Is it me or was there an insane number of commercials ... I have the season pass from the iTMS - that's how I'll be watching it. I got through about the first 30 minutes of the whole block and after seeing 1/2 the Superbowl commercials all over again, I quit... It'd be great to get into the episode, but I can't because I'm watching some über stupid stunt commercial about a truck..

There were no more commercials tonight than there are during every other episode.

I hate having to explain this to people every single week.

It did seem like there were more commercials, but maybe that's because I actually liked this episode.

I think that the episode was just so good and exciting that time flew by so quickly while the commercials seemed to drag.

Seemed about average to me...:shrug:

the only way for me to judge is to rewatch it and fast forward through the commercials. They you actually get to see how much show there actually was.

As Jack said..."You got 3 minutes"...lol

Actually, I too felt there were more commercials this eppy...but actually...there was probably the same amount...

HOWEVER...there's a difference between these eppys and the ones we have seen in the past...With Lost now on at 10pm (EST)...the show is no longer allowed to run 5 minutes long as it has done in the past. ABC is forbidden to infringe on local affiliates newscast starting exactly at 11pm.

So...it could be just be the fact that we got jipped out of our extra 5 minutes of Lost, so the commercials seemed closer together. That's my theory.

But normally, the show segments were: Island Plot....Flashback....Island Plot....Commercial Break.

Tonight felt like: Flashback....Island Plot....Commercial Break.

Thoughts?

Every episode is 40-45 minutes. No episode has more commercials than another - it's always 20~ minutes of commericals per hour.


----------------------------------
LOST IS BACK!

What they do is make ACT 1 and ACT 5 of the episode the longest. ACTS 2-4 are very short and are about the same length as the commericials. Since ACT 1 and ACT 5 of the episode are the most important ACTS. They make them the longest. Did you notice that the last ACT of the episode started at about 10:49 and went all the way till 11.

So during ACTS 2-4 you might get frustrated but just always look forward to the last act which is usually the longest of them all.

Sometimes it just seems like there are more commercials. probably because you haven't seen it in such a long time.

Its called DVR, then you can quit complaining about commercials every single week.

........
you get 42 minutes of lost every week.

***Mod edited to remove rude comment***

There weren't too many commercials, people... it's TV. There are ALWAYS that many commercials. The show was still approximately 42 - 43 minutes in length. I think we all were just so Lost hungry, and the put together such a good show last night that we just we just noticed the commercials more than usual.

I'm still pissed about the move to 10 pm just for that reason. Before, I typically used to get home @ 10, then we'd watch the show off of DVR and fast-forward. Now I get stuck watching. GRRR!!

that's why i like buying the dvds. sometimes it's nicer and much easier to sit and watch the whole episode... but i did think it seemed like evern MORE commercials than ever!

There weren't too many commercials, people... it's TV. There are ALWAYS that many commercials. The show was still approximately 42 - 43 minutes in length. I think we all were just so Lost hungry, and the put together such a good show last night that we just we just noticed the commercials more than usual.


Also, it's been a long hiatus and were so used to watching the episodes online and on Itunes so commercials were alright.:undecide:

I really LOVED this episode though!

Last year I downloaded from iTunes and could see the length of the show each time. Last year shows averaged 47 minutes. This year 42 minutes. This excessive amount of commercials is making me lose any enjoyment of the show. I decided last night to copy on DVD and fast forward or watch from the abc web-site to avoid all the commercials. I won't watch it when it airs anymore. Last night we had 3 minutes before the first batch of commercials began. It's too annoying.

Honestly, I like that the commercials give me some time to process what is going on in little chunks. I watch Lost with a group, but we are all pretty serious about not talking when the show comes on. So the commercials allow us to have a few minutes to talk with each other before the next segment starts.

I really don't think the commercials have increased. However, if they have by a few minutes or so, it's probably because
of that promotion ABC is doing where they're going to be airing these episodes with a few more minutes worth of footage over the summer. That would account for the lost minutes.

Last year I downloaded from iTunes and could see the length of the show each time. Last year shows averaged 47 minutes. This year 42 minutes. This excessive amount of commercials is making me lose any enjoyment of the show. I decided last night to copy on DVD and fast forward or watch from the abc web-site to avoid all the commercials. I won't watch it when it airs anymore. Last night we had 3 minutes before the first batch of commercials began. It's too annoying.

