As a Professional TV Critic® I'm probably supposed to watch as many TV shows as possible so I can talk about a lot of series and know what's going on in televised culture (and maximize my chances of making tons and tons of money as we all do). But as a regular human with a bunch of other things going on, I only have so much free time in my life and can't possibly watch as many shoes as I know I should. The shows I don't watch tend to fall into the following two categories:

1.) Shows that everyone says are great but I just don't have time to get into. "Friday Night Lights." "Big Love." "Modern Family." "The Big Bang Theory." "How I Met Your Mother." People love these shows. I should check them out. Maybe if I ever get, say, mono again or am on bedrest. "Treme" unfortunately is on the verge of being one of these shows, too. As a fan of "The Wire" I know I will most probably love it, and it will challenge and entertain me but for now it's just growing a list of episodes on my DVR.

2.) Shows that everyone says are great but I know I won't ever get into. "Dr. Who." "24." And at the top of that list is "Lost." Now with the first two shows I get the sense that there is a lot to be appreciated that just doesn't float my boat. However, each time I hear someone talk about the show "Lost," I feel an active happiness that I have never watched that show. It always starts like this:

"A plane crashes on a deserted tropical island."
(ME: OK, interesting)

"The co-pilot is soon killed by a mysterious unseen "monster.""
(ME: Uh...)

"Some of the survivors are attacked by a charging polar bear."
(ME: What? This is a tropical island, right?)

"Locke encounters the monster, but does not tell anyone about this. In flashbacks, it is revealed that he was in a wheelchair before the plane crash and healed after the crash. "
(ME: I don't think this is what I thought it was going to be...)

"In flashbacks, Sayid becomes an informant for the Australian Secret Intelligence Service and the CIA, which has asked him to infiltrate a terrorist cell of which his old friend Essam is a member. Sayid agrees to do it in return for Nadia's whereabouts and he betrays Essam, who kills himself. "
(ME: Oh, nevermind)

In reading over the plot of this show one thing is clear: the reason why the show is such a turnoff to me is that it combines two genres that I typically respect and the result seems completely uninteresting. There's the action of "24" and the sci-fi of "Dr. Who." If "Lost" were just a show about a plane crash and what it's like to survive on an island, "Hatchet"-style, I would have been into it but it had to get all mystical and magical and full of flashbacks and that's why I stayed away. It's often fun to get all into the finale of a series and discuss how it worked or didn't and what it meant in regards to the rest of the season. But sometimes it's more fun just enjoying not knowing what the hell everyone's talking about.