Lost Moving To Friday!?
UPDATE: The comment in question has now been disputed by Damon Lindelof himself. In addition, Lindelof told EW’s Doc Jensen that Lost would not be moved to Friday. Phew. Feel free to vote for your day of choice, and enjoy the ranting on why Friday would be bad… even though it is totally irrellevant.
At Comic-Con, Damon Lindelof made a comment that lead many to believe that Lost might be moving to Friday. Was this comment meant to generate a pulse for ABC’s scheduling department? Are we avoiding our civic duty as Lost-citizens not to discuss how a Friday move would be received? Of course we are.
So in the interest of providing a small amount of market research for ABC to mull over, post your thoughts on the possibility of a Friday time-slot for Lost, and give a little vote to let them know you care.
So here comes my ranting on the topic. Friday is bad. The only reason Friday is bad, is it is a low ratings day. With the unprecedented move of scheduling out the remaining 48 episodes of lost in three 16-episode ‘Events’ deserves a spot where it can get the ratings numbers it deserves.
Another problem I have with this is the public perception of what friday night means. We already went through that ridiculous "Lost is losing it" phase at the beginning of season three. A move to Friday is going to generate even more negative press, which will lower viewer morale, and ultimately lead to viewers dropping out; just like with the hate campaign that assailed Lost at the beginning of Season three.
Here is what will happen. The media will use the fact that Lost was snubbed for outstanding series, combine it with the fact that Lost has been moved to a day known for low ratings, and make a big hate-pie to send out on the airwaves. Of course, the articles will be full of notes on how Bionic Woman has failed on Wednesday, reinforcing the death of interest in genre shows (I’ve seen the pilot, its ugly), Moonlight will have croaked ON Friday already, reinforcing Friday as the mass grave for ailing or hopeless shows, and of course if it is still going strong Heroes will again be put on a pedestal as the example of "how to do it right."
That’s my theory, and I’m sticking to it.
Where is the Who cares choice? As it don’t matter in this day and age with auto recorders and online and downloadables. We can watch it anytime we want!.. Who cares?
Comment by Who Cares — July 28, 2007 @ 3:26 pm
friday night is the death chair for programming.
Comment by kramerica — July 28, 2007 @ 4:05 pm
which wise ass came up with the idea if they know friday is bad for ratings,would’ve been better to keep it in its original spot,
could this be a move by the producers to start winding down lost,maybe because they can’t answer all of the big mysteries they’ve created and as a result this will cussion the blow with less people supposedly taking an interest,
i know it seems like a strange thing to do but why choose a time slot which they know produces fewer ratings unless maybe they were trying to wind down the whole thing
Comment by nike — July 28, 2007 @ 5:31 pm
i thought it was a definite move by the way
Comment by nike — July 28, 2007 @ 5:36 pm
Wednesday is where I NEED Lost to be. I spend Monday and Tuesday talking about what I expect to happen, and Thursday and Friday digesting what actually DID happen. It really does help me get through the “grind”!
Comment by Robb — July 28, 2007 @ 6:39 pm
FRIDAY SUCKS first of all you will lose the entire range of teenagers from 14-18 yrs’s old because friday night is when school’s play basketball, fball, ect. Wed. is where Lost belongs and it BETTER NOT MOVE!!!!!!!!
Comment by lost815 — July 28, 2007 @ 7:26 pm
If LOST has to move to avoid American Idol. I say switch it to Sunday night. At least then people can still talk about it a work the next day!
I hope it switches to Wed. @ 9:00, but if not I say Sunday @ 9:00
My two cent.
Comment by Lost_Pilgrim — July 28, 2007 @ 7:35 pm
I hadn’t heard this and I’ve read lots of the Comic-Con transcripts. What was the context of Damon’s comment? What was the exact question? I can’t see Friday nights as it’s a night when everyone goes out and doesn’t stay home for TV. But, of course, with things like TiVo it doesn’t really matter … as long as they watch it within 24 hours (if you’re a Nielsen family, where the ratings come from). Nielsen hasn’t yet gotten a way to get ratings from downloads, though they’re working on it. But American Idol is stealing viewers. Again, if they tape or TiVo and watch within 24 hours, it still counts but how many will be sure to do that? I personally don’t care what day it’s on as long as it doesn’t mess up their ratings.
Comment by jbdean — July 29, 2007 @ 2:03 am
Definetly keep it on Wednesday. Any move, especially on Friday, will be the death of the show. Worst case scenario, I vote for Sunday - but still…
Comment by Drew — July 29, 2007 @ 3:47 am
I hate Fridays. Wednesday is such an awesome night. I work third shift and even with recording it’s hard for me to watch it when I come home. Wed is usually my night off. I could handle Sun. or Mon. though.
Comment by matt — July 29, 2007 @ 3:51 am
Yeah guys, great idea, sunday. After Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and before Desperate Housewives. Great night for Lost.
That is sarcasm by the way.
