The Tail Section

Wait, why is Boone back on the Island?  And Shannon too?  Why are Jack and Locke trying to get into the hatch, again?  Another Kate flashback?  What’s going on?

            We all hate reruns.  However, since most prime-time television shows run on a 35-week schedule and only produce twenty some episodes a year, reruns are, unfortunately, a necessity.  For far too long networks have solved this with the same formula: two weeks of new shows followed by a week of reruns.  Or three weeks of new episodes, then two weeks off.  The only time we really ever get four straight weeks of new programming is during November and May sweeps.  This is not a problem for sitcoms or procedural dramas (like CSI and LAW and ORDER), because the chronology isn’t important.  They all work as stand alone episodes.  However, for a serial like LOST, where missing an episode can lead to unbridled confusion, a helter-skelter schedule is debilitating.  LOST is so dense it can sometimes be hard to remember key moments from an episode you watched a day ago, let alone a couple of weeks.   

            In the past few years, however, networks have begun to get far more creative in their scheduling in order to please their audiences.  They’ve taken their cue from cable and, specifically, HBO.  HBO has no set “season” in which they show their original programming and, as a result, they air their episodes from the beginning to the end of their seasons, week after week, with no breaks.  Of course, for a viewer, this is optimal; they know exactly where they stand, the story is easy to follow and there are absolutely no excruciating waits between episodes. 

            Networks have started paying attention, finally.  24 waits until after the first of the year, then goes twenty-four weeks straight until the season ends.  No reruns.  Now, LOST is jumping on the bandwagon.  For season three, LOST will be airing original episodes in two large blocks.  In the Fall, a block of seven episodes will air in a seven-week span.  Then, after a thirteen week break, the remaining episodes will air weekly, uninterrupted, all the way through to the season finale.  This is a wonderful step for LOST and terrific news for LOST fans.  The season will basically be two seasons in one.  The Fall “mini” season will likely end in a cliffhanger, as LOST is wont to do, followed by thirteen weeks for LOST fans to speculate, spout theories, and exchange possible spoilers regarding the rest of the season.

            However, though baffling to me, there has been a lot of fan backlash regarding LOST’s change in schedule.  Fans mostly dislike the idea of a thirteen-week hiatus, which is understandable.  It is extremely long for a mid-season break.  Some are concerned that LOST will lose momentum over the break.  I suppose this is reasonable, but shows use cliffhangers all the time between seasons, and momentum doesn’t seem to wane during the summer months.  Regardless, the move by ABC to rework the schedule was done specifically for the fans. Here’s a excerpt from an LA Times article, quoting one of LOST’s executive producers, Carlton Cuse:

"Our audience was incredibly frustrated with repeats," Cuse wrote in an e-mail. "Now when ‘Lost’ is on, it’s on. And, the audience doesn’t have to wait all the way until the spring for the show to return, which given the cliffhanger nature of our finale would be too long."

The new non-repeat schedule "allows us to really keep the momentum of our particular type of storytelling," he added.

            No matter how fans feel about the change, it should be encouraging to know that LOST’s producers are sincerely looking out for their fans.  This bodes well for coming seasons.

-Oscar Dahl