No Right Answer: Required Viewing Before You Die

[thisbymaster]

Um...Both of those wouldn't be anything close to TV shows that I would requirement for someone to see before their death. Star Trek:TNG would open your world view and help you understand other cultures and points of view. I love Lucy is a classic that most people should see, Leave it to Beaver, Gilligan's island, A-Team, etc. This was a really misnamed episode.

 

[cyvaris]

Battlestar Galatica beat them both, though only by a very narrow amount. I could never get into Lost because it just seemed so gimmicky. Tune in next week and find out worthless clue number five that may or may not be relevant!!

Seriously the entire show felt like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdhhQhqi_AE

 

[Yostbeef]

The Wire is infinitely better than both those shows.Sure they're different but the profound impact of The Wire makes it required viewing in my book.I watched Lost and Firefly out of cultural duty and walked away wondering what I'm missing.They're entertaining shows and some of the best the genre has to offer but by no means would I consider them to be "required viewing".

 

[RaNDM G]

Best show to see before you die? The right answer is always Batman: The Animated Series.

 

[Tono Makt]

How the hell can LOST win this No Right Answer??!?!? LOST was a show about a Mystery Box... which ended with the writers saying that people who were watching for the Mystery Box weren't watching LOST properly because LOST was about the character relationships. It was a very good show for 2 seasons, was a good show for 3 seasons, was a passable show for most of one season and then ended on one of the worst piles of crap in TV history.

There's no real contest in a question of "LOST" vs "(Insert Show Here)" for "Required Viewing Before You Die". Because of the way LOST ends, there is no reason to watch LOST. Watch Two and a Half Men instead, or Everybody Loves Raymond, or Golden Girls. Or ER. Or Bonanza. Watch something that doesn't try to lead you around with one thing (Mysteries!) and then turn around in literally the last episode and say that what you've actually been following was something different (Relationships!).

Or yes, watch Firefly.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I don't give a shit about either of those shows.
Also I'm not going to Escapist Expo. I can't afford to take time off work.

 

[coheedswicked]

Lost was good for the first 4 seasons... then it got really stupid

Im gonna have to go with Firefly since its consistently great

 

[MrPhyntch]

Firefly was his origin, without it, we get no Avengers, or any of his future work that we'll still be talking about for years to come.

Actually, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was his origin. Firefly aired somewhere near the end of its run. And while he had done several things before Buffy (including co-writing on Toy Story!), that's really what put him on the map. In fact, without Buffy, Fox would've never agreed to Firefly in the first place. THE MORE YOU KNOW

OT:
In all honesty, I think that a fulfilled life could be lived without seeing either of those. As much as I love Firefly, it's not for everyone, and in the end it just leaves you wanting more (if you did like it).

My nomination would go to The Simpsons, until about season 7 to 10. Not that I'm one of those who thinks that's where it stopped being funny, oh no, I still love the Simpsons. Rather, the early Simpsons stuff is what shaped modern pop culture to what it is today. I say the "necessity" stops between seasons 7 and 10 because at that point, Simpsons started being influenced by itself more than pop culture (probably due, in part, to how much it had affected pop culture), and as a result the cultural impact it had in the first place weakened significantly.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Lost had probably the worst ending of anything I've ever seen, played, or read. Firefly was an above average Sci-fi series with an above average movie. I don't think either should be on someone's must watch before you die list. I would probably say Breaking Bad but there's still three episodes left so I won't pass judgment yet.

 

[CleverCover]

So after reading the comments, I have one question beyond all else that I need to ask everyone:

How do I convince my wife to sit down and actively watch Avatar: The Last Airbender with me?

I love that show (and Legend of Korra as well), but I've unsuccessfully convinced my wife to sit with me and enjoy it. How do I convince her to take the plunge? Because you've all convinced me that now that we've both seen Lost, she needs something better in her life.

I can help you there!

With my mom, who generally avoids anything too cartoony looking, my father just left it on in the bedroom or the kitchen or anywhere he thought she would be. Evenetually, we all used this tactic and my mom ended up watching it with someone in the room. After a while, she would just watch it by herself because she had become somewhat invested.

And now she's the (second) biggest fangirl in the house!

