Even if it answered little else, the season finale of ABC's "Lost" did show that going up against FOX's "American Idol" isn't necessarily a suicide mission.
   Both "Lost" and "Idol" pulled in big audiences -- more than 50 million viewers combined -- on Wednesday (May 25), the final night of the 2004-05 TV season. ABC's scheduling of "Lost" opposite the "Idol" finale -- both shows ran two hours -- was seen as something of a risk, but the move didn't appear to affect the audience for either program.
   "Lost," which answered a couple of questions about the plane-crash survivors but left others wide open, averaged 20.7 million viewers and a very healthy 7.8 rating in the key ad sales demographic of adults 18-49. That's the series' third-best performance in both measures, behind only two January episodes that followed a monthlong hiatus for the holiday season.... Read the full story here. (7:13 PM)

   ...The first half of the "Idol" finale posted a 15.0/25 at 8 p.m. "Lost," 11.3/18, was second for ABC. A "Law & Order" repeat on NBC and "60 Minutes" on CBS tied for third at 4.5/7. UPN went with the movie "Swordfish" to finish fifth, a little ahead of a "One Tree Hill" repeat on The WB.
   "Idol" built to a 19.2/28 at 9 p.m., increasing FOX's lead over ABC and "Lost," which wrapped up with a 12.3/18. NBC took over sole possession of third with a "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" rerun, 5.5/8. CBS dropped to fourth with its movie "Amber Frey: Witness for the Prosecution," 4.7/7. The fifth and sixth spots remained unchanged.... Read the full story here. (1:18 PM)

   TV has a way of straining friendships. Matt Witmer, 19, will gather buddies in New Bedford tonight to watch the ''Lost" finale on a 45-inch plasma TV. But as hard as he tried, he couldn't get one particular friend to budge. ''Lost" is relegated to her TiVo tonight. She's watching ''American Idol."
   It's the sort of modern dilemma that makes TV executives salivate: a showdown between finales of two of this season's most buzz-worthy hits. From 8 to 10 tonight, Fox's ''American Idol" will crown a fourth winner, Southern rocker Bo Bice or country crooner Carrie Underwood. At the same time on ABC, the castaways on ''Lost" are promised clues about what landed them on their deadly island. And it's a cliffhanger, of course.... Read the full story here. (10:26 PM)

   The first season of Lost wraps up tonight with a two-hour season finale airing in its usual timeslot of 8/7c. Official episode description according to ABC is as follows: The castaways on the raft are surprised at sea by something unexpected. Meanwhile, remaining islanders attempt to blow open the hatch, and a visitor to the encampment might be a threat to Claire's infant son. (1:08 PM)

   4-8-15-16-23-42.
   For most of you, those numbers don't have much meaning. But for some people, those numbers became an obsession a few months ago. They added them together, multiplied, divided and subtracted them. They turned each individual number into its corresponding letter of the alphabet. They tried to see if The Numbers — as they came to think of them — matched anyone's telephone number, or Global Positioning System coordinates. Someone even started a Web site: http://www.4815162342.com , which posits theories about The Numbers.
   Who would do stuff like this, you ask? Fans of the show ''Lost,'' ABC's drama about 14 people stranded on an island (OK, well, there actually are 42 or 43, but only so many speaking parts) that is building a mystifying mythology to rival that of ''The X-Files.'' On Wednesday night, ''Lost'' will end its first season with a two-hour episode starting at 8 p.m.... Read the full story here. (1:03 PM)

   There's no question that film and television actor Harold Perrineau has had his share of major projects over the past few years, from the acclaimed HBO drama "Oz" to the last two "Matrix" sequels, "Reloaded" and "Revolutions." But few would argue that his biggest find has come with the blockbuster television drama "Lost."
   For those who have missed out on the excitement that's unfolded since last fall, "Lost" follows the lives of several plane crash survivors who are stranded on a strange island somewhere in the Pacific. Each inhabitant has their own unique story that leads up to the crash, which is chronicled in a series of flashbacks every week.... Read the full story here. (1:01 PM)

