"Lost" Ratings Dip
SCI FI Wire is reporting that the return episode of ABC's "Lost" showed a dip from the fall season's ratings.
According to the article, "Lost", in its new 10 PM. timeslot, drew 14.7 million viewers and a 6.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The average viewership for the first seven fall episodes came out to be 16.7 million viewers per show - which computes to a 12% drop. Don't worry - ABC is probably OK with that performance, since they moved it to avoid "American Idol" and a larger probable ratings drop anyway.
Prior to the winter debut episode, there were several posts centered on the topic "Has Lost lost its audience?". The ratings numbers may seem to support this theory (that the audience has had enough of the 'all mystery, no revelations' plot). Adding in the the three month hiatus, it is easy to see why many people are a bit perturbed about the situation. However, I think much of this is unwarranted. To prove it, I offer my three strong reasons why you should continue to watch Lost:
(1) The show is still good! "Not In Portland" was a solid return episode. It had enough cryptic stuff to allow the "Lost Experience" crowd to analyze things (the video, an associated website, etc) and still gave us some decent backstory on Juliet. I wasn't blown away by the episode, but it is clearly still one of the better made shows on TV.(2) The producers have started talking about wrapping up the plot and ending the show. I agree with most of the commenters (in the linked post) that this would be a very good thing! Although no one wants to lose a good show, a strategy to end the show means that we should see the plot move forward and certain mysteries resolved. Isn't this what we all want?
(3) Mac's commentary is simply awesome. Yes, this is a shameless plug since he runs this site, but, trust me, it is really, really good. No show = no commentary!
I am firmly in the camp that says 'As long as the show is moving forward, I am in'. If no end is in sight, I may eventually fall away from the show, especially if more mysteries are presented without revealing anything else substantial about the Others or the Island. However, at the present time, I think it is just too early to make that judgment. I'm still watching - are you?
