Flave

Seems the writers for this show are frustrated Lost haters too and they promise to never pull a Darlton on us. Unlike Darlton's Spit In Your Face Most Despicable Lie Ever Uttered In Television History, they really have written a bible where they've mapped out the show across multiple seasons. They also say that this show is a little scifi and 95% "real world". Finally, and most importantly IMO, they promise to deliver answers as they go and not keep us in the dark for six years. What a refreshing concept!

http://blastr.com/2010/07/8-ways-the-event-will-be.php

Well, they've got my interest. Now I just hope they can deliver.

DJariya

In case you have no idea what The Event is:

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Honestly, I'm sick and tired about every new serial drama with some type of mystery arc being compared to Lost. The show is over with. Let's move on.

But anyways, I am very much looking forward to watching this. I read that most people who watched the Pilot at Comic Con last week gave it very favorable reviews.

Jason

You know, maybe the ending of Lost wasn't everything it could have been, but this is as tiresome as all that "George Lucas raped my childhood" noise.

That said, The Event looks interesting, and hopefully will be better than Flashforward.

Fist of Doom

Funny how people bitch about LOST. That's the most successful serialized TV show ever. It was the first show to become an internet phenomenon, and people are still discussing it - just look at how many posts are in the DVDTalk thread for the finale. Of course the creators didn't map out a multi-season "bible" for it. When you create a show, there's no guarantee it'll last a full season - hell, there's no guarantee the pilot will even be picked up.

As for The Event, I'd be surprised if it lasts one season. Looks very generic and Flashforward-like. I'll be giving it a shot, though.

boredsilly

I would be excited for this if it was a miniseries or something, but when a show that follows the "mystery" formula is setting out to be multiple seasons long? I don't even give them a chance.

DJariya

Oh I know that Lost is one of the most popular serial dramas ever and people here still like to talk about it, which is fine. I just get tired of every new show that has some kind of serial arc being compared to it. Flashforward and "V" were under a constant microscope last season because of the constant comparisons even though the shows are nothing alike and it doesn't help that the media scrutinizes every serial drama saying...."Will this be the next Lost?" which is bullshit. Let the show find it's own identity.

Fist of Doom

^I agree with you about the comparisons of shows to LOST getting old. My post was directed to the idea in the OP that LOST suffered because the creators didn't have a detailed multiple season plan from the beginning. I doubt any show - including this one - ever has, since writers never know how many episodes they'll get to make.

redrum

this show will be cancelled

joefrog91

This will be cancelled after one season.

aktick

Yeah I wish I could be as confident as Flave that this will be better than my favorite show of all time (the ending to which I didn't have any issues with...enjoyed the 6 season ride a TON), but I'm not...and NBC means even less confidence.

Michael Corvin

Actually, since they are at the bottom they have the biggest chance of knocking one out of the park this year, IMO. Kinda like how ABC was at the bottom of the heap when Lost and Desperate Housewives came out of nowhere. Being at the bottom means they can take more chances.

William Fuld

How do you figure?

DJariya

I agree. You can say you have a 5 year arc planned, but the network could say..."We want you to end it after season 3." So, the writers of any serial drama, including this one are at the mercy of the network.

That being said, I actually applaud NBC this Fall. They actually had some balls and spent money on alot of scripted shows after the disaster that was last season. I know that alot of their shows won't appeal to people in this forum and that's fine. They were a 4th place network last season, so I'm glad they are taking some risks.....Serial dramas being a huge risk as well.

I agree with Michael's assessment being at the bottom, they can afford to take chances.

dsa_shea

I'm interested in this but if it involves the government as a huge part of the plot then it will ultimately become tiring. Besides, this event that they're touting better be amazing.

Decker

Maybe he was born in 2003?

dx23

Some Lost fans here sound like scorned women.

Abob Teff

First of all, "X-Files" pioneered the screw-job ... quit complaining about "Lost" when they ripped the concept off from Chris Carter ... 11 years of this crap and then they want me to buy a movie ticket to get the answers, and I STILL DON'T GET THEM!?

Second of all, it reminds me more of "Friends."

Arthur Dent

The cancellation actually is THE EVENT.

wmansir

I don't see why that stops show runners from creating a plan. Most shows that are canceled don't get a clean ending anyway. In fact, I would say the vast majority of canceled shows ended with a cliffhanger or purposefully didn't resolve storylines in order to pique interest for renewal.

I think the real reason is this: endings are hard. And writing is a lot easier when you don't have to worry about resolving/explaining anything.

redrum

lol

Decker

I just love the title of this thread. Even entertaining the notion that an unseen new pilot on NBC will launch a show that will "deliver" better than a HUGE critical and commercial hit show with an enormous cult following and multiple Emmy wins that lasted for six excellent seasons? Really?

Yeah, I'm sure it'll make everyone forget about LOST. Throw the replacement lawyer from LA Law, the grumpy head ER doc and Wanda's creepy brother from Big Love together in an ensemble and watch those sparks fly!

DJariya

Of course that's definitely the case. A showrunner's job is to keep the viewers and network interested in the show so that it will get renewed and his or her staff will stay employed for future seasons. If the show is serialized, they never want to finish a season arc with a clean ending. But you definitely have to have a plan for your storytelling and that's why alot of these TV producers pitch serial shows with multiple season arcs and have to adjust their plans depending on viewership and what the network wants.

One good example I can think of was Josh Friedman, the showrunner for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The show was heavily serialized and the ratings for season 2 sucked, but shockingly FOX gave them a full 22 episode season mainly to help promote Terminator Salvation. Once they moved to Friday's after a long hiatus, the ratings got worse. So people were assuming that Friedman would write episode 22 to "wrap things up." But, as people here saw they ended it with a cliffhanger and the show was canceled. I recall him saying that he wouldn't be doing his job as a TV writer & to his staff if he waved the white flag and wrote a "satisfactory" conclusion to wrap the show up even though cancellation was predicted because he had a plan for a season 3.

So in the case of The Event, it's a risk like any TV show. There is no guarantee it will make it past 5 episodes, 13 or a full season.

DJariya

I agree with your 1st statement and yeah the title of this thread is way premature considering the Pilot still hasn't aired yet and was only seen at Comic Con and a few members of the press.

Okay, so Blair Underwood, Jason Ritter, Laura Innes and the chick from Disturbia (Sarah Roemer) aren't major household pop culture phenoms like Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly or Daniel Dae Kim for an ensemble show. But, all the actors from Lost were pretty much B-list to no name actors 6 years ago. Matthew Fox, the guy who starred in Party of Five and some cancelled UPN show. Evangeline Lilly, a no-name commercial actress from Canada. Daniel Dae Kim, a B-list actor who guest starred on a bunch of TV shows. Josh Holloway was a no name actor who had sporatic guest appearances. Terry O'Quinn was best known as the Stepfather.

If you have a well written and directed Pilot and cast people who can act, people are going to watch. ABC spent $10M on the Lost Pilot and cast mostly unknown, but good actors and had a good creative team behind it and the rest is history. I'm looking forward to seeing how this show plays out when it finally premieres.

Flave

Yeah, I admit that I may be beating a dead horse bringing up Lost issues again, but it's the gist of the article to which I linked. And yeah, I'm still pissed off at the Great Darlton Cop-out.

Will The Event succeed? Haven't got a fucking clue. How could I? I'm just saying I'll be giving it a chance.

That'sAllFolks

fixed.


I expect, like others, for it to be on par with Flash Forward. Perhaps I'll be surprised. We'll see.