TVSquad

The important thing is not *how many* episodes are left, it's that there is an agreed-upon set amount. This is great news (although I'd rather have two supersized seasons than three short ones) and it will give Cuse and Lindleoff a chance to really tie things togeter properly.

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Enh... I can deal with three more seasons. I'd have much preferred two 24 episode seasons so we'd be done by 2009, but if this is the way it's going to be, then so be it.

This had better mean that we're done with all the fluff episodes. Every episode needs to have real meat in it. It'll take them that long just to answer all the questions that have been dangling since season one.

They really needed to do this, because I was about to lose interest in caring about this show on a week to week basis. I was at the point of just wanting to wait until each season was over and watching the DVD set.

I have a slightly more positive feeling now.

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I concur ... this is good ... it will allow the creators to properly plan out the story arcs exactly ...

as for ABC ... they have to be the greediest bunch of @$*@$# out there ...

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Stretching this out 3 seasons is a little ridiculous. I am a LOST fan, but we all know that this thing has peaked.

Part of the problem is the very apparent strategy to drag this on and on, and it alienates the audience.

HBO did this with The Sopranos in its quest to squeeze every last drop out of the series. All it did was piss off die hard viewers.

So basically, there will be no resolution until 2010.

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this news is a double edge sword for me. Great that they have agreed on a finishing point so we don't get strung along like XFiles. But bad if the story still can't hold it.

The question now is will all of these new smaller seasons all start in January each year? The wait shouldn't be too bad. I'm used to BBC shows doing this for years now.

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Ugh. I had hoped the rumors last week of two more seasons at 24 episodes each were true.

I suppose the seasons will run mid-February through May.

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what a joke. 16 episodes isn't a season. get your act together and give us two real 24 episode seasons.

lost will be lucky to have 10 million people watching it by its finale. maybe they should move it to 11pm or to Friday night and see how many people stick around

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I agree with everyone who says this is dragging out. Talk about milking a cash cow that's past its prime.

Get ON WITH IT already and put us out of our misery. 16 episodes a season is just crap.

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If they are going to do 16 ep seasons i hope they do the 5th season from Jan. and then start up the last season again in aug/sept or something like that.. If not its going to be way too long to wait!

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Too bad it's not 108 episodes ... that'd be clever. I'd sacrifice 12 episodes to be clever.

Wait ... 4 + 8 + 108 = 120 ... OHHHH

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Way too long. I was hoping it'd end this season or next.

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Only time will tell if this is a good decision. I certainly like the idea of being able to look forward to the show for 3 more years, but only if they can really make it work and keep the quality of the show high. Having the show go on for longer is of course a great thing but if it leads to sloppy writing and filler episodes (which we've sort of already seen, no?), I'm not sure it'll pay off.

I hope they don't reach the level that 24 has gotten to... and the thing is, 24 can come up with whole new story lines each season and lost can only go in so many directions. We'll see. I definitely believe that lost at its best is much better than 24 has ever been, so I have more faith in the lost writers, but again... how much more can they really squeeze onto or out of that island?

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Some of you guys act like it's a chore to watch this show. Come on, you make it sound like there's no reason to watch until 2010. If you don't like the show, then don't watch! Sit down in late 2010, and watch the DVD sets if this frustrates you so much. I hate to see so many unhappy people. Just imagine - you could actually enjoy watching TV again if you just forgot about LOST for 3 years! Oh what a wonderful world that would be.

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I would rather see 2 24 episode seasons. That would mean they could run them in 12 episode blocks. 1 12 block in the fall and another in the spring. I am definitely used to waiting longer though, since I watch many cable shows like Rescue Me, Weeds, Big Love, Entourage and The Shield. My only gripe is that they'll probably charge the same price for the DVD sets that they will for the first three seasons, and get less episodes for your money.

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Hopefully this will also help them hold on to their actors, who are increasingly in demand for movie roles. 16 episodes allows a lot more off-time.

on the down side... 36 weeks is along time, and with a show like Lost, where every detail counts, I think a lot of people will just, pardon the pun, be lost.

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Everyone who's complaining it just mad that they aren't getting the resolution sooner rather than later. Waa Waa Waa

Get over it. You'll still watch. You'll just have to watch one more year than you were hoping.

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I would have preferred two seasons of 24 episodes, but I suppose this decision represents a compromise between the show and the network. The important thing is that there's an end point for the writers to work towards, and they can pace the storylines and revelations accordingly.

Who knows? Maybe the extra twenty episodes will allow them to flesh out some new characters or experiment in interesting ways.

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This is stupid. The writers said they won't reveal what the island is until the last episode but ABC wants to milk the show for all it's worth. Why have three smaller seasons instead of 2? More DVDs sales. I hope this backfires for ABC because the writers don't want this, the fans don't want this. So ABC fuck you.

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This is good because 22 episodes are the maximum they can do each year and with 16 episodes they have more time to work on everything, get more free time in and most of all can keep all the actors on board. And six seasons usually is the amount actors sign on in the first place.

Also after season 5 it will go into syndication giving it an opportunity to get more people watching in season 6.

But most of all I'd love to see a "Lost" movie. They should think about it - if all the actors can't find good movies to star in in the additional 6 weeks of free time each year they could cram it in between seasons 5 and 6.

I'm almost willing to bet money on them doing this :-)

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Are you people crazy? I have never heard so many people bitching that a show that they like to watch is going to be on for a longer time frame. Why did you guys start watching the show in the first place? Maybe it's me, but I'm just happy watching my favorite losties run around the island interact with each other. As much as I want my answers to what the heck is going on, I'm content just watching the show for what it is.

If you're all so pissed off about being FORCED to watch Lost for three years instead of two, just wait until the DVDs come out and watch all of season 4, 5 and 6 in a weekend marathon and stop bitching. Seriously.

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