Maybe the castaways will get off that haunted island, after all. At least around episode 100, anyway.

At the Television Critics Association tour in Pasadena, Lost's executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof made it clear that they are more than ready to nail down an end date for the series that launched a thousand theories, even if that means committing to another few seasons.

"We're in discussions [with ABC] about picking an end point to the show,'' said Lindelof. ''The underlying anxiety is that this is not going to end well. None of us wants to be on the show that's the stalling show: 'We're building sand castles this week.'"

Part of the problem is the series' particularly dense mythology, which is currently being parcelled out to the audience in small doses. Many viewers have complained that they have no idea when (if ever) their questions will ever be answered. "If we had an endpoint," said Cuse, "then we could figure out where everything goes."

Both Lindelof and Cuse pointed to The X-Files as a cautionary tale of what happens when the studio and network's needs overtake that of the story. "That was a great show that probably ran two seasons too long," said Cuse. "Lost has a much shorter shelf life.''

To that end, the series' producers would like to see Jack and Co. spin their final flashbacks around episode 100 (which would mean another two seasons of Lost, as we're currently at episode 62), allowing the series' writers to devise an endgame that would be ultimately satisfying to the series' fervent fans and allow some careful planning now, rather than down the line.

"J.K. Rowling acknowledged that there would be seven Harry Potter books, so she was certainly driving to a conclusion,'' said Cuse. ''It's time for us to find an end point so a lot of concerns will go away.''

One of those concerns is, to be honest, that Lost's producers (i.e., Cuse, Lindelof, and J.J. Abrams) are making up the plot as they go along. With an end date in sight, they'd be better equipped to structure the remaining seasons, story arcs, and character beats more effectively, creating a tighter show and eliminating those conspiracy theories.

One thing is certain, however. No matter how many more seasons Lost will run, ABC programming execs learned their lesson from this past season and put the final nail in the coffin of the brutal 13-weeks-too-long hiatus for Lost.

Next season, ABC will instead run back to back episodes of Lost in either the fall or midseason. Which means, ladies and gentlemen, 22 episodes of Lost straight through instead of this six on and 13 weeks off nonsense from this season (hey, it's worked for 24). A lesson that's proven particularly invaluable considering that ABC launched Lost this past fall as a springboard for new drama The Nine (pulled after a handful of airings) and subbed in new drama Day Break (itself also canned) during Lost's disappearance from the schedule.

* * *

Meanwhile, over at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' An Evening with Lost event on Saturday night, attendees were treated to a clip package of upcoming scenes and a few hints about upcoming storylines.

It was pretty impressive to see nearly the entire cast (save a noticeably absent Terry O'Quinn) on stage together and, apparently, it was the first time that all of these people have been in the same room together since the shooting of the pilot. (Yes, the PILOT.)

Host Jimmy Kimmel used the opportunity to needle the cast and crew about a particular dislike of his. "I wasn't sorry to see Michelle Rodriguez go," said Kimmel, "and clearly you guys weren't either." (Silence, except for Dominic Monaghan's reply of "Ouch. It just got cold in here.")

Damon Lindelof, J.J. Abrams, and Carlton Cuse acknowledged we would learn how Locke got into that wheelchair (and, no, the answer isn't that he climbed in), how Jack got his tattoos (see: Bai Ling), and if the Others have contact with the outside world, why they didn't just call in a surgeon from the mainland ... all in the next batch of episodes. And we will be seeing several dead characters in an upcoming installment, according to Cuse.

The show's producers again stressed their desire for an end date for the series. They do know the answer to the mystery behind the island and, while a TV series is an organic thing, they do know how they want Lost to end ... even if they stressed that there isn't a single unifying theory to neatly tie up all of the series' mysteries.

"The island is a big spaceship," joked Lindelof.

Among the clip package highlights (beware SPOILERS lurk here!) for those that didn't see enough of them during the Lost Moments clips:

-Kate and Sawyer manage to make it to the shore of the island, but discover that they need to commandeer a boat.

-Juliet orders the Others to capture Kate and Sawyer and kill them if they have to.

-Juliet's treachery is discovered and she awaits a "judgment" from the Others, who have a very strict "eye for an eye" policy when it comes to murder.

-Alex confronts Ben about Karl's whereabouts and learns that he's not dead after all; Ben tells her that she shouldn't call him Ben, leading Alex to spit out the word "Dad" at Ben. (Aha, so I was right: he did raise her as a daughter.) And obviously, Ben survives the operation. (Duh.)

-Jack and Bai Ling have a roll in the hay and get some pretty intense (and intensely pretty) tattoos.

-Desmond has a vision of Claire drowning and swims out into the ocean to rescue her.

-Jack ends up in one of the bear cages and comes face-to-face with the missing Cindy (the flight attendant from Oceanic Flight 815), still very much alive and now one of the Others.

Oh, and apparently Sawyer finds some Dharma brand beer in an upcoming episode.

If that wasn't enough Lost excitement for you, here's the ABC promo for the February 7th launch of the winter season of Lost in a Juliet-oriented episode entitled "Not in Portland."

See you February 7th when Lost return in its new timeslot of 10 pm ET/PT!

* * *

Jace is an LA-based television development and acquisitions junior exec who watches way too much television for his own good and would love a TiVo for every room in the house. (He’s halfway there.) His blog, Televisionary, can be found at televisionary.blogspot.com.

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