MagneticMediaFed

One year ago I spent the entire upfronts week feverishly clicking my refresh button looking for the latest information on the coming fall television season. What a difference a year makes. After the 100-day writer’s strike left most of the network’s schedules flopping on the dock like a hooked but forgotten flounder, no one (not the advertisers, not the networks, and certainly not the audience) seems particularly thrilled about the network announcements (or lack of announcements) for their future plans. This week is, after all, FOR the advertisers, and since network television is no longer viewed as being all that lucrative those advertising dollars are looking for something more than the typical slate of potential prime-time disasters. Take ABC, for example. The network plans on adding a whopping TWO new programs to its fall prime-time line-up, choosing instead to bring back almost all of it’s fall ‘08 slate (minus, Carpoolers, Cavemen and October Road). But who cares, especially this early in the process? More after the jump…

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Uh… daddy issues?

Last November when the WGA strike kicked off, word was that the as-of-that-moment eight completed LOST episodes were going to end on a cliffhanger that — if the strike ended up putting a premature end to the season — would drive the audience crazy. Show-runners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof suspected that if episode #408 were to air with no follow-up for six to eight months there would be riots, a mass exodus of viewers from the show, the streets would run red with the blood of infidels — you get the idea, people would be pissed.

It turns out they were more or less right. Thursday’s episode, another solid entry into the season 4 canon, ended with not just one possibly-infuriating cliffhangers, but two. Sayid gives up Michael/Kevin Johnson to the Widmore crew, an act that may or may not be the right thing to do depending on whose team on which you think everyone is playing. Then back on the island Ben tells Alex, Rousseau and Carl to head for “the sanctuary” where two of the three ultimately get gunned down. Then the episode ends. Knowing that this will be resolved in a couple week (there are five more episodes slated for this spring) makes this ending OK. If this were it, however, frankly, I’d be rather annoyed. So annoyed, that I probably would have stormed the AMPTP headquarters with a large mallet and wrecked havoc until the strike ended. Luckily for all of us, that will not have to be done.

Otherwise I’m giving the first two acts of season four Lost 4 out of 5 Flaming MagneticMediaFed Television Icons.

LOST returns on April 24th

88 MPH

First, a bit of housekeeping: as you may or may not have noticed, I haven’t been blogging much these days. This is almost exclusively due to the fact that I am in the process of moving from New York City to Nashville, Tennessee, and frankly haven’t had time to watch much television (aside from Lost and The Wire), let alone formulate thoughts on said television and then actually type those thoughts out and click “publish.” This pattern of non-activity will likely continue for the next two or three weeks as I get situated in my new city. Feel free to track my progress on my personal site, as I set-up shop.

OK. With that out of the way, how great has Lost been these past five weeks? SPOILERS: It’s been really great. More on the “why” after the jump…

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