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« Roush Dispatch
Lost in Finite Space
Matthew Fox by Mario Perez/ABC
Good for Lost, good for ABC, and good for Lost fans, to get the official and long-awaited word of the ultimate endgame for TV's most adventurous and singularly unconventional modern classic of epic escapism.
Three more seasons. Not full seasons, mind you. (In other words, no more fall "pods" that leave us unsatisfied and hanging.) Three three-quarter seasons of 16 episodes each, running roughly as Lost did in 2007: uninterrupted, February to May, taking us to a grand finale in May 2010.
Three more years of Lost. And then it's over, after six seasons. No changing your mind, boys. This isn't HBO (i.e., The Sopranos), it's TV. Leave us wanting more if you will, but go out on your own steam in your own time. I promise I won't complain.
In a way, this announcement strikes me as a further evolution of network TV adopting the cable model of shorter, tighter episodic runs of series that may benefit from a sharper focus. This may not entirely satisfy TV fans, who are a notoriously greedy bunch of people: always wanting more, never settling for less. We bitch when a show takes a long mid-season break. We even bitch when a show sits out half a year, the better to be able to run in constant pattern once it returns. No doubt some will find a way to bitch about this decision as well. There’s no pleasing everyone when it comes to scheduling a show in today’s TV marketplace. But at least Lost has stepped up to address the situation in, typically, an unprecedented fashion.
Here's Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse in ABC's release: "By officially announcing exactly when that ending will be, the audience will now have the security of knowing that the story will play out as we've intended." Let's hope so.
Lost has always been something of an anomaly: an unexpected and unlikely hit arriving at a pivotal moment for ABC and for TV-viewing habits in general. Recently, we have seen that despite reports of slipping viewership this season — a season marked by a scheduling experiment that backfired and several creative missteps (too much Others, not enough original cast, the whole Paulo-Nikki mess) — Lost hasn't lost ground as much as it has paved new ground in the way people are watching TV: on the Internet, on DVR, etc.
For Lost to declare that it's not going to last forever is not surrender. It's a refreshing attempt to take control of a dangerously demanding, obsessively scrutinized franchise. This is probably the best thing that could have happened to the show both creatively and strategically.
(By the way, largely lost in all of this Lost hubbub today was NBC's announcement that Medium has been given an early renewal for next season. Good news for the fans, many of whom were frustrated by NBC's scheduling of the show this season — against Lost, of all things. Let's hope this show of support will be followed by smarter scheduling. If NBC hasn’t developed an adequate companion piece for Heroes for the fall, might I suggest moving this back to Monday where it belongs?)
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May 7, 2007 3:15 PM
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Great words, Matt. I was going to Ask Matt on your thoughts on the subject late last night when I read the news, but decided to wait instead to see if you'd have a dispatch up when I woke up. You did.
Great to see how you you're likening this bold move by ABC as perhaps a stepping stone for other network series to start thinking of doing the same. (24, I'm looking at you here.)
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May 7, 2007 3:44 PM
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Great news about Medium - don't know why people thought it was doubtful, but as they were it's nice to get confirmation early.
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May 7, 2007 3:54 PM
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Insightful and right on as usual Matt.
I'm one of the viewers happy with the news, though there'll be lots of groaners and whiners I'm sure. I'm glad the show will have the time to answer the questions and develop a fitting finale. I don't want to lose the show, but knowing I can keep on enjoying it and that somewhere in the magnificiant beyond I'll be left with an "of course" instead of a whole lot of whats and whys makes me happy indeed.
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May 7, 2007 4:13 PM
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I think this is excellent news. I hope more network shows move towards the cable model of seasons that run straight through with whatever number of episodes they need to tell their stories. This eliminates lame filler episodes and maintains the momentum of truly good and worthwhile stories.
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May 7, 2007 4:26 PM
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As Desmond would say, "Amen, brotha!"
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May 7, 2007 5:03 PM
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Part of me never wants "Lost" to end. But knowing it will end with its creators' vision intact is very assuring. "Lost" now has the chance to enter TV history as one of the greats that did not overstay its welcome, like "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
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May 7, 2007 6:38 PM
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This is great news. One thing I especially love about this season is that there are NO repeats and we get a new show every week - love that! I too would hate to see LOST end (the same way I hate to see Harry Potter end) but like HP at least the writers know how it is going to end and they have an end they are working toward. Also, at least we won't get too mired in mystery like what happened with the last few seasons of the X-Files.