   As a band of jittery plane crash survivors huddle on an island hillside listening to a distress call that has looped through the airwaves for 16 years, one of them asks, "Where ARE we?" The answer: The Hawaiian island of Oahu.
   The actors on the hit ABC show "Lost," which wraps up its debut season Wednesday, are of course free to enjoy Oahu. Their characters are miserably unaware of the civilization just off frame. But the fans know better particularly the ones who live on Oahu and proudly blurt out the true locations of flashback scenes set around the globe.... Read the full story here. (9:09 PM)

   Final ratings for the first part of the first season finale are up at Zap2It. The show rated 11.0/18 for 13th place, and total viewership of 18,624,000 for 12th place. (8:43 PM)

   Lost, the hit drama series for ABC in the US, is also making history for Buena Vista International Television. Licensed to broadcasters in over 180 territories worldwide, it has become BVITV's fastest-selling TV series in the company’s history.
   Launched in April on Germany's ProSieben at 20.15, Lost premiered as number one for its time period, earning 12 points above average for the slot. Similar performances were delivered for earlier launches, including TVNorge in Norway, where the show earned a 38.5% share among people 12+ for its February debut at 21.30.... Read the full story here. (8:15 PM)

   At home in Hawaii, "Lost" star Matthew Fox gets on the phone. He doesn't exactly sound peppy, as he's just about wrapped up nine months of filming on the hit ABC freshman drama.
   "I'm really, really toast right now," he says in a slightly hoarse voice. "I'll be shooting right up until 4 o'clock tomorrow morning. Then I get on a flight almost immediately, about noon tomorrow, to Los Angeles to finish two days of shooting there.... Read the full story here. (1:32 PM)

   Chair arms will be gripped and gasps expelled Wednesday night when ABC's "Lost," the 2004-05 TV season's most unexpected pleasure, comes to a cliff-hanging pause.
   Despite an intriguing pilot episode said to have cost $10 million, the odds were against "Lost" sustaining interest, much less becoming both a cult object and a bona fide Nielsen winner. It was a desert-island castaway adventure, a genre at least as old as Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe," which was published in 1719. TV producers already had exploited its possibilities in melodrama ("The Swiss Family Robinson"), relocated it beyond the stars ("Lost in Space"), reconstituted it as farce ("Gilligan's Island") and translated it into a "reality" competition ("Survivor"). It wasn't just a cliche waiting to happen, it was a raft of cliches.... Read the full story here. (12:55 PM)

   Javier Grillo-Marxuach is in no danger of getting lost. He knows right where he is.
   "I'm on Maui," the writer and supervising producer of the hit TV show "Lost" told The News last week by phone during the first day of a Hawaiian vacation.
   Grillo-Marxuach, who has also been a writer on shows such as "seaQuest 2032," "Charmed" and "Law and Order," graduated from Ann Arbor's Huron High in 1987 and was recently inducted into the school's River Rat Hall of Fame. Returning for the ceremony, he met with more than 300 students who wanted to quiz him on everything from how to achieve success as a writer to what's going to happen on the show's season finale, which will air Wednesday night at 8 on ABC.... Read the full story here. (2:37 PM)

   Oh, the mysteries of ABC's hit series "Lost." Where are the doomed passengers of Oceanic Flight 815? How did they survive the plane crash? And why are they all so darn good-looking?
   On an island full intriguing characters, Daniel Dae Kim's Jin Kwon has been almost as confounding as the show's cursed lottery numbers. Already one of the few Asian characters on prime-time television, Jin has not spoken a word of English all season. A risky decision, even for a show as smart as "Lost."
   "I am so grateful to [executive producers] J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof for taking the chance on having a character who doesn't speak the language for an entire season," Kim, 36, said. "I think it's really doing a lot for what we deem acceptable on television and what we can expect the viewer to follow."
   The idea to have characters who don't speak English occurred to the producers when Yunjin Kim (no relation), who plays Jin's wife Sun, auditioned for the role of Kate.... Read the full story here. (1:05 PM)