OT: I've never watched either show...but I'd actually give Firefly more of a chance after seeing this. 6 seasons?! It sounds like it goes beyond Inuyasha levels of length and that's the highest I'll ever go.

 

[New Troll]

I watched Lost. Got halfway through the last season and quit because I found myself not caring at all. My parents were die-hard Lost fans but by the end they just wished they could have had those hours of their lives back.

My parents watched every single episode of Lost, and quit talking about it well before the show ended, almost as if they were ashamed to admit they still watched it. My parents have NEVER seen an episode of Firefly yet still talk about that show to this day because of the relevance it had on everyone they know's life. And one day, they too plan to watch it. Before they die.

Firefly wins. People who watched Lost, lost.

 

[RTR]

KYLE, I MISSED YOU!!!!!!

 

[The Ubermensch]

The arguments about lost could equally apply to Neon Genesis Evangelion.

... Alright Lost, I'll accept that. I'll still never watch it though.

 

[nightmare_gorilla]

I caught a few episodes of lost and it didn't really grab me. it seemed like the big "mystery" was accomplished simply by intentionally depriving the audience of information for no real reason except mystery.

firefly is one of the 10 greatest shows ever made. i'd go for that. castle also deserves to mentioned. plus without firefly we might not have the avengers. or we might have had it directed by jj abrams which is the same as not having it.

breaking bad I know everyone is in love with but i'm getting more and more aware of the dead time in that show. like I feel like you could turn it into half hour episodes and have the EXACT same show.

the show i'd recommend to watch before you die, Dead like me. truly a phenomenal show with a lot to say about the human condition and it has a lot to say about death. it's cathartic

 

[chozo_hybrid]

The reason I never got into Firefly, was not the shows fault, more my friends. They were just going on about how huge and awesome scifi the show was, then I watched some of it and I wasn't grabbed. It seemed more like just a western where they use space ships instead of wagons. That said, I was sold on the show being a scifi epic, if I wasn't lead to believe that, I would have probably enjoyed it.

I do intend to get around to properly watching it, since it's so short anyway. But even then, I would still pick Firefly over Lost any day of the friggin week.

 

[nightmare_gorilla]

also, I feel it needs to be said that if you're comparing two shows, 1 is 13 episodes, and the other is 5 seasons worth. and they are anywhere similar in quality, social impact, world building, and just general information conveyed. the 13 episodes win. I dunno how long the seasons of lost were but lets say 13 episodes to make it even, if you can do in one season what took someone else 5 seasons. you just win.

 

[linforcer]

I saw LOST and Firefly. LOST is NOT required viewing. Firefly is.

 

[matsy]

I liked Lost but it has nowhere near the impact or pop culture of Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones.
For nerdier options the aforementioned Avatar: the Last Airbender, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or my personal vote Neon Genesis Evangelion (first 24 episodes, substitute the original 2 movies for episodes 25 and 26).

And who can honestly say they enjoy Lost more than Firefly? Firefly's episodes are beautiful in that they are complete packages, but also build on each other throughout the series. You can watch an episode of Firefly and understand what's going on and enjoy it. You CAN NOT watch an ep of Lost without having seen all of that season's previous eps and/or researched wtf is going on. And when the episode is over you just have to watch the next one not specifically because you enjoyed it, but because you need to know what happens next. The mystery box is a lazy hook that compels viewing not by having a good, enjoyable narrative/characters/humour/etc but by dangling a carrot on a stick.

 

[DRTJR]

Firefly was his origin, without it, we get no Avengers, or any of his future work that we'll still be talking about for years to come.

Actually, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was his origin. Firefly aired somewhere near the end of its run. And while he had done several things before Buffy (including co-writing on Toy Story!), that's really what put him on the map. In fact, without Buffy, Fox would've never agreed to Firefly in the first place. THE MORE YOU KNOW

Yeah, but Firefly was the first thing of quality he did on his own.

 

[Grabehn]

"People still talk about Lost" No they don't... I haven't heard a single thing about that series except for this video to be honest. I saw a re-run of Fyrefly on TV, from which I might've watched 2-3 episodes and it was really cool, but when I saw Lost's cloud monster I thought "What?" and never cared about it anymore, and whenever someone said "Lost is SO good" all I had to say was "Cloud monster" and they would just quietly sit down and stop talking altogether.