Has TV 'Lost' good comedy?

Author: Daniel Roberts '09

Have you ever clicked that "Pulse" thing on Facebook.com? It presents all the trends at a given college. For example, the most listed television shows. No, I have never clicked it either, but "this guy I know" did today, and noticed that Lost is the third most watched show at Middlebury College. I'll go ahead and say it , I'm addicted. Apparently, I'm not alone. Three hundred and fourteen Middlebury students make the quest for a vacant television set every Wednesday night.

Nothing can make me miss my hour of entertainment. A couple of weeks ago, at around 8:54 p.m., I could still be seen running from the Stew 1 lounge, over to Hepburn, and finally down to The Grille, along with five other Lost-hungry first-years. Screw the Olympics! I wanted to see Sayid torture someone, I longed to catch another great Jack and Locke argument over the meaning of their presence on the island. I could not wait to see the further development of the Kate-Jack-Sawyer-Anna Lucia love web.

I like everything about the show. It's perfectly cast-I would bet that almost anyone can find a character with whom they can identify. I like Michael - the determined, resourceful father desperate to find his kidnapped son. My cousin was a Boone admirer, she's still mourning. My dad watches. My best friend watches. My old girlfriend watches. Her uncle watches. This is television that people can get excited about. In Lost we have found a piece of pop culture that is bringing people together at the proverbial water-cooler to discuss and debate their theories. Everyone thinks he knows the truth. "The hatch is all a psychological experiment," say critics. "Walt is a psychic and that's why the others needed to take him," claims Entertainment Weekly. "The entire island represents Limbo," insist fanboys on message boards.

Yet, I have to ask: is there anything else this good on television right now? Sure, some of you will snap back, "24 is unbelievable," or, " 'Grey's Anatomy' is so exciting! I'm hooked!" Fine. Those shows are pretty good, and I'll even throw in "The OC" and "Entourage". I also catch "The Sopranos" whenever I can. However, these are all drama programs. Can you point me toward any good comedies on TV today? I cannot find any shows that even compare to the high quality sitcoms I used to love in High School.

I remember watching "Boy Meets World" while I ate my after-school snack, or dying of laughter thanks to "3rd Rock From The Sun" and "Just Shoot Me" in the evenings once I had finished my homework. Going even further back, I can still remember watching "NewsRadio" and "Spin City" with my older sister when I was really little. No show on television today makes me crack up like I used to. "Friends" and "Seinfeld" are over. "Scrubs" is too quirky and alternative to be truly hilarious. "The Simpsons"-which should have gone off the air honorably four years ago-is still airing new episodes, full of celebrity guest stars and empty of its old charm. Don't tell me "The Office" is the answer. Steve Carrell is pretty funny, but he's no Phil Hartman or David Spade.

So where are the laughs? Are Americans so bored with their own lives that all they want at the end of the day is to be on the edge of their seat for an hour, heart-thumping and blood-pumping? I can't help but feel like 60 percent of TV programs are now reality shows-the other chunk is comprised of fast-paced cop dramas, lawyer dramas, or doctor dramas. I want to sit back for half an hour and laugh until it hurts-I want to crack that huge grin I used to be unable to hold back when Mr. Feeny would make some snide remark about wasted youth. Is clever humor no longer a presence in the television world, or am I missing the joke?