In 2004 a show exploded onto the ABC network that quickly created loyal fans.  I didn’t really care about the show because I never gave it a shot.  Friends and family would rave about how incredible it was, but I resisted….until this year.  I found myself at ABC’s Lost homepage, watching full episodes of the cult television show.  Just months later, I’ve watched all of the previous five seasons and am waiting expectantly for the sixth (and final) season to premiere in early 2010.

You think that Kate and Sawyer should end up together.  Juliet and Jack make a perfect couple.  And you just hate that Boone and Charlie had to die—especially because they were so good-looking!  Whatever opinions you have about Lost, if you followed these last few sentences, it’s confirmed:  you are an obsessive Lost fan, and probably one of the millions who made the show a cult phenomenon.

So what makes Lost so irresistible?

  Some would say its plot:  Oceanic Flight 815 crash lands on a seemingly deserted island.  A fraction of its passengers survive to go on to discover that the island isn’t as deserted as was originally thought.  There are “the Others”, a group of island “natives” who have a penchant for kidnapping the flight’s survivors.  There’s a creature made out of smoke that the survivors cleverly name “the Monster”.  To be blunt, there’s never a dull day on the island.

Or maybe it’s the characters that made Lost a hit.  There’s Jack (Matthew Fox), the spinal surgeon who takes on the leaders role; the cute and pregnant Claire (Emilie de Ravin); the smart-talking con artist Sawyer (Josh Holloway); the stunning fugitive Kate (Evangeline Lilly); and a number of other unique and soulful characters.

Regardless of what sucked you in, you’re probably addicted.  And that’s what makes a cult TV show a true cult TV show.

(Bonus: If you’re a Lost fanatic and you haven’t seen this 1970s “documentary” about the Dharma Initiative, then you’ve got to check it out in the video clips below!)