My summary of last Lost episode;

- Producers decide to finally do an episode about Jack's tattoos, whilst the viewing figures continue to go down (11%). Producers can't quite understand why people are stopping watching, but tattoos will totally bring them back.

- Promo people REALLY HAPPY!

- How to break the story: pick several ideas out of a hat, try to hatchet them together, end up with a script which makes no sense, has no purpose to the overall arc, sidelines nearly all of the cast, provides no compelling reason to watch, adds more layers of mystery without explaining anything..

Just to summarise it up, we went 9 episodes on another island in an underground base thing, kidnapped 4 people, let 3 go, left the island, didn't explain what anything meant to the viewer, sidelined most of the core cast and lost a good chunk of the viewers.

Apologies if any of the LOST producers read here, but seriously guys: you suck.

I haven't dropped the season pass, yet. I think it's because my TiVo is still shiny and new and I want to use it to record everything! Otherwise, I'm paralyzed with not caring about Jack, Sawyer or Kate.

I just checked out Lost's recent ratings. 12m. I'm wondering how much Lost costs an episode.

Is 12m good or bad? I live life with Veronica Mars ratings, and if VM ever got 12m, we'd be in CRAZY WACKY LAND.

12M is the lowest Lost has ever gotten. If the ratings stay there (or go down), it's possible that the show could go bye-bye.

According to ABC News: [link]

Also like "The X-Files," "Lost" proved that offbeat tales and characters can mean a limited shelf life.

Y'know? There are an awful lot of shows that didn't run 9 seasons that could've been use as an example here.

However much X-Files sucked by the time it died, NINE seasons is a damn good run for any show.

Not making five seasons (the optimal money-making point for syndication) is actually a bit of a black mark for any show. It will make significantly less money in the long run (though DVD is changing that).

Lost is likely looking at less than five.

Well, I can't find a per episode cost so it's hard to say for me. I do know they're getting almost a million per episode from 'Sky' (UK company owned by Fox Corp), which is a deal for two seasons (up to end of season 4). I'd imagine that deal isn't the only one. Does ABC get the money for syndication abroad, DVD and all that raz? I'd imagine they will get at least a few more years of expensive international distribution rights, and strongish DVD sales, but it depends if the network cares about that.

They need to get in gear and try to get the audience back. And that doesn't mean the marketing department going "The mysteries are finally explained!" every. single. trailer.

Personally, I think if they move any plot arc ideas forward (assuming they actually have plans) and just STOP adding more mystery, they might be okay. To me, it's like they're disappearing up their own fandom arseholes, thinking it'll be okay in the long run.

One factor nobody is considering yet is several of the producers are due to disappear into Star Trek (the movie) when it goes into production. That will either help things (fresh blood?), or derail it totally.

I hope they get to season 5, because I would like most of that season devoted to what happens when they get back to "the real world."