47 minutes? To be honest, that seems very unlikely when I see things like this:

Yeah, as Starrox and others have said, the ammount of commercials in the US is pretty much the same as it always has been. For a handy comparison, here are the rough timings I have for the length of the episodes. :)

Season One

41:30 - Pilot Part One
41:38 - Pilot Part Two
42:32 - Tabula Rasa
41:54 - Walkabout
41:37 - White Rabbit
42:04 - House Of The Rising Sun
42:26 - The Moth
42:25 - Confidence Man
42:13 - Solitary
42:01 - Raised By Another
41:27 - All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues
42:31 - Whatever The Case May Be
42:31 - Hearts And Minds
42:28 - Special
40:45 - Homecoming
42:21 - Outlaws
42:19 - ... In Translation
42:20 - Numbers
41:47 - Deus Ex Machina
42:28 - Do No Harm
42:24 - The Greater Good
42:32 - Born To Run
42:29 - Exodus Part One
84:10 - Exodus Part Two *Equivalent of 42:05 each.

Season Two

42:22 - Man Of Science, Man Of Faith
41:26 - Adrift
41:54 - Orientation
42:05 - Everybody Hates Hugo
41:33 - ...And Found
41:52 - Abandoned
45:24 - The Other 48 Days
41:35 - Collision
45:02 - What Kate Did
42:19 - The 23rd Psalm
42:17 - The Hunting Party
42:12 - Fire + Water
43:30 - The Long Con
43:52 - One Of Them
45:03 - Maternity Leave
42:12 - The Whole Truth
42:13 - Lockdown
45:28 - Dave
42:11 - SOS
42:16 - Two For The Road
45:03 - ?
44:22 - Three Minutes
86:05 - Live Together, Die Alone *Equivalent of 43:03 each

Season Three

42:15 - A Tale Of Two Cities
42:15 - The Glass Ballerina

This is without commercials, from the start of the episode (or any "Previously on Lost..." segment) until the words LOST appear at the end. Not including the end credits, as these often have promos running over them, which are a commercial of sorts). From DVR recording of US airings. Timings may vary slightly to other recordings. Timings may vary internationally due to differences in frame rate etc.

I put the timings first so you can read straight down and get an at-a-glance look at the timings for the different episodes.

So pretty much all the episodes have been of a similar length. The episode with the most commercials within the hour airing slot looks to be Homecoming.

Certainly there has been no particular reduction in length of actual content in the new S3 episodes, so any perception that we are getting less Lost and more commercials per "hour" is erroneous.

Perhaps it just seems that way because there are more actual commercials being into the same space of time (ie shorter individual commercials)?

So all episodes airing in a normal 60 minutes-timeslot got 42 to 43 minutes plus 40 seconds for the end credits, not more! The version of "I do" on iTunes is 43:47 minutes long, but that includes a trailer at the beginning and at the end plus the complete credits.

ETA: Checked the length of the end credits and of the remaining 5 episodes of season 3...

41:05 Further instructions
42:17 Every man for himself
42:22 The cost of living
42:11 I do
42:14 Not in Portland

I hate having to explain this to people every single week.
You really don't have to though... you know that, right? You could just let it lie and not make a snarky comment and irritate yourself in the process. You could just let things flow and move on to a different topic...

Did anyone else make the connection about "three minutes"? It's the same thing that Ms. Klugh said to Michael in the "3 Minutes" episode when he wanted to see Walt ... "You have three minutes".

#1) Get DVD-R
#2) Record Lost
#3) Start watching at 10:20
#4) Fast forward through all those annoying commercials
#5) Watch LOST again to try and find things you may have missed the first time around!

this is my failsafe ;)

Can we find something more interesting to worry about? Do some research, when you notice the episode duration drop below 40+ minutes then sound the alarms.

i couldn't take all the commercials, stopped watching it on-air

it's such a letdown to get exited about stuff and the plot, and next moment BAZAAMMM!!! MONSTERTRUCKS, FINEST MACHINES OF MAN HAS EVER MADE - ALSO EAT PAMPERS WITH SMOOTHIES CALORIES WITH POOP.

better to watch the ep later without commerials at all, way way better

it's such a letdown to get exited about stuff and the plot, and next moment BAZAAMMM!!!! MONSTERTRUCKS, FINEST MACHINES OF MAN HAS EVER MADE-ALSO EAT PAMPERS WITH SMOOTHIES CALORIES WITH POOP.


WHAT?!!!!!