting 90 minutes before the newest episode of "Lost" airs. This upcoming Tuesday, Feb. 2, I'll start things off at 7:30 pm ET. I know how hard it's been waiting for Season 6 to start, and I know those last few hours will have you jumping out of your skin with excitement. So let's all channel our collective energy into the chat. We'll have polls, make some predictions, ooh and aah at the "Lost" preview special airing at 8 p.m., and generally have some fun leading up to game time. Once the curtain rises on the show, the curtain will fall on the chat so we can have our brains exploded by what we see on our televisions.
Now, for the potential "Incident"-esque aspects to this experiment. As many of you know, four minutes of footage got leaked online and spread faster than the gas that killed everyone during The Purge. I'm not here to condemn or condone what other people do on other sites, or even what people do on other parts of Zap2it. This is my little "Lost" fiefdom, and my relationship with the rest of the site is not unlike Baby's relationship with Johnny Castle through most of "Dirty Dancing": I have my dance space, and they have theirs. To wish away spoilers is silly: there's a huge market for them, and they aren't going away anytime soon.
However, I am optimistically (some would say naively) hopeful that the spoiler fanatics either stay away from the chat or keep their spoilers to themselves during it. The chat's meant as a celebration of "Lost" and its fans, not as a venue for people seeking to place the spotlight upon themselves rather than the show. I can tell you that these chats are moderated, meaning I approve every comment that passes through. So, in the worst case, I get a heaping helping of spoilers shoved into my eyeballs just before game time. And as someone who got a truly awesome e-mail halfway through "The Variable" asking me had I gotten to the part yet where Daniel gets killed by his mother, let me tell ya that I don't look forward to this possible scenario.
After all, I'm above all a fan. You might perceive me as something else, but that's how I see myself. I'm in the incredibly lucky position to have a venue for my opinions, and even luckier to have people that are interested in engaging with them. That back-and-forth has led to the strong, convivial, vital community we have today. If these chats end up ruining that at all, I'll yank them.
But I hope it doesn't come to that. I'm hoping these add, rather than subtract, to the quality. In short? I hope these chats don't spoil what we have going on here right now. (See what I did there. I know. Clever.)
Hope to see you here Tuesday!
Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group.
Photo credit: ABC
Wish I could join you; your chats are always a lot of fun (thinking of A-Rob's "How I Met Your Mother" comment)! But I can't get anywhere near a computer at night in my house - dang kids!
I would actually be more psyched for a chat 1-2 days later to actually discuss the ep. Make it so (please!?!)
Can I just say one thing off topic:
I'm really getting irritated at all the crap and extra content that Zap2it now loads on every screen.
I've been coming to this site since 2007 and lately, as Zap2it continues to add more stuff that clogs the download of each page, I've been cutting back on my visits here.
And that's not even mentioning the last stupid redesign with only 10 comments per page and the reduced size of the recent post history list.
/rant
ANDREI: "I would actually be more psyched for a chat 1-2 days later to actually discuss the ep."
I agree.
Daniel -- At the risk of further endearing myself to TPTB, since you are a fellow LOST fan I feel compelled to mention that I solve the problem by using Firefox as my browser and only enabling zap2it scripts, not all of the other (dozen or more) third-party scripts (including facebook, for crying out loud!) that are enabled if you simply globally enable all (java)scripts.
(Many browsers, such as Microsoft's, globally enable all scripts by default, dangerous as that is.)
Note: you do have to temporarily enable most scripts in order to post a comment.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my recent comments.
But an even bigger concern has come up: I get my local ABC affiliate via Comcast cable, and lately (such as when I re-watched "The Incident" Tuesday) I've noticed that the sound is often very bad (lots of background noise, distored voices, etc.) -- even though the other channels are fine.
If anyone else has noticed this please mention it so maybe I can get the TV station and Comcast to figure out what is going wrong sooner rather than later (if ever).
Thanx!
P.S. RE "30 Rock" -- I didn't recognize your specific reference, Ryan, but I recently started watching the show and I really like it a lot. Plan to rent all the previous seasons after the LOST finale in May.
(BTW, if you haven't listened to Baldwin's commentary on the Glengarry Glen Ross DVD, check it out. Made me understand why Fey has such a high opinion of him.)
I'd be a lot more worried about all the people who saw the first hour last night in Hawaii either live or streaming video sending real spoilers than the first 4 minutes of the premier which were leaked by ABC and are interesting but not show killers
ryan, i'm worried that some troll might write a comment here that would spoil; anything that can be done about that? as always, thanks!
Not really, other than me deleting after the fact. If you're super concerned, just read the articles.
Won't spoil for those that didn't see, but in Canada they aired the preview special last night (Sunday).
I probably should've posted this prior to the airing (at least for those who are in Canada).
I may try to make it on Tuesday, depends on how hectic things are.
If I can't make it, I'll definitely read the chat archive later, so hopefully it's both interesting and lively.
Hopefully a special guest or 2 drop by (i.e. those who participated in past chats). Any guests definite to appear?
I'm with Andrei---would love to participate in a chat a day or so later (you know, once I've had a chance to stop my nose from bleeding, stuff my brains back into my head and formulate a rational thought about the ep).
Ok, it's 9 pm on the East coast...see you all on the other side!
anybody there?