Caught the series premieres of two new shows last night - Lost and CSI: NY. Mind you we do not really need to be adding ANY new shows... it is starting to feel like we are Lucy in the chocolate factory... way too many shows coming down the pike with not enough time to absorb them into an already crowded existing schedule.
Both shows earned quite a bit of pre-season hype - so figured we would give 'em a try. Apparently we were not alone. Lost dominated its time slot while CSI:NY earned what many felt was an unexpected victory over the stalwart Law & Order.
So here are my initial thoughts:
Lost - Pretty impressed with the production value. The show definitely has the feel and scope of a big-screen movie. Thought Matthew Fox was a solid leading man despite having the character go through some Superman-like heroics before the first commercial break. Was a little confused about the actual airline crash -- the commercials have given away the big "ta-da" special effect of the plane breaking apart...so I was wondering where the heck it was in the opening episode. But I guess the complete disaster will be spoon-fed to us in flashbacks. I think it is going to take some time to get into. It has an immense cast (which I suspect will be whittled down over time) and there were a lot of people to meet. I am a bit iffy on the "monster" aspect of the show. I knew about it ahead of time and was told to just go with it...but I still found it more of a detraction than something I was totally sucked in by. Bottom line: the show is different and has potential.
CSI: NY - Never got into the CSI shows... didn't get on board the original before it took off and gave CSI: Miami a try -- but it was a victim of the omnipresent "not enough time to watch this" syndrome. As with Lost, this show is very well-done. The visuals were very stylized - it was both kinda cool, but a distraction as well. Does any crime investigation office actually look like that (funky loft, circa 1940)? Was any shot done without the use of colored filters (grey, blue, green)? The tone of the show and the characters were also pretty dark and dank. I wasn't expecting bright skies and snappy one-liners... but I was thought it would be a tad less "heavy." Bottom line: pretty torn... appreciated the production value and the actors, but just don't really know if the shoe fits.

Hi,
Nice blog!
You've written what I was thinking, regarding The Amazing Race and Lost.
I'll be back!
--Steve
Posted by: Steve Garfield | Monday, September 27, 2004 at 10:20 AM