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« Roush Dispatch
Memo to Lost: See Ya Later (An Hour Later)
Finally, ABC has woken up to the fact that the best way to handle Lost is to save the best for last. As in the last hour of prime time — 10 pm/ET — to be exact. Since it was proving an impossible task for any show to successfully follow Lost, with so many of the show’s obsessive fans apparently heading straight to the message boards (or maybe even the phone) to digest and discuss the latest happenings and mysteries with fellow travelers, it makes perfect sense for ABC to make Lost the big event that the entire night builds up to.
Getting it out of the path of the show-killing American Idol is just a happy side effect (not to mention the increasingly popular Criminal Minds, which I’m happy not to mention).
Of course, it would help if ABC were giving Lost a more promising lead-in than a two-hour comedy block featuring returning mediocrities According to Jim and George Lopez in the first hour and two new sitcoms, the quirky The Knights of Prosperity and the as-yet-unseen In Case of Emergency, both of which are almost certainly destined to get clobbered by the more established competition.
But as Lost proved in its first season, when it aired at 8 pm/ET (gradually moving deeper and deeper into the night over its three seasons), this show is a self-starter. Its loyal if (inevitably) declining-in-numbers audience will follow it with no problem. Will Lost be able to beat the current time-period champ CSI: NY, with its compatible Criminal Minds lead-in? Maybe not, but at worst it will be a strong No. 2 and will give ABC a younger demographic boost in the 10 pm/ET time period, which is what matters most. (Case in point: if there’s any justification for ABC’s loyalty to What About Brian on Mondays, it’s that it does reasonably well with the core young-female audience.)
I’m at peace with the scheduling. What I’m more worried about is how unsatisfied I felt after the fall’s six-pack of Jack/Sawyer/Kate-against-The Others episodes. Free our heroes, reunite the tribe, and get the story rolling again. That’s all I ask, no matter where Lost ends up airing.
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Dec 6, 2006 12:57 PM
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I have mixed feelings about this move. On the one hand, I'm glad they're moving the show out of the path of Idol and the increasingly popular Criminal Minds. On the other hand, I think the timeslot might be a little late for a show that probably has a fair amount of young viewers. At least they've finally solved the problem of what to air after it (though I never understood their attempts at airing another intense drama. Wouldn't something less demanding of the viewer like Wife Swap have at least been worth a shot in that slot?) The thing that disappoints me the most is that they're already giving up on Day Break. I didn't expect the show to be back for a second season, but if ABC can't even commit to 13 episodes when everything else is in reruns, it's a pretty sad state of affairs. Especially given how many reality shows have been allowed to finish out their runs simply because they too were only "limited" series. Maybe scheduling decisions like this are the reason so many of their serialized shows have been non-starters lately.
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Dec 6, 2006 2:00 PM
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Well here's another show to record with the DVR. With our work schedules ten o'clock is just too late for us to watch any show. We will have to record this show and try to find time to watch it later in the week.
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Dec 6, 2006 3:05 PM
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It's amazing that anyone could be "unsatisfied" with the first episodes of this season. Talk about spoiled. Not everyone has to be within 500 yards of each other throughout the series, and the story is moving along just fine, since the story right now is about the Others and what they're up to on their island.
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Dec 7, 2006 12:21 AM
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This move makes sense to me. I would follow Lost any where so maybe that's why. I thought perhaps being a little later the storylines may become more adult in nature. Since sex seems to be now allowed - or maybe only on The Others island can you have sex and not die on Lost. I love this show and have never had a moment of disappointment in it.
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Dec 7, 2006 2:40 AM
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Good move, ABC. I often need a while to digest the latest episode of Lost before I can watch another show at all. At least the episodes are available online for viewers who can't watch at ten (if they can wait overnight).
I can understand why my favorite TV critic would be unsatisfied with the six-episode season opening, but I personally found it as dramatic and compelling as ever. I agree that the kidnapped trio's plight was extremely unpleasant to watch at times, but I also thought their new surroundings allowed for some fresh character and relationship development, while painting a more detailed picture of the Others' motivations. Lost's ability to change without becoming stale or unbelievable is what keeps me watching the show. My only doubt was about Eko's episode, but for now, I still have faith in Locke's assertion that there must be a reason for what happened.
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Dec 7, 2006 9:07 AM
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I still don't get what you (or ANYONE) didn't like about that six-pack of episodes, which I thought was one of the most thrilling of the series' run. The character arcs made sense, Mr. Eko's death had me weeping, Sun went bad-ass on the Others, Jack went even badder, Juliet is a terrifc addition, and we had the single greatest season opening shot EVER.
