42 Inch Television

May 23: the second anniversary of the “Lost” series finale.

On this day in 2011, I wrote up my feelings about “Lost” and its place in my television-loving heart. Those feelings haven’t changed, though the year has.

The short version: Since “Lost” ended, I just don’t care as much about television anymore.

The long version is below.

365 days ago, “Lost” came to a thrilling end. 364 days ago, the haters took over the conversation and never let go. Such is life here on the one year anniversary of the “Lost” series finale –- a series which not only ranks as one of my favorites ever, but was also partially responsible for creating this very blog. As it turns out, multi-paragraph emails sent to friends as postmortems for weekly episodes are unpractical for everyone involved.

No naval gazing about the origins of 42 Inch Television — let’s save that story for season 10 — but just a couple of hundred words about “Lost” one year later. How do I feel about the finale, which I dubbed “perfectly perfect,” and the series, on this anniversary? Not surprisingly, about the same. While there are still some unavoidable issues about the final season of “Lost” — the flash-sideways conceit (never thought I’d type that phrase again) being one, because of its ultimate bait-and-switch end — the finale was satisfying, emotional and honest to the characters. Not every mystery was resolved — though many more than you might think actually were — but they didn’t necessarily have to be solved. Lost was always about its characters; in this case, the parts were greater than the sum of the whole.

Since “The End” ended, fans have distanced themselves from the series — a bit of “the emperor has no clothes” schadenfreude made all the easier by Damon Lindelof’s post-finale Twitter antics. (In short: he’s kinda acted like a brat, though whether he means to or not is up for debate; after all, much subtlety gets lost in the 140-character translation. Nyuck.) But maybe that was the point. “Lost” was always about passion — it’s what made the show a hit after the first season — and that fans have enough passion for the show to still hold a grudge says something. As much as I love “Mad Men” and “Parks and Recreation,” I don’t feel a connection to them like I did with “Lost”; I don’t sit up late into the night going on the “Mad Men” version of Lostpedia — is there such a thing? — hoping to figure out some previously unrealized bit of mystery. (Why was Betty shooting at those birds?) To put it bluntly: I just don’t care. The great television shows currently populating the spectrum might be better than Lost as complete series, but they aren’t as all-encompassing.

In the end, that was what made “Lost” so special to me: I cared. Most important, love it or hate it, you cared. One year later, that passion might be what I miss most. Well, that and Michael Emerson.

Dan Harmon was fired as showrunner of “Community”; or, what happens when you give an Internet commenter a television show.

Snark aside: Is anyone surprise that NBC and Sony decided to part ways with Dan Harmon before season four of “Community”? This is a man who seemed to willfully refuse to make his show more accessible to anyone outside of the internet bubble that obsessed over the comings and goings of the Greendale 7. A man who publicly feuded with the cantankerous and notoriously prickly Chevy Chase to such an extreme extent that he actually managed to make Chase look sympathetic. A man who just last week wrote a satirical piece for New York Magazine that called his then-employer the “‘Cock.” (Peacock, get it?)

It’s all fun and games until you realize television is a business, and networks and studios aren’t going to allow someone like Harmon to continue working unless he has the numbers to back his bad behavior up. He didn’t, he’s gone.

What’s funny to me — besides everything — is the reaction. Comparing Harmon’s ouster to Aaron Sorkin leaving “The West Wing” after four seasons has been done … seriously. By writers! Who you respect! Meanwhile, the two guys who will replace Harmon (David Guarascio and Moses Port), are being called “scabs” (not how that word is used), and chastised for producing other crappy television shows, like the failed pilot for “The IT Crowd.” Because, you know, working with Joel McHale and Richard Ayoade, plus consulting on “Happy Endings” (a show everyone loves), means these guys are total hacks.

The big question many are wondering is: Why did Sony and NBC decide to make this move now, rather than just cancel “Community” outright? (The thought being that “Community” fans will ignore the show without Harmon, a hilarious bit of nonsense that recalls Bill O’Reilly asking viewers to boycott France.)

Here’s the likely reason: with 71 episodes already aired — an amazing accomplishment for a show with such small viewership — Sony and NBC are just 29 episodes away from the magical syndication number of 100. Considering that the ratings for “Community” are terrible anyway — and that even a test pattern on Friday nights, where it will move this fall, could probably get around 4 million viewers — the mythical Powers That Be probably decided they could squeeze out another 29 episodes (13 episodes in the fall; a back-nine order to push season four to 22 episodes; then a short final season in the fall of 2014) without having to deal with Harmon. It’s a win-win for the network, which can either hit the syndication threshold with “Community,” or not, and just get rid of the show altogether … without having to listen its showrunner ever again.

Or maybe that’s giving the terrible decision makers at NBC too much credit. Maybe it’s just them giving Dan Harmon the ultimate middle finger. After all, he might have a Tumblr, but they have his show.

“Dark Shadows” is a very bad movie. Alternate titles likely included “Dark Shadoze” (via the genius of Kase Wickman, y’all) or “Dark Shadowzzzzzzzz” (via the hackery of my brain). This thing is like Sominex.

Let’s see: the first 15 minutes set up this horror-comedy with moderately interesting mystery … and then that’s about all. Something happens with the fishing industry? Alice Cooper shows up as himself, but playing himself 40 years ago? Without makeup? None of it makes any sense, plot threads are dropped almost as soon as they’re conjured, and the third act is as embarrassing as Chloe Moretz’s entire performance. (She’s so bad in “Dark Shadows,” child services should have been called.) It’s mostly garbage, which you’d expect, since the best thing Tim Burton has been a part of in the last 18 years was that MOMA exhibit.

Not that Burton is the only reason “Dark Shadows” stinks. Burton’s muse, world famous movie star Johnny Depp, is as boring as Jeremy Renner here (saying something). Depp’s around the bend on his “weird” performances; serious question: will he ever give a normal performance again? And could he even pull that off? (Judging from “The Tourist,” he can’t.)

Still, the real tragedy of “Dark Shadows” is that it wastes all the great talent around Depp and his Kabuki makeup. Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter are a delight, and Eva Green basically crashes through scenery (sometimes literally) with energy and commitment that this movie doesn’t deserve. Bella Heathcote, an alluring onscreen mix of Zooey Deschanel and Angelina Jolie, should also be a big star. Let’s agree to cast the four of these actresses in another movie someday. Just make sure it’s a good one.