The Tail Section

Let’s get “LOST” — that’s what 20 million fans did Wednesday night as ABC served up its first fresh episode of the drama series since November 30.

“LOST” pulled in 20.5 million viewers and an 8.4 rating/20 share in the adults 18-49 demographic at 9 p.m., according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. At 8 p.m., a “LOST” clip special dubbed “LOST: Revelation” garnered a healthy 13.5 million viewers. ABC’s momentum ebbed at 10 p.m., however, as rookie drama “Invasion” (9.6 million, 3.8/10) plunged from its “LOST” lead-in.

“Invasion” has been gradually losing the initial bump of “LOST” viewers it attracted at the beginning of the season.

“LOST,” Disney’s TV drama about a plane crash on a remote island, is proving to be an unusually universal hit as its confounding plot sucks in global viewers from Laos to Latvia.

Disney bet big on the lavishly produced show, with an international cast and $10 million pilot episode that was the most expensive in television history. The plane crashes in the first moments, and viewers only learn about the back stories of the survivors through extended flashback sequences.

The finale of the first season — which posed roughly twice as many questions as it answered about the Island, the Hatch and the mysterious “Others” — scored blockbuster ratings in Britain this week, with similar success in countries including Australia, France, Russia and Hungary.
The rights have even been sold to Cuba, the subject of a decades-long U.S. trade embargo. An exemption exists for “informational materials” like TV shows.

In the United States, the show returned from a six week vacation for a second series to pull in more than 20 million viewers, after a lead-in recap caught up fans on the ins and outs of the complex plot.