Sigh, now if Wednesday would just hurry and get here already!
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May 7, 2007 8:05 PM
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I am absolutely excited and glad that an end date has been set. My only disappointment is the shorter seasons. i would prefer just 2 more seasons of 24 episodes (not any different from 24 or Lost's first two seasons) and i think it would be a smart move to stick with the January straight through May schedule. All in all, this is great news though. The producers now have an excellent time frame to work in and can deliver some of the most fantastic hours of television ever created. Seasons 4, 5 and 6, heres to you!
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May 7, 2007 8:26 PM
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I used to say the X-Files were my favorite show of all time. I know that program went on far too long and the last few years were awful. It's exactly what I didn't want for Lost. I think this announcement assures it won't happen. Lost is presently my favorite TV show of all time.
I didn't know what to expect or what we would get when I decided to watch Lost the first year it aired. I also watch Desperate Housewives. DH lost me the second season, Lost never did. I've never been bored, angry or disappointed in the show. When some viewers were screaming at the beginning of this season about the episodes, I knew they were there for a reason. Nothing happening now on the exciting hours of Lost would make any sense without the exposition in those first episodes.
I'm confident in the creators/writers/actors - they've never let me down. I know the next three years will be even better and for that I am so glad. I probably will be sad when it ends - I'd be sadder if I never had it to watch or if it went on too long.
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May 8, 2007 12:13 AM
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Thank you Matt for always having the best views on these types of things. I totalyy agree with you on everything you say. It helps to read things like this when I also will have to read many complaints about it.
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May 8, 2007 3:32 AM
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Great comments. Agree with all of it. I think, like you said, anyone that would view this as a surrender is largely mistaken. In the continuing business/art, bottom line/creativity battle, Lost scored a huge victory for creativity with this move. To get to decide, or at least have a hand in the decision about, when the show ends is like being able to end a novel the way you planned. That, to me, can mean nothing but a more satisfying conclusion to this awesome roller coaster of a series. Of course I'll miss the show until February, but the more and more networks and shows adopt to the "cable model", the more fulfilling the set up will be. Hopefully at some point we'll get to enjoy half our favorite shows nonstop in the fall, and half nonstop in the spring. Again, great eval Matt.
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May 8, 2007 3:54 AM
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I've never lost interest in the show, even when others have complained about the lack of direction or not enough answers and now Lost is more exciting than it's been since season 1. I can't wait for each new episode. However, this is definitely the best thing they could have done. To know they will be writing each new episode with a definite timetable to the series finale means to me there won't be any wasted episodes. I don't really ever consider an hour of Lost to be wasted because I love everything about it, but it's still reassuring to know there's a plan. I also compare it to the X-files, which was always one of my favorites and I was so disappointed in the last couple of seasons that I stopped watching. I never wanted that to happen with Lost and now I know it won't.
Medium is another favorite of mine, so this post was just full of good news!!
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May 8, 2007 1:30 PM
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The biggest problem with scheduling is the lack of consistency. With 24, you know exactly when it'll be on. If ABC is consistent is scheduling Lost at the same time every year, I doubt many will complain.
Even on cable, we know that The Shield, Rescue Me, and Nip/Tuck will be on for a certain number of weeks every year (unlike The Sopranos, which takes years between seasons).
With network ratings falling every year, hopefully they'll smarten up.
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May 8, 2007 5:28 PM
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Yay, NBC finally made the right call for Medium. Now if only they would move it back to Mondays where it belongs.
But how about a little more love for Medium in the future, huh, Matt? I mean, to see news like this reduced to nothing more than a blurb at the end of a column about Lost is a disgrace. It's very disturbing to me to see some shows being oohed and ahhed over by the media, while other equally deserving shows languish in obscurity, and struggle in the ratings simply because the press is obsessed with pop culture and thinks that everyone in America watches the same small group of shows. Surprise, not everyone thinks that Lost, Gilmore Girls, and Grey's Anatomy, among others, are great TV. How about a little more equality in television journalism?
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May 9, 2007 12:45 AM
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