Seriously, what is the problem with this? That we didn't spend more time with annoying Charlie and the two boring newbies? Face facts, Matt -- you like to CLAIM that you're above internet-bitchery, but enough people send you the letters and you just decide they must be right, whether or not there's any logical reason there. The griping fanboys pretty much own you, given enough time. I begin to wonder why I bother reading your stuff.
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Dec 7, 2006 10:58 AM
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I'm okay with Lost moving to 9 (although it DOES interfere with Project Runway/Top Chef now), but I wonder how ABC will handle the episodes that run long? Lost is notorious for running 1-9 minutes longer than the hour it runs. Will this practice be stopped since ABC can't interfere with local news? That would stink-- I'll take as much Lost as I can get!
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Dec 7, 2006 2:19 PM
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I love the new time slot and also loved the first six episodes, which I found to be the most thrilling of the series. We have been building for nearly 2 years to understand who "the Others" are, and finally, we had a chance to see them close up, and were introduced to the fascinating and beautiful Juliet. Sure, I love all the characters, but it was time for us to spend some intense moments with the star trio of Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, and how better to do it than in this "six-pod" of opening episodes. Nothing, other than "Friday Night Lights," as me as excited about this TV season as the tantalizing first six episodes of "Lost". Bring on the remaining 17 hours starting on Feb 7.....I will be there.
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Dec 7, 2006 3:19 PM
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Well, where Lost goes, I'll follow, but the move really irritates me, because now I'm going to have to decide whether to watch CSI: NY or Medium repeats - I wasn't thrilled with the Medium move to Wednesday nights, but at least I could DVR one or the other. I can't DVR both.
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Dec 8, 2006 5:56 PM
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oh yeah...thanks to the last poster...i was psyched about lost moving to 10 pm except until now I conviently forgot this means that Lost will now be up against Medium...that sucks cause I really quite like Medium--one of the few "procedurals" (i used that in quotations cause i know its hardly a proceduarl show)that i really really like. Miles, hell light-years better then the other talks to dead people show (ghost whisperer--enough said) Medium is almost dependably clever and gripping--in short 9 times out of 10 a fun and quite entertaining way to spend an hour in front of the tv....the fact that lost moves there not only means that 2 of the better sci-fiish shows will now be competing against each other...this means that medium will be getting no better than a 3rd place finish weekly...eeeeeee nbc please move it back to mondays stat--it might still be rolled over by csimiami but i'd guarantee it'll hold on to more viewers then studio 60 is currently.
in short Lost'll florish no matter where ABC puts it (well almost anywhere) but NBC needs to be careful with Medium otherwise it could end up being burned by the net's penchant for moving things confusing people over the years like oh say Scrubs, or going back to the king of time slot changes every year--newsradio! actually that's not a good comparison since it was hardly a ratings champ--a good comparison would be 3rd rock from the sun--show crushed competition its first 2,3 years on the air--where nbc had it moved from tuesdays to sundays and then on its 3rd year it moved to weds where it bled viewers against then hot drew carrey show. by the time nbc tried to save it by moving it back to tuesdays a year later damage was done and rock was slowly dying (not that the bleh later eps helped much...but still it was an asset that nbc pretty much burned by too many time slot swaps.) would hate to see that happen to medium.
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Dec 8, 2006 10:46 PM
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To the post about Lost's typical over-runs: As far as I can tell, for the most part, these 1-3 minute over-runs are not the product of Lost airing an extra 1-3 minutes, but ABC airing more commercial time, and "extending" it into the next hour with the hopes that Lost's audience bleeds into the next show. If you look at the times of the episodes on the DVDs, there are no differences in the length of each episode. I would not be surprised if they begin to start Lost at 9:59 (like NBC used to do with ER), but it is not the case that we will lose 1 or 2 minutes of Lost now. (The episodes that run extra long, your 9 minutes, those could possible begin at 9:50 or 9:55, but it would more likely that they would allow some episodes in the future to start at 9:30, a la NYPD Blue.)
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Dec 10, 2006 7:17 PM
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This is probably the nail in the coffin of my Lost watching. I was starting to get peeved with it anyway, and 10pm is just too late for me, I try, but always fail, to stay up till 11. Don't have Tivo or a DVR, and I always forget to record things myself.
I hate that I feel this way about Lost. I've watched from the beginning and used to really anticipate each ep, but about midway through last season I just got tired of it, and I don't know why. Actually, I'm a big Supernatural fan, and I think that the more satisfying and intense Supernatural got, the less I could deal with Lost's slow moving storylines. Actually, I think a lot of my apathy towards Lost stems from my dislike of Jack. The man has no sense of humour and is just so overwrought all the time, he grates on my nerves. Give me Dean Winchester any day. Anyway, I'll try to keep watching, but I doubt it will stick. Still, I'm glad Lost's around, despite it's flaws, it's better than endless cop/lawyer/doctor shows.
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Dec 11, 2006 3:25 PM
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