12/30

Two new promo clips: A slightly different version of the Lost/Alias double promo (9 mb) and a full Ep 12 promo (5 mb) both are mpg

Charlie clips and caps from All the Best Cowboys... are up at Beyond Grey. Be warned: very spoilery if you haven't seen the episode. Will try to get a summary of that episode finally up this weekend.

12/29

Interesting tidbit on AICN about Hurley's episode (somewhat spoilery speculation, but no actual spoilers.)

Cute video segment from Extra: Dom with camcorder, filming a day on the set. (15mb mpg) As with all the video files here, PLEASE rightclicksave and do NOT direct-link the file anywhere. It will get taken down.)

12/27

Thanks, I'm sure, in part to the efforts of YOU, the show has been picked as the #1 show of the year by Entertainment Weekly readers and the #3 show by EW's tv critic, Gillian Flynn:

Lost (ABC) Little cultural footprints — deposited by Cast Away and Land of the Lost, Matisse, and perhaps Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None — can be tracked all over this island. Yet the series feels singular. Lost's mythology rakes our brains: Is this oasis — with its monsters and polar bears and black-suited strangers — reality or dream? Did the stranded passengers survive the plane crash for a reason, or are they just (un)lucky? Lost's charm isn't solely based in its tantalizing mystery or its pretty, half-dressed cast. Equally alluring are its pace (each episode unfolds during one Lost day) and its intricacy: With each character boasting a backstory, 46 different tales await. In this age of disposable entertainment, Lost represents something uniquely craftsmanlike — it's a series clearly designed to last a long, long time.

Also, some other good notices in year-end tv review lists:

Chicago Sun Times

9. "Lost" (ABC) -- There is nothing in this plane-crash drama from J.J. Abrams that is easily explained, and that is just one of the show's many charms. Who are these people? Why and how did they survive their plane crash? Where are they and is it real or imagined? Can they ever get back home? Each week we learn a little more.

USA Today:

The best

1. Lost (ABC)

How do you stretch a plane-crash castaway story into a weekly series? You do it by structuring the show so that the compelling mystery isn't where these people are but who they are. And so, under the guidance of Alias' supremely creative J.J. Abrams, Lost offers the intense pleasures of two shows in one: an exciting, grand-scale adventure married to a smart, intimate drama. Each week, 48 people face the trauma of forming a new society and each week, a happily committed fan cult joyfully gets lost in their stories.

Providence Journal:

Lost: OK, I've got a crush on Kate (Evangeline Lilly).

She happens to star in an addictive thriller from J.J. Abrams, who also produced Alias. This is one scripted show that actually borrowed an idea from a reality hit, Survivor.

On Lost, an airplane has crashed on a tropical island, and the survivors have to find a way to live together. Everyone, it seems, is hiding dark secrets, which we discover in a series of flashbacks.

Then throw in a heaping dose of mystery -- there's something very weird about this island. Polar bears, for one thing. A parapalegic who can suddenly walk, for another.

Then there are the people who appear on the island, but weren't passengers on the plane. What gives?

So far, Lost has been great fun to watch. I just hope the secret of the island doesn't turn out to be too outlandishly dumb.

Hartford Courant:

"Lost" (ABC). The spectacular two-hour pilot led to a measured season (so far) in which each character is explored, in turn, through extensive flashbacks as their futures on the island still remain unclear.

The Boston Globe:

"Lost" has certainly rewarded its viewership with an unfolding plot about its crash survivors that grows ever more mysterious and compelling with each new piece of back story revealed in each new episode. Creator J.J. Abrams, whose "Alias" revolves around a similarly enthralling TV mythology, is the network auteur of the moment, as he miraculously reinvents the tired desert island genre.

Ft Worth Star-Telegram

1. Lost, ABC In its first season, this spooky island drama still feels likes a short-lived cult oddity. But creator J.J. Abrams and his crafty storytelling keeps me, for the time being anyway, creatively bound, gagged and juiced. Lost moves like a suspenseful novel -- a beach read with heart, soul and great intrigue. Each week in nearly every scene, and with nearly every character (no series uses the flashback device better), Lost manages to keep us guessing, proving that the real monster we so fretted over in the beginning is really the fear of our own inner demons. Let's hope I'm dead wrong and that the more Lost delves into the personal aspects of its castaways, the better it will get.

The Oregonian

"Lost": The most imaginative drama to hit TV since David Lynch's "Twin Peaks," ABC's desert island fantasia is just as daring as its predecessor, if far more disciplined. Set on an island that may (or may not) be haunted, teeming with monsters and/or human psychopaths, "Lost" transcends mere spookiness by adding glimmers of wit and magic. Better yet, its characters have the depth to animate stories that range from "Survivor"-type conflict to the most fundamental riddles tackled by Western philosophy.

Newsday

6. “Lost” (ABC). If location is everything in real estate, execution is everything in TV. “Lost” is addictive proof.

“Alias” mastermind J.J. Abrams took a trite, pulpy series premise — a fictional “Survivor” — and invigorated it with ingenious casting and flashback character revelations that make each serialized episode a little time bomb

Also a nice article here mentioning the show's addictive qualities, and a funny Lost v. 24 article here.

E!'s Kristen's Chat transcript from 12/20