From Variety, "ABC, Touchstone TV and the producers behind "Lost" are actively discussing how and when to retire the hit castaway drama.
According to "Lost" exec producer Carlton Cuse, picking an end date for "Lost" would help the show's creative team to map the next several seasons as they plot the show's thick mythology.
"It's time for us to find an endpoint to the show," said Cuse, speaking Sunday at ABC's portion of the TV Critics Assn. press tour. "It's a struggle for us, because we don't know if we have three years, four years or more to go. If we had an endpoint, then we could figure out where everything goes."
Such a move would placate fans of the show, who frequently gripe that they have no indication whether the show's ever-increasing mysteries will pay off. A set timetable would send a message to viewers that all of their questions will be answered eventually.
"Once we figure out when that will be, a lot of those concerns will go away," Cuse said. "The worst point is when a show ends and no one cares. We don't want that to happen. We want to make the shows good for as long as we do the show."
Cuse suggested the show could end once it hits 100 episodes in season five ("Lost" is currently shooting episode 62). But it's far more likely that "Lost" would continue at least through its seventh season, when the show's thesps' current contracts expire.
ABC Entertainment prexy Steve McPherson said discussions about the endgame for "Lost" are ongoing, but no plan has been identified as yet.
McPherson, Cuse and exec producer Damon Lindelof said they were conscious of the need to ensure "Lost" doesn't overstay its welcome with viewers.
"None of us want to be doing the show that's the stalling show -- 'We're building sandcastles this week,'" Lindelof quipped.
Cuse pointed to "The X-Files" as "a great show that probably lasted two seasons too long."
"That show was a bit of a cautionary tale for us," he said.
Determining an end date for a popular franchise isn't unprecedented; Cuse cited the "Harry Potter" books as a model the show would like to emulate.
"J.K. Rowling announced seven 'Harry Potter' books, (conveying a) certainty that that story is drawing to a conclusion," he said.
As for this year's split "Lost" season, McPherson said the net would run all 22 episodes of "Lost" straight through next year, perhaps starting in midseason (a la "24").
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[Minor spoilers]
By Gary Levin, USA TODAY
PASADENA, Calif.—As Lost plots its Feb. 7 return, producers say they're eyeing the series' finale, if only to plot out how they'll plot out answers to the many burning questions the show has raised.
"We're in discussions with the network right now about picking an end point to the show," says executive producer Carlton Cuse. Producers say they expect to announce soon how much longer the show will go on.
But ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson says none of those conversations have yet taken place, and while he'd agree at some point to set a timetable for Lost's departure, that's unlikely any time soon. Despite a recent ratings decline, Lost remains a top-10 hit, with nearly 18 million viewers for the six episodes last fall. In three weeks, it will move to a new 10 p.m. ET/PT time slot on Wednesday, with 17 consecutive episodes airing through May
Critics and fans complained that early episodes this season dwelled too heavily on the mysterious Others, and ignored many of the main characters. Those cast members, addressing critics here Sunday, were diplomatic when asked about the early episodes and their lack of screen time: " We like to act so we like our chances to do it, but like any job, you also like a week off," says Jorge Garcia.
But producers promise a return to form: We're spinning back toward beach community and telling a lot of those other stories," says executive producer and co-creator Damon Lindelof, with four of the first six flashbacks devoted to original characters. (The Feb. 7 premiere will focus on Elizabeth Mitchell's Juliet, explaining how and why she came to the island.)
"It doesn't mean we're abandoning that (Others) story line," Lindelof says, "we're just not spending as much time telling that story once we get the hero characters back together."
And while viewers will learn how Jack got his tattoos and why Locke got his wheelchair, the show will remain focused more on characters and their relationships than underlying mythology of monsters and machinations. The Jack/Juliet and Claire/Charlie pairings will be further explored.
"There's a much larger audience for who is Kate going to choose than who are all the Hansos," Cuse says of the mysterious foundation that engineered experiments on the island. The Jack/Juliet and Claire/Charlie pairings will be more fully explored.
And next season, McPherson says he hopes to mimic 24 by scheduling 22 consecutive episodes, which for production reasons would require the network to delay its premiere until January.
Posted 1/14/2007 7:30 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Subscribe to stories like this
Who put the pictures in? Was it Octo? Somebody's looking at the first episode of Season 1 (where they waste no time at all getting Evangeline Lilly to take her clothes off).
I put that pic in just for you my friend.
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