   ComingSoon.net/SuperheroHype.com got a chance to talk to Marvel Studios President and CEO Avi Arad on Tuesday afternoon about X-Men 3 and he revealed new details about the anticipated third installment.
   "It's about to go," Avi says about the film. We asked whether it would build on the first two films. "In my opinion, X3, from a story and script perspective, it's bigger than one and two. It's the concept behind the movie that's bigger than one and two. It's building on our world, building on the world of mutants. In movie one you got to know what a mutant is and had to deal with it visavis humanity and the brotherhood. The second one was actually sort of a continuation but we were able to have more fun with it....
   ...Angel is not done yet, we're looking at a few guys, but it's a big role, so... we are very close, a few more days. Angel is a great emotional story. It's a very big role in this movie and so is Kitty Pryde, where we have some high choices that are great but it's just not locked up yet." Lost star Maggie Grace is in talks for the role.... Read the full story here. (12:49 AM)

   A polar bear on a jungle island? A paralyzed man who can suddenly walk? A weird series of numbers that brings bad luck? What's the deal with this island?
   Fans have come up with several theories to explain the strange goingson. Here are a few of the top ideas (with thanks to www.lost-tv.com).... Read the full story here. (12:41 AM)

   Fans of "Lost" love the intricate puzzles and mysteries woven through each episode. The questions keep mounting, and we can only hope that series co-creator J.J. Abrams has the answers and plans on telling us... someday.
   Look for some of these major "Lost" mysteries to be referred to - and maybe even resolved - in the final episodes. But knowing this series, the answers will only lead us to more questions.... Read the full story here. (12:34 AM)

   "No one is allowed on the set for the finale."
   Everyone said it. The publicists. The producers. The dog groomer. But every time they did, I had only one thought: I'm not going to let some silly little suggestion keep me from visiting Lost, the best show on television.
   See, the thing is, when you reach a certain level of appreciation--oh, who am I kidding, obsession--your mind plays tricks on you. Which is why I soon found myself on a plane to Honolulu, Hawaii, carrying camouflage pants, night-vision goggles, a list of the Lost stars' favorite hangouts and the following mantra: It's not stalking, it's just a friendly little game of hide-and-seek.
   If you watch Lost, you, too, share the obsession. For we fans know there has never been, nor will there be, anything quite like it. With its stunning plot twists, flawless writing and talented (not to mention shag-worthy) cast, this show has become, for its fans, like crack dipped in chocolate. Delicious. Inescapable. All-consuming.
   Crazy-making.
   That said, although it may get me arrested, I'm spilling all the pertinent details of my Hawaiian manhunt with you, my dear tubers, for you are the only ones who understand my mania.... Read the full story here. (10:53 PM)

   Part One of the first season finale of Lost airs TONIGHT on ABC at its usual time slot of 8/7c. According to ABC, this is what you can expect from tonight's show: The French woman -- Rousseau -- shocks the survivors by showing up with a dire warning about "the others." Meanwhile, Michael and Jin ready the raft for sailing. After the show, please discuss it at the message board and ready yourselves for next week's two-hour finale! (12:10 PM)

   Final ratings for last week's episode "Born to Run" are up thanks to Zap2It. The show placed 14th in both ratings (10.6/17) and viewership (17,096,000). (11:44 AM)

   The "Lost" fans are fully engaged. They are noticing and debating every clue, every plot twist and every weird image sneaking its way into the eerie proceedings.
   If there's a possible interpretation to be argued, the "Lost" legions will find it. They've taken to the Internet, cyber-chatting about the meaning of letters on bandages, a paraplegic who can walk and those bizarre sightings of a polar bear on a tropical island.
   They've strapped themselves in for the season-long thrill ride through this dark territory. And they've been rewarded with an exhilarating series of sudden turns, jolting them from humor to horror, shock to suspense, mystery to mysticism.... Read the full story here. (11:38 AM)

