Regarding LOST, DR Jose has made a statement which cannot possibly be bettered.
I came to LOST late. I watched the first season once it came out on dvd, the main reason for that being the first season's scheduling was all awry, with World Series, pre-emptions, repeats et al.
I was impressed with the pilot episode and found the characters to be a group of people I wouldn't mind spending time with on a island frought with mystery, danger and many elements of the unknown and UNKNOWABLE.
LOST, to me, was, and will be, akin to me a great book, which one can return to time and again, either to re-read (re-watch) a favorite chapter or to delve into in its completeness once again. (I have already watched "The Constant" more times than any other episode of any television series).
As for comparisons to TWIN PEAKS, David Lynch gave us a swell first season, but later seasons showed a true lack of interest from both Lynch and Mark Frost. The one good thing to come out of the latter seasons of TWIN PEAKS was David Duvhovny's Dennis/Denise.
As to other shows, with LOST, I never lost interest in the characters, the themes, the philosophies - and even enjoyed watching the floundering episodes dealing with Niki and Paolo - LOST's writers led me to seek out the writings referenced on the show. With THE X FILES and DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, I lost all interest, and saw THE X FILES limp through three lackluster seasons before the show was mercifully pulled from the schedule.
Writers may not be at the mercy of network execs ready to pull the plug on their current work, but, Flannery O'Connor and Charles Dickens (to name two), left unfinished works which I still enjoy. Had it not been for LOST, I never would have discovered Flannery O'Connor's writings.
DR Druxy, I am more than willing to embrace your #2 posit as the likeliest; it's the one that I gleaned from the two-character dialog immediately preceding it.
I will be contemplating LOST for a very long time, and am thankful that I found a television show which I felt was worthy of devoting some time to for a few years.
One aside, I got into a very heated discussion last night with a "Skater," who wrote off the entire episode as b.s. because SPOILER ALERT zhad grad flat rested humtp fhol hoijmmm pouteer d,oloug, hooom a certain pairing didn't materialize. Kfgiul ouing ithingmn morerroinjg poitnugke hsa the trungf freak gingouiunh ginger and mary anne grab gilliagan s islaong.