NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Farseer]

Most people tend to call Rugby Union 'rugby' so I'm thinking that's what you mean?

If so, no ,State of Origin is a state representative level of Rugby League...in fact, it's a series of the-best-of-three games between us -Queensland (the Maroons or Cane Toads), and them - New South Wales (the Blues or Cockroaches).

State of Origin is played each year, around this time, as an extra to the normal footy season. Queensland have won the title for a record four years in a row now (of course!), and so I want to see us do it for a fifth year as 2010 will, most likely, be Darren Lockyer's last year in SOO.

I can just hear Albertosaurus Rex and Mervi thinking,"She wants to watch that instead of 'Lost'?!"

[Mervi]

I know I sound too serious, but I wouldn't recommend watching the LOST finale if you haven't watched the previous episodes. Same goes for the whole last season. It's a bit like reading Fool's Fate before any other Hobb book. You can do it, and probably still understand some basic plot lines but... yeah. You kind of need the whole picture to really appreciate it.
Yeah yeah, I'm biased because I'm a fan and this is a cliche, but trust me. It's not just a tv show. With most tv shows you can jump episodes and not miss a thing. With LOST, you rewatch everything and find new details and meanings.

[Albertosaurus Rex]

I think a re-watch would indeed pay off. My dad and I always watch together and we have already decided to do so after the story comes to a close (although not necessarily right away). It's definitely the best story on tv that I have seen so far (in books, that would be ASOIAF, in videogames that would be Legacy of Kain).

And Farseer: I have to admit that I don't see the point in watching sports on tv whatsoever, or indeed watching at all, whether on tv or in the stadium, no matter what the competition. But that's just my personal view on the matter. Have fun!

[Nuytsia]

Hehehe Farseer I don't even recall what the difference is between rubgy league and union ... *hangs head in shame*
A New Zealander once explained it to me but I'm afraid that piece of information long since went in the 'not used often enough' recycle bin of my brain.
I generally don't like watching sport at all but I do make a weird exception for soccer/football/'the world game' so yay World Cup! There's also been some Matildas matches shown recently on ABC. We got robbed again the other day! (but it didn't really matter to the outcome so that's ok)

Mervi you are probably right that it's best to watch all of Lost rather than just the last season or whatever. But if the choice is 'watch a bit of it' or 'just don't watch it at all' I guess we won't be worse off for having watched a bit of it! Speaking for myself there is zero chance that I will ever sit down and watch every season. I just don't find it enjoyable enough. I know there are hidden meanings, links, all that stuff we like with our books, but I just don't find myself as inclined to devote that much time to a TV show for some weird reason. I must say part of the reason I don't find it enjoyable to watch is that so much of the actual action is the same things over and over. They set up camp (they re-set up camp) on that damn beach over and over ....... someone is 'going after' someone.... someone else wants to come..... then there's an argument over who will go with who..... then they invariably get ambushed by some other group..... then someone has a plan to blow something up.... then someone else says NO! we must do the opposite because of my vision......
I don't dislike the concept as a whole, and thank goodness they are doing something different (if I see another show about a hospital, solving crime OR vampires I'll scream) but I just couldn't watch every episode of every season. I ... just ..... can't ....!

[Mervi]

Nuytsia, I see your point, but as an answer, I'l just quote a discussion from the show.

- They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same.
- It only ends once. Anything that happens before that... is just progress.

What I'm trying to say, is that repetition is part of the plot. The fact that people on the island don't communicate and keep doing stupid mistakes is part of the plot. Sounds familiar?

I was thinking about this last night, and I think I understand why some people find the show so difficult to watch - the bottom line is that LOST *demands* participation. With any other regular tv show, you can just watch it quite passively, maybe discuss the latest developments with friends the next day and then go on with your life. With regular tv, all the pieces you need to enjoy the show are *in* the show. But with LOST, if you really want to know what's going on, you find yourself re-watching, freeze-framing, going to the Internet searching information about world mythologies, scientific discoveries and wild theories. You might even go to a library and start reading all the books that have been referred to in the show. Not many tv shows do that, and none have done it in the scale that LOST does.

As I've said before, regular rules about tv don't apply to LOST. You don't always get the answers you were looking for. Sometimes you don't get any answers at all. Confusing things happen. Repetitive things happen. The scripts are often unconventional (Man of Science, Man of Faith & Across the Sea are perfect examples of this). LOST is not what you're expecting to see when you turn on your tv. And that's why I love it so much. I really hope that it will change and push forward the tv format, just like The Prisoner did in the 60's. We *need* these odd, frustrating, different tv shows to push the "idea" of a "tv show" forward, because the same old stuff really is boring and honestly?... not really good for our minds.

And I really do understand that 6 seasons is a lot of time to devote yourself to something and I understand that LOST isn't for everyone, for whatever reasons. But... and I hope I don't offend anyone saying this - I mean this in general, I'm not directing this at anyone here! ... I find it very sad that so many people dismiss LOST and its importance because it's a tv show, like that somehow makes it less valuable as a story and an experience. Six season... well, how many years have I spent reading and re-reading Hobb? Or discussing and studying Tolkien's works? Just because the story is told in a different format, and in tv instead of books, doesn't make it less valuable. Sure, most of what is broadcast at the moment *is* crap, but that's exactly what LOST has tried to change.

Okay, rant over.

[Nuytsia]

Mervi it did occur to me that the repetitive nature of the on-screen action might be making that very point you mention, but that doesn't make it any more enjoyable for me to watch......
I can't speak for anyone else, but the reasons of not being able to just passively watch it and having to think about it a lot are certainly not the reasons I don't love watching every minute of every season of Lost. Quite the contrary - I don't think I'd enjoy reading and discussing works of authors like Hobb and Martin if that were the case.
I really find TV shows where everything is obvious pretty boring .... and I suspect most people on this forum probably do too, or else they'd probably read some books like errrr hmmmm Mills and Boon??? (woops I'm not very knowledgeable on light entertainment authors! I should go check out an airport bookshop) Rather than Robin Hobb!
I really don't think I disagree with your point that Lost is a good show. I watched most of it after all! I'm not saying they necessarily should have made it differently, just explaining myself as to why I didn't watch it all.