Thursday, September 22, 2011

Happy 7th Anniversary, Losties!

Seven years ago today, Oceanic 815 crashed onto a mysterious island, and we were watching it happen on our TV sets. I still remember sitting in the big chair in our living room (which is no longer there) with my one-month-old daughter and tuning in for the first time.

Three years later, to the day, I was in a hospital in full-on labour with my son, and no matter what I did, he just wasn't complying. (Turns out he was wedged in the wrong position.) My birth coach, who was a big Lost fan, was by my side, and I looked at the clock on September 22 as it neared midnight and groaned and said, "Why won't he come? He could have been here on the Oceanic crash day!" and through the next contraction we both laughed (I screamed a little, too). But as soon as that contraction passed she said, "Hey, look on the bright side, if he comes past midnight, on the 23rd, then... Hurley number!" And sure enough, that's what he did.

Happy anniversary, everyone!

22 comments:

yourblindspot said...

Awwww... I miss you guys.

Jeff Heimbuch said...

Yay! Happy anniversary!

And just so you guys can relive it forever, www.wehavetogoback.com is my gift to the LOST fans of the world!

Linda said...

Happy Anniversary!

We miss Lost, but at least we have Michael Emerson tonight...yahoo!

btw, "we have to go back" - just gave me a great laugh, thank you!

Linda

humanebean said...

Seven years ago today, I was … completely oblivious to the role that LOST would play in my life. I actually missed the premiere for one reason or another but was coaxed into watching the replay two nights later on ABC. *BOOM*, I was mesmerized. The LOST experience only continued to grow more fascinating as the first season turned to the second and I became aware that there was so much that I was missing the first time around, I started a rematch prior to season three. The numbers! The connections! The Others! The Island mystery deepened …

… and then I discovered this journalist writing about LOST for some website that VASTLY under appreciated her talents and insight (*climbing down from soapbox now*) and soon she had moved on. A search found Nikki's books and this blog and my LOST experience rocketed into the stratosphere.

This anniversary may be cause for celebration and nostalgia for the pilot of the show that started it all … but I think of it as the day that the numbers all flipped and started the countdown until I turned the fail-safe key into the front door of Nik at Nite.

Thanks, J.J.! Thanks, Darlton! Thanks to Jack and Kate and Sawyer and Sayid and Hurley and Clay-uh and Chah-lie and Michael and Waaaaaalt and Vincent and Rose and (later) Bernard and Boone and Shannon and Sun and Jin and Scott (or was it Steve?) and Mr. Friendly and Richard Alpert and … and …

… thanks to John Locke and Ben Linus. How fitting that this anniversary week should be bookended by appearances by Terry O'Quinn (Hawaii Five-O) and Michael Emerson (Person of Interest). See you tonight, Benry!

Ultimately, thanks to Nikki Stafford, whose blogs and books and chats and cast of commenters made my LOST experience a rich and satisfying one. A plane goes up and a plane comes down … but the memories of the journey last a lifetime.

humanebean said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
humanebean said...

Seven years ago
Jack's eye opened and we saw
trees swaying above

A man in a suit?
On the ground in a jungle?
And, what's with the dog?

Pushing through the growth
we saw a beach. Serene, no?
Actually, no.

Distant screams, chaos
Something burning? Smoke rising
people rushing by

Pieces of a plane
some people helping others
Jack, confused, looking

How could we know that
from the safety of our chairs
we could be so … LOST?

So many questions
but the first was: this show is
on network TV?

Damn. Now I have to
go back and watch it again!
Who is with me, friends?!?

Fred said...

Looking forward to the new Michael Emerson series. Hopefully it will grip us as much as Lost did and not be a tired rehash of the endless cop shows we so often get with each premier week.

Alas, Lost was really of its time, and it premiered most perfectly. The premier was more movie than introduction to a tv show. And the writing was superb--mysteries, deep emotion, clues (is it or isn't it?), philosophical debates, science fiction puzzles, conundrums, humour, anger, politics, literature. In short, Lost's dialogue encompassed what it means to be human. and all that on a network series, no less.

Will we see its likes again? If not, then there is always rewatch.

