Saunders: Finally, 'Lost' fans lost no more

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Will viewers again find Lost?

Executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are cautiously optimistic as the island adventure returns to ABC Wednesday with the first of 16 consecutive episodes in a new time period (9 p.m.) on Denver's 7.

"Cautiously optimistic" is a legitimate description, since there has been much conjecture among viewers, critics and network executives who fear that the series may have lost its momentum, along with precious audience ratings.

Lost premiered its third season last fall only to take a break after six episodes, leaving plotlines dangling like icicles on Denver's frozen trees. The fall story-line arc created too many plots with too little time to flesh them out.

Still, the producers think the 16 episodes, with no repeats, should re-establish the "Losties" fan club.

Among the first story lines to be resumed: the kidnapping of Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) by The Others, the mysterious island group.

In many ways, Lindelof and Cuse are refreshingly frank regarding their series, staying away from the traditional Hollywood hoopla dictating that producers smile and paint rosy scenarios about their series.

When asked whether he thinks Lost fans will return, Cuse replies, "I think the question is 'What size audience does Lost deserve to have?'

"I think that we never - no one expected the show to work. No one expected it to have a large audience."

He adds that Lost has a "natural attrition" due to the fact that the series requires "vigilant maintenance."

"It's a complicated show. It's hard to drop in and drop out."

Says Lindeloff: "Lost requires a very intense and ongoing commitment."

On the plus side, he notes, "If you look at the 18-to-49 demographic that the show has been getting versus what it was getting in season one, the attrition hasn't been that significant."

The style and plot of Lost have changed dramatically since the first episodes were aired in September 2004, when the survivors of an airliner crash gathered on a seemingly deserted island.

Where were Jeff Probst and the Survivor cameramen?

Lindelof calls the evolution of Lost's sometimes-convoluted story lines an "organic process."

"Lost came together very quickly," he says. "During that time, it was all we could do to write the outline, write the pilot and put the cast together.

"We then had preliminary conversations about 'What is this island? Who are these people?' If Kate's in handcuffs, we need to know what Kate did.

"And the plots evolved from there after we determined the island contained many secrets."

It will be difficult for new curious viewers to visit the island without getting lost in the tangled story-line vines. Still, Cuse, Lindelof and ABC executives are hopeful that Lost's 16-week, no-rerun schedule will provide a healthy audience hike during the February and May sweeps periods.

Today's nostalgia

On Feb. 6, 1995, NBC aired Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, a fact-based TV movie starring Glenn Close as an Army officer discharged for being a lesbian.

Chatter

"I am a singer, a dancer and a superstar. You can ask my family. You can ask my friends. You can ask my therapists."

Ian Benardo, New York contestant auditioning for American Idol

• 7 tonight, Fox31

. . . everybody knows

80sTees.com, the leading online retailer of nostalgic licensed pop culture T-shirts, announced that Cheers was the winner of its online poll to select the "Best TV Theme Song." Other themes in the final round:

• The A-Team

• Batman

• The Dukes of Hazzard

Tonight's best

House (8 p.m, Fox31), which returned to the lineup last Tuesday with one of its largest audience ratings ever, features the tempestuous doctor using a wheelchair as part of his plan to get back a hospital parking place given to a paralyzed employee.

Along the way, House helps a teen with respiratory problems.

Hugh Laurie continues to etch one of the most compel- ling char- acters on series television.

• February is Black History month, and PBS' Nova looks at the life of Percy Julian, who won worldwide acclaim for his work in organic chemistry and, after forming his own private lab, became a self-made millionaire. The grandson of Alabama slaves, he met with countless barriers in a highly segregated nation. Courtney B. Vance narrates the two-hour Forgotten Genius. 7 p.m., KRMA-Channel 6.

Weatherman report

Nick O'Kelly, a 9News weathercaster since August 2004, has departed to go into private business.

"Nick is an entrepreneur and wanted to do some business things on his own," said Mark Cornetta, 9News president and general manager. "It was his decision.'

O'Kelly, who reported weather in early-morning news shows on 9News and Channel 20, was unavailable for comment.

A search is on for his replacement.

Cancellation

Reba McEntire's six-season comedy series ends Feb. 18 with back-to-back half-hours.

While Reba, on the defunct WB for five seasons, featured predictable sitcom story lines, McEntire's personality provided a reason to tune in.

Ratings of Reba, now on the CW Network, are higher than the ratings for all four of the network's Monday-night block of comedies: Everybody Loves Chris, All of Us, Girlfriends and The Game.

Father who?

And this must be seen to be believed: Don Rickles as a priest on The Unit (8 p.m. today, CBS 4).

Would you confess your sins to him?