Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Get Lost

Life without a television is going pretty smoothly. We rent DVDs from our brick-and-mortar shop up the road from time-to-time, go out to movies and do puzzles or read magazines while listening to music. Makes for quiet evenings for the most part, with the windows open the sound of the waves crashing keep us calm. I've oft scoffed at certain relatives and friends who've become gravitated towards prime-time television shows, passing them off with comments like 'mindless zombies' and 'anti-socialites'.

I know, I know... stop the presses... human beings not watching television! Hardly compelling content for your reading pleasure, but it is important to know what a revolutionary cause a television-less household has been. Threats, tears and deceit all have accompanied this negotiated withdrawal from a constant banter of canned Australian content. The Gaza Strip handover went smoother.

Recently, everyman's computer company, Apple, announced they are selling television episodes, allowing people to download them to their computer and watching them commercial-free. Unfortunately, they only offer television shows to their domestic, U.S. audience. I realized this because my credit card information was based on a U.S. address, which allowed me to go to town on programming content normally available to those stateside. The feeling of illicit viewing harkened me back to the days of sneaking into my parent's closet and plugging in the contraband T.V. to watch Scooby Doo after school. I was sure to keep the volume real low in case our nanny Lilly was within earshot. I had a problem with T.V. at a young age, just couldn't get enough of that hilarious Scooby Doo.

We began to download episodes of the show Lost, at $2 a pop - cheaper than renting a DVD. First, I got our German friend Thomas addicted (he can continue following the show back home) and after a bit of handholding through the violence of the first couple episodes, Peggy went in hook, line and sinker. The show is currently in their second season and we're about halfway through the first. I'd heard about Lost before leaving home, but because of the recent holier-than-thou attitude I've taken in my young adulthood (much too intelligent to waste time on television), never been compelled to watch the show. I couldn't have been more wrong about the show itself, but it certainly doesn't hurt that there are no commercials to interrupt the action.

The premise of the show is a mix between Fantasy Island and Survivor. A bunch of fit, good-looking people survive a plane crash (on the Sydney to LAX route, for all you upcoming visitors!) and try to figure out what's going on with one another and the island itself. Each week, you get a bit of back story on one of the members of the party as well as more info on the strange goings on around the island.

One of the more amusing parts about Lost is that since all 46 survivors have just departed from Sydney, there are quite a few flashback shots of them hub-bubbing around the city. No mention of Begong Moths or Cockroaches as of yet, but we're hoping for the Bronte scene where someone gets run over by the miniature train set in the park.

From a financial point of view, we're not being very smart. One could purchase the entire first season for $35 - all 24 episodes at once. Instead, we're hedging downloads and buying them for $2 a piece, incurring a 40% price spike in total. However, if my Scooby Doo consumption levels as a child are any indication, we're better off going a la carte as to draw the experience out, rationing our episodes similar to the way the survivors ration their tooth whitening kits on the show.

No spoiling it for us by leaving telling comments! It's the only television we allow ourselves to indulge in.

posted by ncawthon at 8:54 PM