This Week: Lost

ABC's "Lost" contains various mysteries that evolve as the show progresses. There are literally thousands of theories about what is going to happen and how everything is connected. This has spawned several different podcasts that range from pure recaps to light discussion to the nitty gritty details that make up many, many theories.

Since I keep each installment to three reviews a week, there will be many more installments of various "Lost" podcasts reviewed in the future. I decided to start with the two official podcasts and my favorite podcast.

A quick note about the "(available without a subscription)": Some podcasters need to keep a limit on how much space is allotted for archiving past episodes. They only keep a few available for individual download at a time. However, if you have a subscription, once they are downloaded then they remain until you choose to delete them. This seems to be most common among the official podcasts as opposed to the ones done by people from their homes.


Title: ABC News Gets Lost
Average Length: 1 min 40 sec
Number of Episodes: 5 (available without a subscription)
Frequency: No pattern at all
Podcasters: ABC News
Audio or Video: Audio
Quality: Good
Language: G
Website: www.abcnews.go.com

Lame. Lame. Lame. The idea was to have a recap of an episode so you could get caught up if you missed one. It uses both a narrator and clips from the show to tell you things that you could learn from watching the commercials. They make no mention of whose back-story it was, nor any kind of notes on what new information might have been revealed. It's too short and tries to be too slick. And to add insult to injury, you don't even get the full amount of time because they use the last 30 or so seconds as a commercial for whomever sponsored the podcast. Lame. Lame. Lame. They also seem to have updating issues as they only have 5 episodes at a time with no rhyme or reason to when they are posted. It is a waste of space on the internet super highway.

Time Worthy: No
Subscription Worthy: No
Grade: F- "If a lower grade was available, I would give it."

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Title: The Official Lost Podcast
Average Length: About 24 minutes
Number of Episodes: 5 (available without a subscription)
Frequency: Weekly
Podcasters: ABC, Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse
Audio or Video: Audio
Quality: Good
Language: PG
Website: abc.go.com/primetime/lost

Each episode starts the same with a few narrator comments, clips from an interview with one of the cast members and then Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse discuss the most recent episode and answer audience submitted questions. The interviews are light and fluffy usually talking about the actor more than the character. I'm torn on the Damon/Carlton interactions. On the one hand, it's the actual producers of the show and occasionally they do confirm or deny a rumor or two. On the other hand, they go off on weird tangents that make little sense. They seem uncomfortable about being there which gives the show a clunky feel. I think they are trying to be morning radio show hosts instead of just talking to the fans like the other "Lost" podcasts seem to do. But they do occasionally slip in things that fans need to watch for in upcoming episodes. I understand that they can't answer a lot of the questions that people submit without revealing too much, but they could be less sarcastic and try to find better questions to read. If you listen to other "Lost" podcasts, some of them do reference the useful information heard here. You might want to just listen to those instead of trying to suffer through these.

Time Worthy: No
Subscription Worthy: No
Grade: C- "Needs to learn to copy off of other people’s papers."

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Title: Lostcasts
Average Length: 1 Hour 10 minutes
Number of Episodes: 30
Frequency: Weekly
Podcasters: Brian Linder, John Keehler & Robert Stone
Audio or Video: Audio
Quality: Good
Language: PG
Website: www.lostcasts.com

They start with an outline of exactly what their episode will cover, any general information or news about their podcast and address any listener comments from the previous week. They don't waste time on recapping, instead they go right into discussing the various sections of that week's "Lost" episode. They do their research by reading several different "Lost" forums plus some general internet research. Credit is always given where credit is due. On their website, links to sites they reference get posted for you to easily find. Theories from all walks of life are discussed, including their own. On weeks where there are reruns, they usually do episodes revolving around the larger overall theories. They don't try to act like radio personalities with lame jokes. I find myself genuinely laughing out loud more than a few times during each episode. Their personal lives are rarely mentioned and they seldom stray too far off topic. You feel like you're sitting there with them just hanging out and talking about the show. A big plus is how much they listen to the feedback and try to make as many people happy as possible. After a few episodes they moved their spoiler section to the end of the show and now let you know when to log off if you don't want to hear them. This is a must listen for all "Lost" fans. I can't recommend it enough.

Time Worthy: Yes
Subscription Worthy: Yes
Grade: A++ "When grading on a curve, this is the kid you want to beat up after class for setting the curve so high."

Don't worry. There will be more "Lost" related podcasts to come in the next few weeks. I haven't even begun to scratch the surface.

Stay tuned next week when we bring you reviews of some of the various NPR podcasts. Believe it or not, they aren't as boring as you would think.

Powering off.