Almost two years ago I commented on the fact that the producers of Lost stated they had an 8 year arc in mind for the show, and how that was a really bad idea. Today in Variety comes a story stating that the execs in charge are getting antsy about defining when the show will end and that they in fact do not want to end up going off the air like X-Files. By the time that show ended, did anyone, including the majority of hard-core fans of the show, even care anymore?
A sign that they may be “getting it” comes from executive producer Carlton Cruse:
“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.”
I’ve made the Lost/X-Files comparison here more than once and it’s good to hear that the folks in charge finally have that issue showing up on their radar. They would do best not to ignore it and if it were up to me I would wrap this whole thing up by the end of next season at the latest.
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There’s more than just the issue of fans not knowing when this will end, it’s also the frustration of not knowing for sure what “world” we’re in: Is this Sci-Fi? Is it supernatural? Or will it all have some plausible “real world” explanation? At this point it’s showing signs of being at least the first two.
Tell you one thing, it sure as hell had better not be what one commenter on this site suggested: The equivalent of The Matrix, where none of this actually really happened. If that’s the case, I think one season would be forgivable, but if they were to use that plot device and this thing dragged us along for five or six seasons I think fans would lay seige to the studio. 
Even if it goes seven seasons (per the actors’ contracts) that’s too long. I say much better to end Lost while it’s on top and leave people begging for more than to jump the shark, have ratings fizzle away and have the show end up on the junk pile of TV history.
Source: Rope of Silicon
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7 Comments
The perfect story arc was developed through Babylon Five. The produced planned it in advanced, developed it slowly and brilliantly. I remember watching a short scene in Season One which wasn’t explained or referenced until Season Two.
The problem with the Xfiles was that the producer had a vague idea, but not sure arc. As a result he had to keep reinventing itself. Consistency and logic be damned. If Christ Carter does an XFILES movie now, I want to see it be the invasion. I want flying spaceships or a society under open domination with Scully and Mulder as leaders of the resistance. If Carter tries to continue with the FBI conspiracy thing, I won’t go.
It still blows my mind that Chris Carter did NOT have a solid answer/resolution to the whole thing before he produced a single episode. For a show like that, that’s suicide. It would be like Rod Serling writing a “Twilight Zone” episode not knowing what the twist at the end would be!
Vic
I’ve read that the creators of NBC’s “Heroes” have a 3-season arc planned out. This article kind of brought that to mind.
As a side note, I was kind of surprised you haven’t mentioned “Heroes” on Screenrant yet, considering I’ve read a good number of fans of “Lost” have latched onto that show, and also for having a similar episode structure (each episode is a chapter in a larger story, much like “Lost” or “24″).
Will we ever hear you comment on “Heroes”?
Many apologies for the multiple posts. My browser didn’t want to load the revised page after I hit “post” and I assumed it wasn’t successful and attempted to re-upload. Little did I know…
Feel free to delete the copies and this post as well. If there was a mechanism for doing this myself, I would.
Jersey,
Don’t worry about it. My site was running really slow and I’ve taken steps to speed it up considerably.
Vic
They really need to get a story line with LOST. After last night’s episode with the diamond couple – Hey, who the heck are they?? and no real story going on, it’s time to get a theme and get moving. About NOTHING happens per episode. They just run around from one unrelated event to another. Anyway, if this season doesn’t get some flow, I’m no loger a Lost watcher.
Bev,
Great summary of the series as a whole! As to the two characters from this last episode, they did appear briefly in a couple of earlier episodes. It was during THOSE episodes that I thought “who the heck are they?” I guess the reason they were introduced briefly a while back was for this one.
Pretty much a non-sequitur waste of time.
Vic
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