Hi Gregg,

I have asked this question in J.J.s forum but he is obviously a very busy guy and is hard to get an answer from!

Anyway. Do you have an idea of how many seasons/years Lost is going to run for? How long has ABC bought the show for or do they go on a season by season basis.

Thanks for your time.

David.

David,

Lost is picked up on a season by season basis, so it's not like ABC picked it up for five seasons and everyone can breathe easy. In general, getting to 100 episodes is the number to shoot for (which is about five seasons) because that used to be the number at which the show would be sold into syndication (or reruns in viewer language). In the current TV world, the 100 number isn't as set in stone as it used to be. Some shows syndicate after two or three seasons.

But how long will Lost go? As long as there are interesting stories to tell and there's an audience. If the audience were to fall tomorrow to the lowest ratings ABC has ever had, we probably wouldn't get picked up.

Personally I don't think Lost has anything to worry about as far as stories go. I think the writers have been very smart about setting up characters and mysteries, giving answers and posing new questions, that allow interesting stories to develop and continue for many more seasons.

As way of an example, think of Buffy and Twin Peaks. Buffy had enough interesting stories to last for seven seasons, but Twin Peaks stumbled in the middle of the second season and never recovered. (And I love both shows.) So it's difficult to answer that question because no one really knows.

Thank you Gregg for an excellent explanation.

As most people obviously know LOST is a different show in the respect that it has a lot of unanswered puzzles and stories etc. and I don’t know how all us LOST fans will cope if it was all of a suddenly pulled with no explanation to the mysteries and puzzles. But as you have just explained (and all of us fans know) LOST has fantastic plot and story lines and it is a unique and original show that has not been seen on TV for years so we all think it will run for along time.

WOW I have just corresponded with a VIP on LOST that is totally excellent dud….. nope I must stop saying that. That phrase seams to be getting worn out.

As I am from the UK (and have to wait a few months for season 2. ) I will just say cheers Gregg. Good luck on the future of LOST and on your career.

It’s nice to see that there are so many UK fans out there. I loved the ad campaign Channel 4 did for Lost. Those promos shot by David LaChapelle were fantastic.

It’s interesting to note that the concept of a season is different in America than it is in the UK. The American season seems influenced by the school year, which runs from August to May with summer break in between. I guess the thinking was during the summer no one would be around to watch TV so what’s the point of producing first-run shows? So they started airing repeats during the summer and created the TV season of August to May. The number of episodes during a season has varied, with maybe 32-36 in the 1950s and 1960s to 23-27 today. (I may be really off on those numbers so don’t hold me to them.) And in general it’s all funded through ad-based sales, so that’s where the budgets came from for so many episodes.

However, in the UK it’s my understanding that the BBC used to provide the funding for shows without taking into consideration ratings or ad sales. (Did the BBC used to show commercials? Do they even now?) Since the funding came from the government through the BBC, they would only budget for six or so episodes, which would comprise one season. If it was a hit, then they would do another six or so episodes which would be the second season.

Of course I could be completely wrong, but that’s how it was explained to me. I know from a creative stand point that it’s easier to plan for a six episode season than a 23 episode season. When you have to create the overall arc for the season, and the various character arcs through so many episodes, it’s easier to break it down into chucks of episodes.

Gregg,

Over hear in the UK, LOST was mainly shown on ‘Channel 4’ with repeats and next weeks ‘Channel 4’ episode shown on a channel called ‘E4’. These 2 channels run in unison with repeats from ‘Channel 4’ usually shown on ’E4’. Both of these shows have add breaks in them so I guess most of the funding comes from ads.

The BBC (spit, cough, puke, $*#£ etc.) – sorry just a British adverse reaction there!!! – where was I . Oh yeah the BBC does not have any adverts on their stiff upper lip British channel (unlike the funky young and excellent ‘Channel 4’ and ‘E4’) and we poor Brits. have to pay a licence fee to the BBC to watch TV otherwise we get nicked mate. Sorry. In your language – you get a fine. Most of us Brits. still don’t understand why we have to pay a licence fee to the BBC to watch other channels, but that’s us strange English laws for you.

If you ever meet Dominic Monaghan ask him about the BBC licence fee and see if his face goes a funny colour!

I have to go beddy-byes now as some of us have boring 8 to 5 job to go to tomorrow. Unlike some people who have a fantastic job such as LOST to …errrr …get lost in. OK I’m tired now and my brain hurts!

Thanks again Gregg for being so informative and helpful.