Comment by dfefeds — July 29, 2007 @ 7:30 am
I love Heroes, but I think they are going to run out of ideas soon (if the finale is any indication. worst. payoff. ever.). I have the feeling it will be like Lost. Very strong first season that turns it into a cult show, a dip in the second season where many mainstream people stop watching, then a pretty strong 3rd season gaining some people back.
Anyways, Lost still got better ratings than Heroes…but people seem to forget that for some reason
Comment by South_park300 — July 29, 2007 @ 8:17 am
I almost agree with South_park300 regarding Heroes, but I’m not betting on a third season.
Regarding the move, it needs to stay on Wednesday nights. As strong as American Idol is, not everyone is watching it. Being number #2 to American Idol isn’t a bad thing, but what’s even better, is what if you’re the one to knock American Idol down to #2 just once. And honestly, does anyone remember who was even on American Idol last year? I have no idea who won and I have no plan of buying their CD. I think American Idol is going to dip this year and this is the year to come at them.
Comment by MerlboroMan — July 29, 2007 @ 8:51 am
It doesn’t matter to me which day the show airs, since I don’t care about ratings or media buzz or any of that, I record the show and watch it on Friday and Saturday nights so I can drink beer and get stoned while watching it. If it was on Friday, I’d just start puffing and drinking a little later, that’s all, because I’d still record it to zip through the commercials.
Comment by Henry Holland — July 29, 2007 @ 10:41 am
I cannot believe that they would consider moving it to Friday. If they want to get it cancelled, then by all means, move it. Friday is a death trap. No show has ever survived on Fridays! Sure, I would still watch it because I’m a die-hard fan, but the casual audience will not like this. I hope they do not move it, or it will be a ratings repeat of what happened when they moved it to 10:00. Back then: 17 million - 13 million, this time: 13 million - 8 million.
Comment by Helen Roberts — July 29, 2007 @ 2:37 pm
Guys.. I think everyone is misunderstanding what Damon said. His comment about Wednesdays being full was in response to a question asking if ABC would air reruns in the fall. He said no, because Wednesdays are full. With LOST not debuting until February, ABC is doing what FOX does with 24.. they have a show that airs in LOST’s slot in the fall.
This by no means even suggests that the show is moving to Fridays. The whole thing came about because of a question on reruns, not the actual show itself.
Comment by KSChris — July 29, 2007 @ 2:51 pm
WHile, I don’t like the Friday idea, I can see a move like this esp if ABC decides that they want to take over Friday nights and actually get people to stay home and watch TV. You know, like back in the day. Friday & Saturday nights used to be one of the best times to watch TV when I was growing up. I know times have changed, but who’s to say this isn’t a wise choice to completely capture Fridays. They already lost Wednesday. SO maybe they can get Sun, Thurs and Friday. That is if they pair Lost up with a kicking line up for that evening.
All that said, it’ll be DRV’d most likely. Maybe…us fans are crazy to watch it live and they know that.
Comment by downthehatch — July 29, 2007 @ 2:56 pm
Arzt–
I don’t understand why you continue to propagate these self-fulfilling prophecies. So what if Lost moves to Friday night? God forbid we all have to turn on our TVs on a different night and freak out about the impending ratings disaster which you have NO basis to be certain of.
Why is it that every time something slightly bad or alarming is said of Lost, like that Lost was “losing it”, you feel the need to rush to Lost’s defense and acknowledge the fact that their points are even valid? You’re simply accrediting their argument with a veracity that is simply non-existent. We ALL know how good Lost is here, and it frustrates me to see you, clearly one of Lost’s biggest fans, predicting all of these ridiculous things about viewers dropping out and bad media portrayal as a result of Lost’s Emmy snub (and who really gives a rats ass about that anyway).
You, of all people, shouldn’t be helping this “theory” of yours catch on by publishing it on your website and making it known that one of the chief proponents of Lost’s fan base on the internet is already predicting that Lost is going to get its ass kicked next season on very limited and unsubstantiated evidence. So, as much as I hate to say this to you as I respect the work you do here, cut this shit out. You overreacted to the Lost “losing it” phase, you overreacted to the “Emmy snub”, and now you’re overreacting again to this not even substantiated claim about Lost being on a Friday. If you’re seriously this concerned about the future of Lost, why don’t you start being a part of the solution by NOT ACKNOWLEDGING the bullshit that people throw (or will throw) at Lost and stop giving them the extra press on a Lost fan site.
Comment by Roger — July 29, 2007 @ 6:04 pm
Take it easy Roger. We all know there has been discussion about where Lost will fit in ABC’s schedule next season. Despite any comment made at Comic-Con, I think it extremely unlikely ABC would move one of their cash cows (which it still is despite its ratings slippage) to Friday’s graveyard. ABC would not have gone through all those negotiations if it intended to let the show languish on Fridays. They moved it to a later timeslot this year to try and protect its ratings, so why would they try to kill it by moving it to Fridays. Of course that move didn’t work, so I suspect they may move it to an earlier timeslot. It’s first year, it was at 8PM. That’s possible unless they think the sex and violence has become too much for this timeslot. It’s also possible it could move to another night (other than Friday or dead-zone Saturday) at 8 or 9PM. X-Files moved from Fridays (probably the only successful show Fox had on Fridays) to Sundays at 9 and was very successful. I doubt ABC would change its exiting Sunday lineup though since it is working well for them.
