I guess I respectfully disagree with the premise of your post, Mark. I feel that Lost has been pouring out new and interesting stuff in particular these past few weeks, and it's the first thing people at work talk about when I get there on Thursdays. We're learning more about Ben et al, while at the same time seeing the mystery deepen.

Perhaps the main thing for Lost is that the show is built on lies among its characters. You can't trust anything practically anyone says anymore. But I guess I'm firmly in the camp of enjoying the ride and not worrying about what I can or can't solve.

I like Heroes but it doesn't capture my heart the way Lost does. Heroes is built on its own share of lies as well, as it happens. But I'm most curious to see how enjoyable the show is if its most enjoyable character, Hiro, becomes a serious buzzkill.

1 Maybe I came down too hard on "Lost" in an attempt to make my analogy work. I'm not giving up on the show; like most people who made it through the second season and the poorly thought-out (in terms of air schedule) first several episodes of the third season, I am in it for the long haul at this point.

But I often let a couple of "Lost" shows stack up on the DVR before I watch them. "Heroes" I always make sure to watch right when it airs, because the next day I have a bunch of friends (some of whom are not even big TV people) with whom to discuss it. Hardly anyone I know is watching "Lost" any longer, and those who are have surrendered as far as trying to analyze the thing is concerned. What's the use of doing all that work when the next week's episode is just going to invalidate all your pet theories?

I guess the point I should have been making, were I not in such a hurry to go watch the Bulls lose to the Pistons again, is that "Heroes" owes a lot of its success to carefully watching what worked and didn't work with earlier shows of its ilk. For example, on a show with the dramatic stakes of "Lost," it's going to be necessary to rotate cast members fairly frequently. "Lost" has a premise that makes this a little tricky; "Heroes" is designed around new characters emerging all the time.

Dramatically, I think "Lost" has sagged some. While they've been great about bringing in new villains, all of the Tailies were wiped out so quickly that the whole second season (save the first & last few episodes) seems pointless now. A lot of likable characters, particularly Jack, Charlie, and Locke, have become less so. Still-empathetic characters like Hurley and Sun have gotten very little screen time.

While I made fun of the fact that his only line was "WALT!!!" for most of the second season, I think "Lost" really misses Harold Perrineau. In the midst of all of the dysfunctional father/son stuff going on on the island, the balance provided by one guy just trying to do right by his boy was something you didn't really miss until it was gone. Of course, the show has become SO concerned with fathers and sons in the last few weeks that it now seems unimaginable that Michael and Walt won't have some part to play in the story moving forward. Assuming the writers can find a way to explain Malcolm David Kelley's aging.

I miss Harold, too. He's just such a good actor.