Like millions of people around the world, I can't wait for tonight's "Lost" series finale. I've followed this show literally from the beginning, tracking every random plot twist since the September 2004 pilot -- yes, even through the dark days of Kate and Sawyer in those cages.

Of course, I'm hoping for a satisfying and meaningful conclusion. That said, I'm mostly just curious to see how the producers have decided to bring this thing to a close.

But even more than the finale itself, what I'm really looking forward to is catching up afterward with Ryan and Jen.

If you've never heard of them before, Jen and Ryan Kawailani Ozawa are a husband-and-wife duo in Hawaii who produce a blog and a weekly audio podcast, The Transmission, about the television show. After tuning in for years, the greatest compliment I can give them -- and their listeners -- is that I've come to think of watching "Lost" primarily as the price of admission for being able to keep up with their show.

In other words, the community has become more important than the content. And more than any message that the television show might ultimately deliver, this is the bigger lesson that the "Lost" experience has driven home for me.

There have been tons of "Lost" podcasts out there, including a great official one featuring executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. And "Lost" has been cutting-edge in its use of online content and live events to satisfy fans. It just happens that the Transmission is what has resonated most with me.

It started as a way of figuring out what had happened, without needing to rewind two or three times to confirm that yes, in fact, there was a Dharma Initiative logo on that shark. Over time, I've come to count on the Transmission's 8-minutes-or-less weekly recap and subsequent analysis to help me understand the show.

And somewhere along the line, the Transmission stopped being a mere supplement to "Lost" in my mind. For all the millions of dollars spent on the TV show, a modest podcast produced by a couple of fans has become the bigger highlight of my week.

It helps that they're in the right place. Because they live in Hawaii, where the show was filmed, Ryan has been able to make use of his sources, and his shoe leather, to provide on-the-ground reports hinting at the contents of upcoming episodes, sometimes to the dismay of his spoiler-wary wife.

The old-school journalist in me loves that part of the show.

But more than that, the podcast itself demonstrates the importance of community. Their listeners and readers provide some of the best insights each week. When Jen makes a point of saying that their weekly "You All Everybody" segment is the most important part of the show, she's absolutely right.

It speaks volumes about "Lost" that the television show inspired such a following, and of course the Transmission wouldn't exist without it. But there's something serious happening when a show about a show becomes big enough to generate its own catch phrases. It's a hint of bigger things to come as the Internet evolves.

So with apologies to regular "Transmission" caller John from North Carolina, this is the true "Holy Freakin' Crap" moment in my mind.