Lost TV Series News and Theories

Last week was a little light on show-related news, but there are a few things worth mentioning:

*Mediaweek published an article related to ABC programming and more specifically, an interview with ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson. Given the success of ABC’s 3 new primetime shows on Wednesday night, it is looking more and more like Lost will be airing on a different night, but again, nothing is official yet.

*Variety posted an article that summarizes why the possible writers strike could very well have a positive impact on Season 4:

ABC’s desire to run the 16 episodes over consecutive weeks without repeats — to keep the show’s dramatic momentum going a la Fox’s “24″ — dictated that fans would have to wait with bated breath for the show to bow in February rather than during the traditional fall rollout.

Now, with the threat of a writers strike becoming a more distinct possibility, “Lost” may wind up being one of the net’s precious few fresh scripted offerings in the season’s second half.

*One thing is for sure about the Season 4 Premiere, it now has a title. BuddyTV posted an article about the premiere, which included the title “The Beginning of the End” and alluded to some photography that TVGuide had posted as it relates to the Premiere.

Have a Happy Halloween!

A couple of things worth pointing out, some of which are spoiler-esque (nothing too, too bad IMO):

Warning, Possible Spoilers!!

*Kristin Dos Santos of E!Online had a couple of interesting items related to Season 4 -

Wendell in Miami: The “radio silence” is killing me! Do you have anything at all to report on Lost?
That makes two of us! I can only tell you that Robin Weigert, who plays Juliet’s cancer-kickin’ (or did she?) sister, Rachel, has a gut feeling she’s going to be back on the show. Robin told me during a visit to her new show, Life, that although nothing has been set in stone: “I think that character will definitely be back at some point, as I think will all of the flashback characters, because there will inevitably be a point when people reconnect. We’ve seen a flash-forward which shows some folks have made it off the island, reconnect with their loved ones. Beyond that, I don’t know.”

Dos Santos goes on to also comment about the potential (most say inevitable) writer’s strike and how that could effect Lost for this season:

The good news is that the Lost writers didn’t take much of a break at all between seasons, and production started in July as usual, despite the delayed season-premiere launch date. So, if the strike does go down, Lost might be one of the few shows we’ll still be seeing after the other series’ eps run dry.

So, good news for us Lost fans, bad news for most other shows…

*As many of you already know, actor Fisher Stevens is joining Lost as the character Minkowski, who we last heard speaking with Jack at the end of Season 3 on Naomi’s phone.

*Variety.com has an article about Lost, featuring an interview with Lindelof and Cuse, that provides pretty good insight into the long wait we are all up against for Season 4, as well as the thought process of the producers and writers related to the finite number of episodes left and how they go about planning the remainder of the show.

One particular line I found interesting alludes to Ben originally only being scheduled to be in 3 episodes of Season 2, but that Emerson’s performance was so powerful his role has grown to where it is now. That has to make writing for a show like Lost extremely difficult. Obviously Cuse and Lindelof know in general where things are going and how they end, but the canvas must really be open in terms of how they get there.

-Jeff Jensen of EW.com recently posted an interesting theory related to a special ability that Ben might possess, an interview with actor/director/Lost fan Kevin Smith and some other info related to our favorite show:

Like Desmond, Ben receives flashes of the future, too. Of course, while Old Bug Eyes has been on The Island longer, and has actively cultivated a deeper rapport with The Island (or is that just Jacob?), Big Bad Ben has banked many, many, many more flashes than the formerly Hatched-trapped Scot.

Jensen goes on to further support the theory, but I do think that it could at least provide the rationalization for why Ben continues on in his current state of existence. It would also explain why he was so adamant about the demise of the Island which the people that are coming at the conclusion of Season 3 represent.

Related to the other reference of The Island and Jacob above, I have also noted this theory found on Dark UFO, which suggests they may be one in the same. I think the prospect of Jacob being a manifestation and communicable form of the Island is more likely than he actually being a living/breathing person with supernatural abilities, specifically given Cuse’s recent comment about the depiction of Jacob in Season 4, etc.

I know there is still a lot of speculation in regards to the official air date for Season 4, and though there is still no “official” word, I am seeing reports that suggest it will remain on Wednesday night, with the time slot TBD. My understanding is that the date and time will be made official within the next few weeks, one way or the other, with the day either being Monday or Wednesday. Which would you prefer?

Finally, a week where there is more to write about more than what Matthew Fox is up to (though there are some unsubstantiated rumors that we could see him playing Superman in the Justice League of America Movie). There is some spoiler-esque information in this post, please be advised, but most of it has to do with a Sci-Fi Wire article that you have probably already read about at this point:

Warning, Possible Spoilers!!

Sci-Fi Wire: There are two interesting things to note about this article. One is that, as you may have expected given the nature of the Jack/Kate flashforward of the Season 3 finale, we will get to play a guessing game each week in determining if we are watching a flashforward or a flashback, which is something that I found compelling about the finale last season.

Secondly, Cuse mentioned specifically that we had not seen Jacob up to the time of the Locke interaction, and further, that they (he and Lindelof) know how Jacob will be “depicted”, with an extra emphasis on the word depicted. Most are assuming that is foreshadowing for an image that we should be looking for this season, but also really leaves it up to interpretation as to when or if we will ever get a good look at Jacob personified.

Lastly, in a press interview promoting the Season 3 DVD, the producers reinforced the fact that they have consistently had an ending in mind, but were basically waiting for the life of the show to be determined before putting the plan into effect to get us there. This is nothing new to most of us, but I definitely think it bodes well for the final 3 seasons; I do not anticipate any filler episodes!