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Lost Reviews and News

Lost to Air Without Repeats in Season 3

Lost The third season of "Lost" won't have any repeats.

But don't get too excited ...

TV Squad says ABC will broadcast the first seven episodes of "Lost," then put the show on hiatus "for a number of weeks" before bringing it back for a second chunk of episodes.

Yeah. It's weird.

That "for a number of weeks" bit could be much longer than it initially seems. The typical TV season lasts around 35 weeks, so if "Lost" takes up 24 of those weeks, that leaves 11 left over. An 11-week hiatus is better characterized as a "boatload of weeks" or a "friggin' lot of weeks" or "oh my God, 11 weeks!"

If this schedule holds, the third season will look something like this:

  • Episode Nos. 1-7
  • Hiatus (the timeslot will be occupied by the new drama "Day Break")
  • Episode Nos. 8-24
As wacky as it might seem, this new consecutive-episode format could offset the audience attrition that's hindered the repeat-heavy second season. -- Mac Slocum

(Thanks to Jason for the story tip.)


Posted by Mac Slocum on May 16, 2006 5:06 PM |




What about episode No.8 ?

#1. Posted by: Sabrina at May 16, 2006 5:28 PM

Episodes 4, 8, 15, 16, and 23 will not air ;)

Just kidding. The missing 8 was a typo. Sorry about that! -- Mac

#2. Posted by: mac at May 16, 2006 5:31 PM

You know, I wouldn't have put it past them to do something like that!
I really enjoy your words each week, by the way.. You always seem to catch things that I miss. (Like the broken beams around the camera in the Pearl)

#3. Posted by: Sabrina at May 16, 2006 5:40 PM

Sabrina -- Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy my borderline psychotic observations ;)

-- Mac

#4. Posted by: mac at May 16, 2006 5:42 PM

borderline? heh

#5. Posted by: Laura at May 17, 2006 12:47 AM

I was giving myself the benefit of the doubt. After the next three episodes, I'm sure I'll launch headlong into full psychosis ;)

#6. Posted by: mac at May 17, 2006 12:52 AM

I think I like this. Lost needs to be watched with regular continuity, not a few episodes here and there.

How will you manage seven and sixteen glorious recaps in a row?

And just how much of an effort does it take for you to write an episode review. I'm sure you're exhausted after writing a review.

#7. Posted by: patboone at May 17, 2006 4:24 AM

patboone -- Oh I'll figure it out somehow. It'll just be a marathon, not a sprint ;)

It takes me between 4 and 5 hours to write the review (10 p.m. - 2 or 3 a.m.), then I get up the next morning and edit for at least an hour before posting.

So, it's a pretty big job but it's a hell of a lot of fun! -- Mac

#8. Posted by: mac at May 17, 2006 10:51 AM

I think this will be a good thing - it has worked really well for Battlestar Galactica - I acually look forward to each new 'season' - I prefer being able to watch a chunk of new episodes without the constant interruptions.

#9. Posted by: ropbynware at May 17, 2006 12:51 PM

11 weeks!!! Wow, thats going to be unbearable. I would rather that they delay the start of the season by a few weeks as i will not be in the country at that time. i can only wish!!! anyway, mac do you have any idea if we can download the episodes from countries in africa through itunes? coz i read somewhere that itunes is not available in all countries.

#10. Posted by: katePlusSun=Fun at May 17, 2006 12:54 PM

Wouldn't you think, with 24 epsidoes, they would do a 1-8, 9-16, 17-24 format with two breaks? Makes more sense...

#11. Posted by: The Duf at May 17, 2006 1:29 PM

I'm 99% sure that the nutcases over at 4815162342.com have confirmed there will only be 22 episodes in season 3.

#12. Posted by: Chad at May 17, 2006 2:46 PM

The 22 episodes probably account for a two-hour premiere and a two-hour finale, technically amounting to a 24-episode season.

Speaking of 24, they should do what FOX does with that series. Start the season in January and keep it going non-stop.

