Does anyone else ever feel a bit strange when they read the threads about people actually calling the numbers they see/hear on the show? That bothers me a bit. It's a tv show. It's not real. The writers/producers have however made certain aspects of it real because of all **edited** out there who call the numbers to see what happens. There is a thread about the chopper that was seen on that last new episode. A few people looked to see if the registration number was real, and low and behold it was, or was it. The writers of the show are very clever, they cover their tracks well. The number is a real registration number, but it's obvious that the people that do the logistics of the show requested that exact number because of the "nut" jobs who do their research.

I am not here to cause any problems, I would just like to honestly know why people get so fanatic about fictional shows/events.

Does anyone else ever feel a bit strange when they read the threads about people actually calling the numbers they see/hear on the show? That bothers me a bit. It's a tv show. It's not real. The writers/producers have however made certain aspects of it real because of all **edited** out there who call the numbers to see what happens.

I actually think they make the numbers "real" because they like to inject some "game"-iness into things--the same way they pack some shows full of "Easter Eggs" to encourage the fans to study frame-by-frames and make connections and develop theories. it's one of the reasons Lost has so many die-hard fans: the writers engage with them in their geekiness.

Where I think things get weird is when someone posts a comment criticizing a character (or, lord forbid, a possible romance storyline) in some way, and gets really histrionic personal attacks in response.* As you say, it's a TV show. Written by writers. Acted by actors. I'd tell you to watch out for that, but you've probably run into it already if you've been here more than 5 minutes.

*Last year I posted something that raised doubts about some motive of Jack's, don't even remember the reference, and someone told me I was "a sad person" who was "incapable of believing that people are good." The people in the little box. In her living room. Yikers.

Some people are just really enthusiastic about all the details of the show, I'm guessing they wouldn't appreciate being called nut jobs. After all the creators of the show do encourage this activity and even use it for marketing campaigns between seasons.

paclives,
Have you not heard about the Alternate Reality Games? There was "The Lost Experience" and now just last month "Find 815". The idea of these games is to bring Lost into the real world, through actual billboards around the world, adverts in papers, handing out Apollo Bars, phone numbers to call, websites to track down. It's not because we, "the nut jobs", as you call us, believe it's real. It's because we love the show and enjoy clue-hunting. And with Lost, sometimes what looks like "a fool's errand" can actually turn up a hidden clue.

And just to put things into perspective. You say it "bothers you" when you read that someone has called one of these phone numbers, for example. Are you aware of the fact that the vast majority of the population would see you as "a nut job" for caring what someone you've never met and probably never will, writes or does. Not us round here, because we do care what the rest of us do and say. But if you're here, reading, and caring what people say, then you probably want to avoid the term "nut job". ;)