It's all HBO's fault

Actually, it's all David Chase's fault. David Chase is the brains behind the Sopranos and he worked out this deal with HBO that the show would run for 16 weeks and then wouldn't run again for almost another year. The idea is that this gave him and his team time to be creative.

I appreciate the whole creative idea, but I just have a hard time picking shows back up after a 9 or 10 month break. I spend the first few episodes kinda getting my brain around what's happening again and have forgotten plot lines and minor characters. Maybe I'm just getting old or something, but it really irritates me.

This fabulous idea has caught on with other series on HBO and Showtime (such as my current favorite, Weeds) and now it's spreading to network tv. Lost just signed a deal with ABC to wrap up in three years, which gives the writers and producers and end point to work towards tying everything up. However, the deal is for 16 episodes a year. That means we have Lost for 4 months and then it disappears for 8 months. I just don't see how a show can maintain its audience that way.

I think that they're all hoping we'll run out and buy the DVDs so that we can refresh before the new season starts. Evil Hollywood.... DVDs of tv shows have turned out to be some of the biggest sellers - it's definitely the most enjoyable way to watch a show like Lost. There are no commercials and you can just go from one episode to another without have to wait a week...or EIGHT MONTHS!