Lost Producers To Eventually Announce Ending, Possibly

When the first series of Lost hit our screens a few years ago, one of our main thoughts - apart from "A polar bear? Huh?" - was "How the merry Dickens are these Lost chaps going to string out such an elaborate set-up for any longer than one series?"

And now we know - in fact, we get the impression that the producers and stars of Lost could happily string Lost out for all of eternity with interminable flashbacks about the time that Charlie stared at a squirrel for over ten solid minutes, hokey hallucination scenes that genuinely have no meaning whatsoever and the introduction of more pointless new Lost characters than you can shake a stick at. Perhaps sensing that the general viewing public is getting fed up with watching 30 seconds of answers padded out with 45 minutes of witless navel gazing, the producers of Lost are doing something unprecedented and may soon announce exactly when Lost will end. Here's a hint; you'll probably be especially old when it happens.

Lost was a sensation when it was first broadcast; it was intelligent, heavily conceptual and full of action. When they saw the spectacular pilot episode, Lost viewers thought "Who are these people? What's this island they're on? How will they get off?" - and they're still waiting for answers. Before they could even get a sniff at those, though, a million more Lost questions and partial answers were hurled at them. Are the islanders alone? (No). What do the numbers mean? (They were ultimately pointless). What about that kid who'd turn up and talk backwards sometimes? (Not a bloody clue, frankly).

Such has been the never-ending parade of Lost's constant meaningless question-asking, the third season of Lost has seen audience figures dropping off dramatically, as the Lost cast became more interesting than the show itself. It's hard to be interested by a man getting biscuits out of a bear cage when more immediately Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje got arrested for driving badly, Cynthia Watros got arrested for drink-driving and Michelle Rodriguez got thrown in prison for drunkenly asking a policeman to shoot her in the head. Most people have stopped caring about Claire's devil-baby, because it's far more interesting to discuss how the character who plays her managed to get married and then divorced in six months. Will Kate choose Jack or Sawyer? Who cares - did you hear that her house just burnt down?

And so on. But, in a double-headed attempt to get people to watch the second half of Lost season three and combat some of the most common complaints about Lost, Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse has told the TV Critics Association press tour that it'll soon be time to announce an end to Lost, as Variety reports:

"It's time for us to find an endpoint to the show… It's a struggle for us, because we don't know if we have three years, four years or more to go. If we had an endpoint, then we could figure out where everything goes." Such a move would placate fans of the show, who frequently gripe that they have no indication whether the show's ever-increasing mysteries will pay off. A set timetable would send a message to viewers that all of their questions will be answered eventually. "Once we figure out when that will be, a lot of those concerns will go away," Cuse said. "The worst point is when a show ends and no one cares. We don't want that to happen. We want to make the shows good for as long as we do the show."

Phew, what a relief. The Lost writers now know they only have to string out Lost for only another three or four years. Who knows how the hell they're going to ferociously pad out the rest of the series in the meantime, since we all know it'll only about ten seconds to show Jack waking up and saying "Wow, it was all a dream" before finding a giant reel of Hanso Foundation Orientation film in his pyjamas and looking quizzically at the camera.

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ABC Mulls Lost Wrap-Up - Variety