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We've discussed this one ad nauseum over at The Lage for the past week. Consensus: ABC ain't gonna mess with the February - May straight-thru eppy run.

We all want LOST back, folks. But we'll be happiest seeing it run thru May. Only way that happens is with the Feb. 7 start date.

So nothing's gonna change. Don't get your hopes up just to have them dashed. Don't DO that to yourselves! I hate it when you folks hurt!

And have a nice holiday.

There are only 22-23 eppys in a TV series here, per season. The season, however, is 39 weeks long.

There are three months during this time called "Sweeps Months." This is where the advertisers look REALLY carefully at how shows do in the ratings. So TV networks want their best, highest-rated shows to air during those months. These months are: November, February, and May. That covers the gamut of the 39-week season. So hit shows must be on during all these months.

For most shows, this is no problem. They are the kind of predictable fare that their viewers don't mind seeing reruns of every few weeks, so that new eppys can run during the three Sweeps months. Networks and viewers are happy.

LOST is not like this. It is quite unique. Unpredictable. Continual story line, which audiences DON'T like interrupted for a run of reruns. Unfortunately, that's the only way ABC can do it, and still have LOST on in November, February, and May. They tried something different--a 13-week short series--with LOST sandwiching the season on each side of it. Needless to say, it didn't work.

Now they are going back to plunking so-so sitcoms in that time slot--and this time, moving LOST to the third hour of primetime, having finally figured out that LOST is not the kind of show to lead into another show. (Nor its fans the kind that stick around for an hour afterwards.) They'll ax the sitcoms come May, since they don't have a prayer in the ratings, and try something else come fall--which won't work, either.

The old system of rating TV shows doesn't really work well anymore. But U.S. TV networks have yet to figure out a new way of selling their wares--uh, shows--to advertisers in this Internet/TiVo/DVD world.

That's the closest to an explanation I can give you, Tricky. If anyone else out there wants to give it a try, be my guest!

Hear, hear, Fluffy!

Actually, it's early December 2004 on the Island.

A straight run DOES mean that every Wednesday night, we will turn on our TVs--and there will be a BRAND NEW EPPY of LOST on! So in the long run, the Feb-May schedule is the best one for us fans, Multi. Thanks for the agreeance! **HUGS**

The Lage is short for The Fuselage, the LOST forum founded and sanctioned by JJ Abrams himself. It is, IMHO, the best LOST forum on the Internet! (Though this LOST board at Sucks is a good site, too.)

www.thefuselage.com, if you wanna check it out!

If they bring back LOST in January, it won't be there for much of the May Sweeps period. The May Sweeps period is the one advertisers most closely watch. Advertisers are networks' #1 source of MONEY.

LOST will resume Season 3 on February 7.


(Sorry if I sound short-tempered here, Cindi. The games TPTB, ABC, and impatient-for-more fans/media shills are playing with this rumor are really wearying sometimes. But you are right about DayBreak. ABC said they were committed to running the whole 13 weeks; at that point, I should've KNOWN the thing wouldn't make it out of 2006 alive!)