Lost returned from holiday hiatus last night (it’s still on my TiVo – I was at the Rice-UH basketball game), and its creative team had some interesting things to say about the show’s existential future.
“Basically, Lost is one of those things,” says executive producer Carlton Cuse, “where you have to appreciate the journey and try not to worry about the endpoint. We’re not in control of the endpoint.”
[…]
“The reality is,” [co-creator Damon] Lindelof says, “that Carlton, myself, J.J. (co-creator J.J. Abrams), the creative brains behind the Lost universe, we could all band together and say, ‘We’re ending the show after three seasons because that’s the arc. They get off the island, and we reveal all the things we want to reveal.’
“And the network would say, ‘No, you won’t.’ They will hire somebody and do Lost, with or without you.”
[…]
[I]f you’re a dedicated fan of J.J. Abrams’ other ABC show, the spy drama Alias — which has a plot so convoluted that explaining it could cause a cerebral hemorrhage — you’ve long since learned not to sweat the small stuff.
“We suggest you do the same on Lost,” Lindelof says. “That’s between the lines here. If you’re watching the show because you’re waiting for the big answers to come, you have to understand that by the nature of what it is — it’s not a movie, it’s not a series of movies, it’s not a trilogy, it’s not a miniseries — it’s going to be on the air for as long as ABC wants to keep it on the air.
“How can you ever possibly think that Lost will end in a satisfying way? Carlton and I can almost guarantee you that it will not.”
Rafe isn’t happy with that, but I’m not so worried. I don’t need an explanation for every little detail, much of which I’d never know about unless I read the Television Without Pity recaps. I want to know the answers to the big questions – Who are the Others? What do they want? What’s the deal with the mecha-monster? Who’s behind the Dharma Initiative? Why was it abandoned? – though I’d settle for something that we can all argue about if it’s interesting enough. “They get off the island, and we reveal all the things we want to reveal” is the right idea. In the meantime, it’s a hell of a ride and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. If the third act peters out, I can probably forgive them. At least, I think I can.
My understanding is that networks own the shows now, and the writers are just contractors for the network. It’s not like in the 70’s, when Norman Lear could retain creative control over All In The Family and its many spinoffs.
That must make it really tough to write any sort of saga, a la Babylon 5. You may have written a 5-year-long series, but the network may have other ideas, and you just have to adapt to what they want.
Well i guess it all comes down to “get the all juice out of the orange” right?
Should the viewers continue to give profit to a station, waiting like charlie for their next fix?
I guess thats the way american tv and perhaps Global TV is!