#13. Posted by: James at May 17, 2006 4:53 PM

Wow, 4-5 hours?! That's a friggin' long time, mac! You should get paid for that. No, really, you should. Just think: Billable Hours. :)
I don't know if I like the idea of a longer wait between episode chunks. I hate waiting for stuff (mac's reviews included. lol!) but 2 or 3 weeks 6 times is better than 11 weeks once or twice. At least you can quench a little bit of your appetite in between eps. Ties you over, ya know? I need my fixin's regularly!

#14. Posted by: Trinity at May 17, 2006 10:18 PM

ha ha who cares. i'm not in the usa. we get the episodes on axn here. they start showing when it is normally half over but we NEVER get hiatus so i can watch every single week. no worries at all. getting it later doesn't matter at all.

#15. Posted by: anonymous at May 18, 2006 3:59 AM

taking a wild guess i'd say that is romania u're talking about :D

#16. Posted by: Skandalouz at May 18, 2006 8:41 AM

Well, no matter where you are, you should be able to watch the episodes on the ABC website the day after they air.

#17. Posted by: Zeppo at May 18, 2006 9:46 AM

I know regular viewers hate the recap shows but they can be uber helpful in bringing people up to speed who have either wandered from the show or who haven't viewed previously... it might serve ABC well to develop a one or two week "primer" (Lost for noobs?) that could air before the new season, to draw people in...

I think one problem they're having, sadly, is the epidemic of short attention spans. 24 juices this by having a ton of action and delivering twists and turns every week, which, really, is one of the reasons I don't like it. I got into Lost during the second season, after watching one of the recap episodes and then immeadiately Netflixing the first season... So I'm dying for the Second Season DVDs to come out (OCTOBER!?!? Come on!!! They need to come out earlier to give people time to catch up before Season 3 starts...) so I can catch up on the first eps of this season that I missed.

Anyway, I'm just biding time until Mac posts the review from last night... I actually took notes to organize my thoughts last night... heh...

obsessive?
BH

#18. Posted by: biohazard at May 18, 2006 11:37 AM

I'm not in favor of the chunk approach. I think they're going to lose more viewers that way. An 11 week hiatus is asking for death IMO.

I think a better approach would be to have a B-series. That is, new Lost episodes that focus mainly on all the other castaways who only get the occasional walk-thru. There are dozens of them; what are their stories? The core actors would have small interactions with them in passing. Hollywood has tons of writers looking for work. Give it to them.

A few of the cable networks have finally figured out that TV is a 24-7-365 world, and have introduced summer series. Monk, Nip/Tuck, The 4400, Dead Zone, etc. The regular networks should wise up. Funny how the soap operas can run a new episode almost every day, yet the big shows struggle to get one out every 3 weeks. Maybe they should try actually working for a living? Come on, how tough is it really for some of Lost's core actors when they have 3 minutes of screen time every other episode? A 34 week season should have at least 28 episodes, not including a recap show or two.

#19. Posted by: ATP at May 18, 2006 12:13 PM

I wonder if they'll release a half-season DVD set like Battlestar Galactica did.

#20. Posted by: jcs at May 23, 2006 2:44 PM

it´s great that season 3 not contains repeats, but 11 weeks pause. I thought it was enough with the 8 (or more)weeks pause this season. Hopefully it won´t take that long here

#21. Posted by: Håvard Skogerbø at June 4, 2006 1:25 PM

what are the broken beams in the pearl around the camera in the pearl?

#22. Posted by: losty at June 10, 2006 8:50 AM

Karlikurod4

#23. Posted by: Karlikurod1 at September 13, 2006 10:29 PM

Hey - has anybody out there taped the season 3 episodes? I've only seen episodes 1 and 2 from this season and want to catch up. If there really aren't going to be reruns, I don't know what I'm going to do. If anybody has them, would you mind copying and sending them to me? If so, respond to this message and we'll talk details afterwards.

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