By Tim Surette - TV.com
Reports say show's producers negotiating an extra 60 minutes of the ABC hit; could a two-hour finale be in the works?
Several Thursdays have passed since television viewers last saw a fresh episode of Lost, and the strike-shortened fourth season only has five episodes left. These are dark times for Lost fans, indeed.
However, it appears as though brighter times are in store for the best show on television about polar bears, time-jumping, and staged plane crashes. According to TVGuide.com, producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof are in discussions to add an extra hour of Lost this season. Hooray!
Season four of Lost was originally slated to have 16 episodes, but was cut down to 13 because of the writers strike. The show's producers were having some difficulty squeezing in all season four's storylines into 13 episodes, so an extra 60 minutes would be warmly welcomed.
It's unclear how a 14th hour would be included in season four. As it stands, Lost is returning to the air on April 24 and will wrap up on May 22, along with the finales of Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy. A two-hour season finale would seem unlikely, as Lost will begin airing at 10 p.m. when it returns, and having people stay up until midnight is a ratings death sentence (not to mention the inevitable complaints of insomnia caused by a mind-blowing finale).
Nothing is set in stone yet, but adding an extra hour of Lost seems like a no-brainer. Give it the thumbs up, ABC.