   In the June issue of Men's Journal, writer David Hochman travels to the island of Oahu to the set of ABC's hit television drama, Lost, for some outdoor activity with the show's star Matthew Fox. As the season finale approaches, Matthew Fox opens up about his role on Lost, growing up in Wyoming, and his big acting break.
   On playing the role of Jack on Lost: "Jack is so much more me in
terms of being a guy. He's actually the kind of guy I'd hang out with."
   Lost creator J.J. Abrams on Matthew Fox: "It's no accident that somebody who does the kind of active, intense things Matthew does would do well [on a show like Lost]. The fearlessness and concentration that serve him in his adventurous pursuits are part of the same gene that makes him such a focused actor."
   On the Hollywood scene: "When I contrast [growing up in Wyoming] to the typical Hollywood scene where you're with photographers and paparazzi and people emitting this superficial, over-the-top energy, I feel so grateful. If I didn't have the frame of reference of growing up like I did, I don't know how I'd make it without completely messing up."
   On living in Los Angeles: "Even though I lived by the ocean, I was starting to feel claustrophobic. There were 500,000 people within a two-mile radius of where we lived and another 13 million behind that. That's a compression of humanity that really started to weigh on me. I can't ignore that I didn't grow up like that."
   On life post-high school: "Chasing girls, drinking beer, and being a jock. That was the plan. At graduation, I was voted 'Most Likely to Appear on Hee Haw.' "
   On breaking the longest losing streak in the history of college football while at Columbia University: "It was a perfect day. It was homecoming and the weather was crappy, so the field was muddy. When we won, the crowd flooded the field and the goal posts came down. They swept us into vehicles and paraded us down Broadway like kings. It might as well have been Mardi Gras."
   On his acting break in a commercial for Clearasil: "I wasn't the one with the zit. I made fun of the one with the zit. I don't know which was worse."
   The June issue of Men's Journal is on newsstands nationwide, Tuesday, May 10th. Men's Journal is published by Wenner Media, New York, NY. (10:35 PM)

   ABC Media Net reports that starting next season, Lost will air at a different time slot. It will now air on Wednesdays at 9pm. Sitcoms The George Lopez Show and Freddie will air on Lost's current time slot, while a new sci-fi drama show, Invasion, airs after Lost at 10pm. This will take effect next season. (9:13 AM)

   They're headquartered on Oahu, where principal filming locations for ABC's "Lost" include the Kaaawa Valley, Kualoa Ranch, North Shore and Mokuleia Beach. During their downtime, here's where else the cast and producers go.... Read the full story here. (12:55 AM)

   The ultraphotogenic Hawaiian Islands have been playing themselves in movies since the earliest days of celluloid. But it's still news to many that they're more than capable of standing in for everything from Africa to New York to Mars. Week after week, ABC's Oahu-shot hit series "Lost" is helping to drive that point home.
   Hawaii's film commissioners couldn't be happier about the exposure a top 10 show affords the islands, and none more so than Walea Constantinau, who oversees the film office for the city of Honolulu and the island of Oahu. "It has certainly been one of the most illustrative shows for me as a commissioner to be able to show off what we have," Constantinau says. She points out that a "Lost" sequence set in Iraq was filmed in the pre-World War II bunkers at Diamond Head crater overlooking Waikiki -- a far cry from the stunning tropical beaches usually associated with the 50th state.
   "It really has opened a lot of people's eyes to Hawaii's versatility," state film commissioner Donne Dawson says.... Read the full story here. (12:50 AM)

