TV Guide‘s Michael Ausiello is reporting that the current season of Lost may be extended an episode if negotiations between producers and ABC work out.
The current season is set to run for thirteen episodes but an additional episode could be ordered and produced for the series’ fourth season. The season was originally supposed to run sixteen episodes but was shortened due to the writers strike.
Ausiello told readers that while negotiations are on-going, this is not a done deal.
“In fact, the scheduling hurdles alone are enough to make a grown man cry,” wrote Ausiello on his TV Guide blog. “But you have to admit, the prospect of a 14th hour is a tantalizing one.”
The prospect of a fourteenth episode brings up some interesting questions about the rest of the season for the hit drama. One of the biggest is when would this proposed episode air. Lost is scheduled to end it season on May 22 as part of a big night of finales for the network. Ausiello speculates that a two-night event for the show could be one way to resolve this question.
Also, there is the question of how this could impact the completed episodes. Would they have to be re-edited for the new fourteenth episode?
Currently, Lost is set to end its season on May 22. The series will return with new episodes on April 24th in its new time slot of 10 p.m. EST.
Maybe an extended finale?
That’s what I’m hoping for. It just wouldn’t be LOST without a 2-hr season finale.