LoyallyLOST said...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!! Just think~next September 22 is number 8! EIGHT years.
We didn't know what was coming at us on that 'fateful' night 7 years ago! What a great ride! Little did we know what an impact those numbers would & still have, on all of us!
Who would have guessed that this show would still keep us talking even after it's been off for more than a year! I STILL look for the numbers! It's a sickness!
All those numbers & letters that added up to the numbers & all the connections! Whew! HOW did they keep all of that straight!
I am so glad there can never be another show like this! Let's hope this one remains 'one of a kind'!
Let's all sit back & enjoy our memories of THE best show of all time!!!

LoyallyLOST said...

WOW! Humanebean! You have a BEAUTIFUL way with words! I loved your posts!!! THIS is what I miss! All the great posts of all the great people on here! Nikki has done an amazing job of getting us all to talk about a great show!
Humanebean~you're great!

The Question Mark said...

Yay, anniversary! Boy, I miss that show!

Blam said...


I see you drivin'
'Round town with the girl I love
And I'm like, "Hai-koooooo..."

Er... Sorry.

Annie said...

Happy Anniversary!

I didn't jump on the Lost bandwagon/addiction until the summer before the 3rd season when I watched the first two in rapid succession.

I miss it

Batcabbage said...

The awesomeness of
Humane's haiku cannot be
Overstated. Yeah.

Sorry about that
Last line. That 'yeah' was not good.
Just one more syllab.

Ugh! That sucked as well!
Why can't I do this today?
I HAVE TO GO BACK!

Also, Blam, thank you,
Sir, for making me laugh so.
You're a true gent. Yeah.




DAMN IT!!!!

humanebean said...

Thanks, LoyallyLOST!
You are too kind with your praise.
I'm glad you enjoyed.

BLAM! The man, the myth!
Hai-kooooo! Werewolves of London.
Ah, I miss Warren.

Monsieur Batcabbage!
How fine it is to "see" you.
No worries, mate! Yeah. ; ]

Austin Gorton said...

I remember sitting down to watch the premiere with some friends, somewhat reluctantly, but intrigued, expecting a dramatic version of survivor.

By the time Smokey roared for the first time (wait, why did he do that again?) and I said, "holy crap, they're on Monster Island!", I was hooked.

Beachgirl5835 said...

I wish I could say I was in on the series from the start, but I totally missed Season 1. The second year it was on, it preceded INVASION, which I liked, and little by little in the first few weeks, I'd tune in earlier and earlier and see the end of the LOST episode, even though it was so confusing with the flashbacks and the repeat episodes out of order. Then I bought Season 1 on DVD and made my teenage daughter watch with me and WE WERE HOOKED.

Blam said...


"Hai-kooooo! Werewolves of
London. Ah, I miss Warren."
The point's well made, 'Bean.

Yet if you can't be
with Zevon, your love, then love
Zevons you are with.

VW: misolit — Emerging genre of stories about Japanese seasoning.

Blam said...


Moving back to prose (and cons — the long kind)... I was hooked on Lost from the start, too. The excitement of sitting down to watch the Season 2 opener after the way Season 1 ended a long few months before was as palpable as that first scene in the Hatch was confounding. And that's about as far as I want to go with my memories of the show, unfortunately, without getting bitter; gosh-a-rooty, though, for the first five seasons that crew gave us some incredible television. I remain eternally thankful that it led me to Nikki's books, of course, and that those books led me here.

Austin Gorton said...

@Blam: Well said. Those are my exact sentiments as well.

Marebabe said...

Wow, all-y'all! Thanks for the WAVES of nostalgia on this beautiful Friday afternoon! :)

LT McDi said...

thinking back to my watching the Lost pilot..I honestly can't remember another pilot that just grabbed me from the get go.

Lost was unique and I haven't found a replacement yet.

Happy anniversary fellow Losties...

still miss our show..

Gillian Whitfield said...

Since I was eleven when Lost first started, I didn't watch it from the beginning. The very first episode I watched was season 3's "The Man from Tallahassee" with my parents. Needless to say, I was confused.

Then in December 2007, I borrowed the first three seasons from my brother, who was the big Lost fan in the family (until I started watching). I wasn't expecting to get what I got out of Lost. The only thing I was expecting was a TV series. I got much, much more than that.

I miss the discussions that we had here every week after an episode aired. It's not the same without Lost.