   Until last fall, ABC's entertainment division had been having such a bad time of it for so long that, as with the used gum that kids offer each other, its initials could have stood for Already Been Chewed. This season, it has been a different—and much crowed-about—story. The network's series "Desperate Housewives," whose juicy title belies its unyielding dullness, became an instant Sunday-night hit upon its début, in October, and it was joined in ratings heaven by the Wednesday-night mystery "Lost." Two months ago, the medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" (think "Ally McBeal, M.D.") premièred, following "Housewives" in the Sunday-night lineup, and it, too, entered the top ten with Flo Jo speed. ABC got so high on its own fumes last fall that it added one or two minutes to the running time of "Housewives" and "Lost"—not for the benefit of viewers but to make a greedy grab for even more millions of eyeballs. (In fact, ABC's practice of deliberately pushing a show over into the next time slot is actively unfriendly to viewers, both those who are watching TV in real time and those who try to set VCRs or DVRs to record a show afterward on another network.)
   All three of these new shows have received a lot of media attention—much of it from other ABC outlets, such as "Good Morning America" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show"—but "Lost," for all its mass popularity, qualifies as a kind of cult hit, too. It has elements of the disaster, mystery, adventure, suspense, and horror genres, and it has become a strong presence on the Internet among nerdy gamers and those who like to weave conspiracy theories and sift through clues in TV-show plots in their free time (and probably during work hours as well). The show recalls so many other shows and movies that people can't describe it without resorting to a formula: "Gilligan's Island" meets "Survivor"—or "The Island of Dr. Moreau" or "Lord of the Flies" or "Cast Away." You can throw "Jurassic Park" in there, too, along with a little "X-Files" and "Apocalypse Now." "Lost" actually was inspired in part by "Survivor"—the idea came from Lloyd Braun, who used to be the chairman of ABC's entertainment division. (Last fall, he became the head of Yahoo!'s Media Group.) Braun hired J. J. Abrams, the creator of "Alias"—another ABC show that steals minutes that don't belong to it—and the co-creator of "Felicity," to develop the show, along with Damon Lindelof. Abrams, understandably, wasn't interested at first—he recognized that it would be a challenge to come up with enough ideas to drive a series that, since it's set on an island, literally couldn't go anywhere.... Read the full story here. (1:38 PM)

   It's season finale time on television, and that can only mean one thing: A whole bunch of people are going to die.
   You know, it's almost quaint now when a series closes out the season without fireworks....
   ..."Lost" (Season finales: 8 p.m. Wednesday and 8 p.m. May 25 -- two hours! -- ABC): Is it cheating to have a three-hour finale spread out over two weeks? Well, there's a lot to answer on "Lost." This series has already killed off one cast member and is likely to see as many as two more die by the end of the second hour on the 25th. The promise is you'll be stunned. Oh, and the Big Bad is back (not the polar bear -- bigger).... Read the full story here. (4:47 AM)

   ABC Television and Creation Entertainment will be developing the official "Lost" fan club, with special events that will take place in cities around the world for the hit ABC television series from Touchstone Television.
   The fan club is due to launch during the summer months, preceded by a roll-out of licensed merchandise to include apparel, photographs, glassware and other collectibles offered at www.lostfanclub.com.
   The first official "Lost" fan convention will take place June 11 and 12 at the Hilton Hotel in Burbank, California. Actors and producers from the series will be on hand to speak to attendees, who are affectionately known as "Losties." The convention tour plans five additional stops in the next year.... Read the full story here. (12:51 AM)

   Continuing its war on Internet file-swapping sites, the Motion Picture Association of America said Thursday that it has filed lawsuits against a half-dozen hubs for TV show trading.
   The trade association said that piracy of TV programming is growing quickly online, and that shows are as important to protect as big-budget films. This is the first legal action from the group that has focused most heavily on TV content.... Read the full story here. (12:42 AM)

   Overnight ratings for last night's new Lost episode, "Born to Run," are up. According to Zap2It, the show rated a 10.3/17 to win its timeslot. Mediaweek estimates total viewership to be at approximately 16.60 million viewers. (3:36 PM)

   Final ratings for last week's Lost episode, "The Greater Good," are out. The show scored a 10.3/17 for the week, putting it in 14th place. Total viewership was 17,196,000, which was good for 11th place over-all. Read the full story here. (3:33 PM)