Comment by Dana — July 29, 2007 @ 6:53 pm
Well Doc, I kind of hate to say this cause I love the hell out of you and this site, but I’m agreeing with Roger here. You are taking this rumor way too seriously and not giving this incredible show credit for drawing on its own strength.
This is probably all just a big misunderstanding. The only reason Friday night is even being brought up is because the producers responded to a question about repeats. No one ever said Lost was moving to Friday.
But if Lost moved to Friday, I would record Lost on Friday or any day or time they throw it my way. I usually need to see LOST several times to pick up on things I missed the first time. The first time I watch it I am so excited and freaked out that I always miss things. The second time I have calmed down and am ready to start analyzing. I think true Lost fans will do the same. They will watch the show and/or record it whenever ABC runs it.
As far as ABC needing a broader audience for better ratings, then yes, it should go back to 9pm on Wednesdays or stay at 10pm on Wednesdays because the broader audience has already become used to that day and time. I personally don’t care about the broader audience. I am only interested in the true fans who aren’t talking so much crap about how the 1st season was the only good one and the 2nd season was bad and the first episodes of the 3rd one were to please the masses. They don’t really know what they’re talking about, who cares what they say. If any one of those haters could come up with a show that is half as good, they’d be writing for the network and not talking smack on the internet.
I know that ABC needs ratings so I want LOST to do well because if it doesn’t do well, then we lose it and I don’t want to lose it and I know your motive for all this rant is because you don’t want to lose it either. But let’s give the show and the viewers a bit more credit.
Comment by islandgirl329 — July 29, 2007 @ 7:15 pm
We need an anything but Friday and Saturday vote. If it was one of those days this show will turn into a DVR king. Not good.
Comment by pdpuck16 — July 30, 2007 @ 6:19 am
Fridays are bad for all the reasons mentioned above. I for one, have always watched it live on Wed. If it goes to Fridays, I’m sureI’ll be DVR-ing it and watching it over the weekend. It’s just not the same, but I’m not NOT going to go out on Fridays nights to watch it. Real life has to take priority at some point
To add another point, I wouldn’t worry too much if this was the last season. At least we’d get to see the story finish out, but with the dumbass move of 3 short seasons, that means it needs to get picked up 2 more times, and if it’s been dumped to Fridays, that’s not a given
Comment by fish — July 30, 2007 @ 6:33 am
Do you think when Jack told Kate
Comment by BadRobot23 — July 30, 2007 @ 7:36 am
Doc,
I love your site. Your articles are great. But this one is just plain silly. One cannot even begin explaining how improbable this article is.
Comment by berf — July 30, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
I’m pretty sure the ol’ Doc is just seeing your opinion if by CHANCE the show moved to another night, and what night so u think would be the best.
It’s his site, and he can post what he wants. It keeps all of us talking about the best show on TV!
Comment by South_park300 — July 30, 2007 @ 1:26 pm
Wednesday night is good because pizza is cheaper on Wednesdays!
Comment by Captain Mustapha — July 30, 2007 @ 7:14 pm
Dear ABC,
When I heard LOST might be moving to Friday, I threw up in my mouth a little bit.
That is flat out one of the worst ideas ever. I don’t know ANYONE that watches TV on Friday nights. (And I know a hell of A LOT of people in your key demographics.)
The show has GREAT momentum going from the direction the season took after it came back in Feb. from the mini-pod-season-thing. Moving to Friday would kill that momentum. Since the show picked up, according to popular opinion (although I loved it all - even the first 6 eps. of S3), I think you really have the chance to pick up some fans that may have fallen to the wayside. BUT, I think those fans are a whole lot less likely to come back if it’s on an unfmiliar night, esp. Friday, which is not only unfamiliar but downright awful.
Also, from what I hear, (I don’t know since I don’t have a job) people love to discuss Lost at work the day after. I think (just the $0.02 of an armchair marketing consultant) that Wed. night shows are perfectly positioned in the week to maximize that dynamic, because for most people, at that point in the week (Thursday), productivity is lagging so people aren’t as focused on work tasks and more apt to discuss other fascinating non-work related topics, such as Lost. But by Friday, everyone is thinking/talking about the weekend, and ON Friday, everyone’s LIVING their weekend…not watching TV.
And that is why Wednesday is the best possible day, and Friday the worst possible day for Lost.
Love,
Jeff
Comment by Jeff — July 30, 2007 @ 9:51 pm
ABC would lose millions of advertising dollars if it moved Lost to Fridays. Not gonna happen.
Comment by Wayne — July 31, 2007 @ 11:52 am
Jeff - LOL!!! You are funny! But totally right!
:~)
Comment by islandgirl329 — July 31, 2007 @ 7:58 pm
Friday is good for me
Comment by Lost — April 26, 2008 @ 6:06 am