TV Series Addicts Lost Without 'Lost'

May 24, 2010— -- Even the hard-bitten television critics woke up this morning "feeling a little bummed."

"It's all over," said Syracuse University's Robert Thompson of the finale of the psychological series "Lost" "But it was a fun ride.

"Certain shows you feel more for than others," said the professor of media and popular culture. "And metaphorically, you can be addicted to a special TV show, even if it's not like tobacco or crack or heroin."

Some of the 23 million fans who call themselves "addicts" will experience withdrawal now that the six-season "Lost" has come to a close, but culture critics and psychologists say it is natural to bond with characters who come into the living room every week.

As for "Lost," the interactive plot and cryptic literary references -- characters with names like Hume, Locke and Rousseau, and even a rabbit named Angstrom, a nod to John Updike -- kept viewers involved for six seasons.

A smoke monster, polar bear and even a group of island residents known as the Others provided weekly mysteries for viewers. Even the enigmatic finale Sunday night, which drew 13 million viewers, kept audiences guessing about its meaning.

"The show was huge, and one of the things that made it great was all the possibilities," said Brian Sercus of Wharton, N.J., a confessed addict. "Your imagination always got a workout.

"It's hard to love the ending, just because endings are like that, but by leaving so much unsaid, I think it'll be fun to rewatch the whole series," said the 29-year-old. "Still, there were a lot of beautiful things in the last episode. The series was all about the characters and their relationships, and the finale really paid homage to that fact."

Producers even killed off favorite characters to keep the series fresh, much the same way as HBO's "Sopranos" whittled down the favorites each season, ending in a cliffhanger that fans are still talking about. (Was Tony whacked or did life just go "on and on?")

"We have a tendency to make fun of these people," said Thompson. "There are some who go overboard, but there is nothing wrong and nothing unnatural about feeling a strong connection to these things."

The same could be said of the long-running series "M*A*S*H," which captured the cynicism and antiwar sentiment of the 1970s. The show followed a team of doctors stationed at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War.

The series ran from 1972 to 1983, and the finale, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen," was until the 2010 Super Bowl, the most most-watched television show in U.S. history, with nearly 106 million viewers.

The series "Friends," which wove the relationships of six 20-somethings at a local coffee shop, aired from 1994 to 2004 and drew nearly 53 million viewers to its finale, making it the fourth most-watched series in American history.

Members of Generation X, who are now in their 30s, reacted the same way to the end of "Beverly Hills 90210," the television series about a group of rich students who go to West Beverly Hills High School, which ran from 1990 to 2000.