Originally posted by: JediSage
Have you noticed how dated TNG seems now?

Yes, I'm watching TNG reruns on spike more or less every day and it is very dated (still enjoyable though). But then I remind myself that the show first sired almost 20 years ago. Hard to believe really.

You mention Lost, which IMO is one of the best TV shows ever (I was reluctant to jump on the band wagon to begin with but now I'm hooked), and I think continuous story arc shows definitely beat the episodic 'reset button' approach. Another of my all time favourite shows is the X-Files, which was sort of mix of the story arc and reset button styles.