“Lost” to outlive its welcome?
It’s mysterious!
Well, the big news of the day is that Lost has officially set an end date. Yes, the show will be resolved and it will do so in May of… wait for it… 2010! That’s three more seasons for those of you keeping score at home. Now, as you collectively pick up your jaws from the floor and reattach them to your heads, check out how it’ll end up going down as reported by Variety:
In conjunction with the advance order, “Lost” showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have inked hefty new multi-year overall deals with ABC Television Studio to continue with the series until the end. Duo had made setting a wrap date for the show a condition for staying.Lindelof and Cuse had wanted “Lost” to end after two more seasons. They’re essentially still getting their wish: The 48 episodes they’ll produce over the next three years is the same number the show produced during its first two seasons.
ABC execs, however, came up with a way to keep “Lost” on its sked for three more seasons. What’s more, the 16-episode arcs will run without repeats (a la “24″), allowing the Alphabet to make the show more of an event.
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That’s right, 16 episode seasons! This is as much great news as the whole three seasons thing is disastrous. Personally, I’m all for the decision. I don’t care if actual, recordable time is stretched to max so long as they don’t stretch out the story — which is what seems to have been happening to the series the past two seasons.
It finally seems like the networks (or at least a network) are starting to learn a little something from the cable model. Twenty-Two episode seasons over 9 months aren’t necessary when you can have a 13 (or 16) episode season spread over a tight four months. It’s enough time to take advantage of televisions strengths (telling a detailed story over numerous hours) without falling into its trappings (milking something beyond recognition well before it’s sell-by date).
What do you think? Will you continue to watch Lost until the very end? Is three years too long or do the shortened seasons make things a little easier to stomach?
May 7th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Three years is way too much. I’m ready to get Lost over with by the end of this year’s May sweeps.
May 7th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
My concern would be the eight-month layovers. See “Sopranos, The” for the uber-example.
May 7th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
That might be true for later seasons, but The Sopranos has always had extremely long layovers (sometimes as long as 18 months). The audience decline for The Sopranos was probably more of a reflection on HBO’s line-up than on the quality (or scarcity) of the show itself. The Sopranos was such a huge hit those first three seasons not only because it was good, but because people were also subscribing to HBO for Sex and the City, Oz, Six Feet Under, Curb Your Enthusiasm, et al (Arlis?!). Now, HBO no longer has that suite of programs that everyone is talking about– only The Sopranos. It’s no wonder the audience has eroded 18-month hiatus or not.