I love Lost. The TV series.

It is currently my favorite series on TV. And I look forward to the next season as much as anyone.

But the producers of the show seem on a mission to destroy it with product tie-in overkill.

The latest example are the Lost jigsaw puzzles.

“What’s wrong with this?” you may ask. What’s wrong is what is stated on the box covers: “Spoiler warning: Secrets are revealed.”

This can only mean one of two things, both of them bad:

• No secrets (at least none of any consequence) are really revealed. So, even if you don’t get the puzzles, you won’t be missing anything. In other words, the box cover is essentially a lie.

• Secrets of consequence do get revealed. This is the greater of the two evils! This means you now need to buy games, and possibly DVDs, books, and other paraphernalia, just to keep up with what is happening on the show itself (which is already a bit difficult to follow and which I am already a bit miffed over how long it takes them to reveal any significant secrets). If this is the case, I am about ready to give up on the show. I don’t have enough time nor enough interest in spending my money to reward this crass commercialism and exploitation of the show’s fans.

Yes, others have done it before. Recall the Matrix movies, where the animated Animatrix filled in plot details not covered in the movies. And, of course, Star Wars has turned this concept into a full-fledged industry.

But it seems particularly annoying in the case of Lost, where a big appeal of the show depends precisely on its secrets. To require spending money on a bunch of tie-in merchandise, in order to discover what these secrets are, is just an insult perpetrated by the producers of the show. Shame on them.