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You've Got Questions…

By James Poniewozik | @poniewozik | November 11, 2008 | +

…we’ve got answers. Sort of. At least to one question, about Lost. In yesterday’s thread about Lost’s return date, several commenters asked how long the season would be—since, if the show airs weekly, a 16-episode season would end before the TV season did. 

Before the fourth season of Lost, the producers and ABC reached an agreement to end it after three more seasons of 16 episodes each. Because of the strike, season 4 ended up being clipped to 14 hours. The network planned to make up the lost (so to speak) time in the subsequent seasons. This coming season (and I assume the last) will be 17 hours.

(I’m not sure, however, where that places the season 5 final on the calendar—though I could see ABC possibly wanting to get it out of the way of an American Idol Wednesday season finale.)

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  • Tom Shaw

    Err James, do we actually have a press release that states a 17/17 split? Or are we simply assuming that is how they will “catch up”?

    Also note that, given the show’s penchant for two hour finales, episode 17 would still air in the last week of April.

    I’m sticking with my guns: ABC is starting the show early to launch a new Wednesday lineup – probably pre-empting the show a couple times in February/April to push some episodes into May (I really doubt they will air an episode on Feb 18th, for instance).

  • jponiewozik

    @Tom: I asked ABC how long this season would be. So no press release, but also no assumption. The plan to add two hours somewhere in seasons 5 and 6 was reported post-strike earlier this year. But yes, we don’t know how many two-hour episodes there will be, and so forth. Also, I suppose any of this is subject to change: last year, a fourteenth hour was added late after the strike. But 17 is the plan for now.
    Pre-emptions to extend the season’s run would break with the plan from last season, but there’s no law against it.

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