Lost Fertile Ground for the World of Podcasting
The
ABC drama Lost is not a typical television series. With its
layered plots, dense mythology and unique storytelling, coupled with
the use of the World Wide Web to further expand those elements, the
show consistently raises the entertainment bar while likewise offering
fans a multitude of material to digest and a variety of levels from
which to experience Lost. The Internet is thus overflowing
with websites and message boards discussing, debating and dissecting
the characters, plots and numerous theories generated by the various
“mysteries of the island.”
In many
ways, this makes Lost fertile ground for podcasters, and the
show’s presence in this relatively new medium is indeed well represented.
The Lost
Podcasting Network website, for instance,
lists over thirty active podcasts on Lost and an additional
twenty currently inactive. Some of these focus on recaps of the latest
episode, others explore the mythology of the show and still others concentrate
on the various theories devised by rabid fans. The Make
Your Own Kind of Music podcast even
bills itself as “lame discussions and poorly constructed theories
about the hit ABC series Lost,” while Irishlost
is “a fun half hour podcast looking at the TV show Lost
from an Irish perspective.” Lost is the perfect topic
for podcasting because there are so many topics to discuss.
But like
with any medium, a small handful eventually rise above the muddled clamor
in terms of both quality and fan support, and that holds true amongst
the many Lost podcasts available on the Internet and iTunes.
The
Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack, for
instance, is arguably the most popular of those podcasts; premiering
in October 2005, it was not only one of the first, but is also the most
decorated, with numerous “Best Podcasts” awards and nominations
while consistently ranking among the Top 100 podcasts on iTunes. Lost
Magazine has listed it as a Best Internet Fansite, and Jorge Garcia
(Hurley) is among the supporters of the podcast, going so far as to
wear a “JayandJack.com” t-shirt on the season three “extras”
DVD.
“Jorge
called our Lost podcast a couple weeks after we first started,
and called every now and then to answer questions that we would propose
on our show,” Jay Glatfelter explained to BuddyTV in September
2007. “Last year at Comic Con we got to meet Jorge and have dinner
with him, and have kept in touch since.” Garcia, meanwhile, told
the Associated Press in May 2006, “They kind of encapsulate in
a nutshell what everyone is talking about, as far as the hard-core fans
go. It’s also just kind of fun to see where they think the show
is going, especially since I know what’s going on further ahead,
and I know when they’re wrong.”
The format
of the Jay and Jack podcast holds fairly steady, starting with
a detailed, scene-by-scene recap of the latest Lost episode
that not only details events but offers fresh perspectives and analysis
as well. From there it moves into “Listener Feedback,” where
voicemail messages left by fans are played and discussed, and ends with
Jack’s “Crackpot Theory of the Week.” In season four,
they have added a “News Section” with John Lachonis—more
readily known as DocArzt, founder of TheTailSection.com—which
included exclusive interviews with the cast and crew.
The iTunes
review section for The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack reveals
over 250 posts with a four-and-a-half star average rating. Many of these
posters comment not only on the insightful observations that the duo
make during their podcast, but also the friendly nature they exhibit,
their humor and their respect for other Lost fans. “The
two of them may engage in friendly banter with each other during the
course of a show,” writes one reviewer, “but it is obvious
that the two have a strong friendship and respect for each other. That
makes the bantering work and serves as a lighthearted diversion from
the more serious discussion of Lost.”
“A
lot of podcasts only offer you the latest theory, they only give you
the stuff that’s inside the box,” writes another. “Jay
and Jack step out of the box, and open up the world of Lost
to the incredible. Jay uses his superhero skills to develop elaborate
music, and… Jack counterbalances with wit, and charm.” And
yet another post adds, “Jay & Jack really play off of each
other very well and do an excellent job in reviewing everything Lost.
I also appreciate that they do quite a bit of listener phone calls and
e-mail which really adds to the program.”
LOSTCasts,
meanwhile, is a fitting companion piece to The Lost Podcast with
Jay and Jack and is billed as “The Thinking Person’s
Podcast” by one iTunes’ reviewer. John Keehler, Robert Stone
and Matt Jones, who reportedly spend twelve hours a week on the endeavor,
go further than other Lost podcasts by concentrating on the
deep mythology and unanswered questions that each new episode ultimately
raises. Whereas Jack and Jay work quickly to get their initial podcast
online the day after Lost airs (a second podcast is posted
the following Monday), the LOSTCasts crew spends more time
pouring over the Internet for fan reaction and speculation while allowing
their own perspectives to percolate before recording their latest entries.
“Ultimately,
we want the podcast to be valuable to (the fans),” Keehler told
the podcast review blog Invasion
of the Pod People in 2006. “That’s
one of the reasons we spend so much time researching, and it’s
also one of the reasons we delay the recording of our podcast. We wait
to see the conversation develop, for theories to be debunked, and for
Easter Eggs to be found. It’s one of the things that makes our
podcast unique.”
This extra
time and effort makes LOSTCasts an intellectually insightful
dissertation on Lost. Whereas Jay and Jack recap an episode
from start to finish, Keehler, Stone and Jones hit upon the key moments
in a lengthy round-table dialogue that moves from light-hearted to serious.
Fan reactions, viewpoints from message boards and detailed research
into the possible double-meanings of the latest episode are conveyed
and then discussed in great detail. LOSTCasts sprung about
from, to quote Keehler, “these deep conversations about theories
and speculation” that the group would have the morning after Lost
aired, and the thoroughness of these discussions resonate with the podcast’s
listeners.
“While
these guys certainly enjoy a little joking around at the show’s
or each other’s expense,” writes one iTunes’ reviewer,
“the great majority of the podcast focuses on information and
mythology. Additionally, whether discussing an idea of their own or
one which they found on another board, they seem to find ones that,
like Lost, open new doors and cry out for further exploration.”
Another LOSTCasts listener adds, “Between scouring the
myriad of Lost message boards and forums and doing the actual
book-work to uncover the deeper mysteries and references of Lost,
they leave no plausible theory untouched. What’s the B.F. Skinner
connection? Why is Gilgamesh significant? LOSTCasts finds it
all, and present it with the sort of concise-yet-causal kitchen table
discussion that the rest of us only wish we could.”
Although
podcasting may still be a relatively new medium—the term was first
coined in 2004—it has quickly infiltrated the World Wide Web and
has become a regular source of entertainment and information for millions
of listeners, including Lost fans. Whether one is a casual
viewer interested in hearing other perspectives of the latest episode
or a hard-core fanatic looking for the newest theories and speculations,
The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack and LOSTCasts are
the perfect companion pieces to a television show that has continually
expanded the definition of storytelling in the Twenty-First Century.
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