Let's say Lost got terrible ratings in it's first season, and ABC canceled the show at the end of season one without telling the writers ahead of time that it was ending. It ends with them staring down at the Hatch. How would you feel? Would it still be a good show with just the episodes from the first season? Would you be pissed? Would you boycott ABC? Do you think LOST would have become one of those cult shows that only diehard fans talked about?
I would be extremely pissed because they didn't even show you what was in the goddamn Hatch then!!! Actually the "cliffhanger" at the time seriously pissed me off because I was waiting the entire three hour finale to see what was in that damn Hatch. If they had at least showed a guy with a gun waiting down there it would have been mildly acceptable.
Basically. All the fan fiction with various explanations for what the hatch was might have been interesting, though.
They would have been insane to drop a show like this, right in the middle of the first attempt to get rescued, the introduction of "The Others" & the introduction of an underground substructure to the island By the end of season one, the show we thought we were watching had been turned on its ear. If the network was going to lose faith, it would have been before the season finale. They'd have probably pulled the show around mid-season, like "Whatever The Case May Be" & the reason probably would have been a lack of faith in the format of single character focused episodes To answer the question, if they'd pulled it mid-season, I'd have been disappointed, but would've looked upon it as commonplace network cowardice, but if they had shut it down after the season one finale, I'd have been outraged, & likely would've sworn off the whole network, as a bunch of nutjobs with empty heads Would have been even more of an injustice as what happened to Deadwood
funny, i think that would be the best thing that could have happened to the show. end it while you still had people convinced you knew what you were doing...
Terry O'Quinn wouldn't have gotten his Emmy, it took him until season three before he won, which would would have been sad. Also no Michael Emerson as Ben! He really became a huge part of the show in the later seasons.
If they had pulled it at season One- N. Korea would have gotten The Bomb at least two years sooner because their brightest minds would have had so much extra time on their hands since there was no LOST to be watched on pirated signals/Internet. And when tensions had risen we wouldn't have been prepared, leading to a N. Korean launch against S. Korea. Forced by treaty, the US would have nuked N. Korea and China would have reacted, destroying numerous military targets in Israel, Britain and the US. We would have retaliated, leading to nuclear winter and the death of the human race. So it's a good thing they didn't cancel.
I probably never would have watched the show at all, since I didn't start watching the DVDs until right before Season 4.
We would have been robbed of two of the show's (arguably) best episodes: The Constant and Ab Aeterno, and all those wonderful, emotional moments in The End.
If it had been I would've had an even more boring life (watching tv life) the past five years for sure.
I would very dissappointed and wondering what would have happened on the show if it hadn't been cancelled.