ABC To Announce Future Of "Lost" Today

How was that for an attention grabbing headline?

Take a deep breath, “Lost” fans. What I’m about to tell you is actually good news…

ABC is expected to announce today that “Lost” will end in 2010 after three more shortened 16-episode seasons. The episodes will air repeat-free from February to May (a la “24”).

Executive Producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof have signed new contracts that will keep them on the show for the duration.

Why is this good news? Because it means that Cuse and Lindelof now have an endpoint from which to map out the show and presumably provide all of the answers. And running the episodes from February to May without interruption is really the only way to do a serial show…

If there’s a downside it’s that Cuse and Lindelof now have 48 more episodes to stretch this thing out…

Lindelof promises “USA Today” that the “answer-filled” season finale will begin to give the audience an idea of where the show is headed “and it will not be at all what they expect.”

“The last five minutes of the finale are going to seal our fate.” Hmmm…

The two-hour “Lost” season finale airs May 23rd at 9 p.m. on ABC…

Photo courtesy of Gannett News Service