   Instead of being branded with a scarlet letter, "Desperate Housewives" adulteress Eva Longoria has the honor of topping Maxim magazine's Hot 100 list.
   The petite starlet beat out her "Housewives" co-stars, none of whom made it onto the sixth annual list of buzzworthy beauties.
   "This year has been amazing for me," says Longoria. "To be on the No. 1 television show and for Maxim to choose me as No.1 on their Hot 100 list is incredible."
   The magazine's Editor-in-Chief Ed Needham explains the criteria for making the list: "These are the women whose names are on the lips of people the world over, whose careers are headed for the dizziest heights and whose looks will scorch the back off your retina."
   The folks at the popular lad mag know their ABCs. Longoria's fellow network stars Evangeline Lilly from the plane wreck drama "Lost" and "Alias" spy Jennifer Garner snagged the second and third spots, respectively. "Lost's" other islanders dotting the Hot 100 list include Maggie Grace (No. 27) and Emilie De Ravin (No. 47), although no love was shown to the show's Yunjin Kim.... Read the full story here. (4:13 AM)

   Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly has made Maxim magazine's Hot 100 list.
   The Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.-born performer stars as Kate Ryan on Lost, the ABC drama that is one of the most buzzed-about new shows of the season.
   Lilly is the runner-up in the annual ranking, topped only by Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria.... Read the full story here. (1:37 AM)

   Episode 22 of Lost, "Born to Run," airs tonight on ABC at 8/7c. This is the official episode description from ABC: Jack suspects foul play when Michael becomes violently ill while building the raft. Meanwhile a secret from Kate's past is revealed, the mysterious hatch is shown to a few of the survivors, and Walt gives Locke a warning. (11:37 AM)

   An international cast led by Scottish actor Dougray Scott, Egyptian veteran Omar Sharif and "Lost" co-star Naveen Andrews has signed up for "The Ten Commandments," ABC's ambitious miniseries about Moses.
   Production is slated to begin May 23 in Ouarzazate, Morocco. The premiere of the two-part, four-hour epic is targeted for next season. The budget is estimated at more than $20 million.
   Robert Halmi Sr., the filmmaker behind such extravaganzas as "Legend of Earthsea" and "Dinotopia," is executive producing the Hallmark Entertainment project, which will present the story of Moses and the Israelites' exodus from Egypt in 13th century B.C.
   Scott, who worked with ABC and Halmi on 2000's "Arabian Nights," will portray Moses.
   Oscar-nominated Sharif, no stranger to period epics, having starred in features like "Lawrence of Arabia," is on board to play Jethro. Andrews will portray Menerith.... Read the full story here. (9:24 PM)

   A federal appeals court struck down the US Federal Communications Commission's controversial broadcast flag mandate Friday, ruling unanimously that the FCC acted outside the scope of its authority when it adopted broadcast flag regulations.
   The FCC regulations stated that a flag should be attached to "over-the-air" digital content - both network and local station programmes, including movies or prime-time series (such as ABC's Lost, above). Any device with a digital TV tuner can grab that content, whether it comes over an antenna or through a cable or satellite set-top box. The flag, basically a piece of code, was to have traveled with any show that the broadcaster wanted to protect.
   Under the regulations, new consumer electronics devices - including tuner cards for computers - that receive digital TV signals were to have shipped with the ability to recognize the flag and to respect its copy restrictions.
   "This is a huge victory on a couple levels," says Ren Bucholz, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's policy coordinator for the Americas. "The court kind of rebuked the FCC for overstepping its bounds... We're ecstatic that the courts had such wonderful language in this decision and that it was a unanimous decision."
   The ruling by the US District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit came in a case brought by the American Library Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Public Knowledge. Set to take effect this July, the broadcast flag would have mandated that any device capable of receiving a digital TV signal would have to respect a flag that would limit your ability to record and copy that program.... Read the full story here. (9:53 PM)

   ABC's series "Lost" literally started with a bang.
   In those first few scenes of the series' opening episode, as the characters wandered around the burning wreckage of their downed airplane, dealing with the fallout of the disaster, I was hooked.
   The sheer scale of the series (a main cast of 13 players!), and the producers' attention to detail throughout made the episode seem much more like a cinematic endeavor, not simply the pilot episode of a new TV series.... Read the full story here. (9:50 PM)

   The hit ABC series "Lost" is threaded through with story lines - there are more than 13 characters in the ensemble portraying crash survivors on an island in the Pacific - and Yunjin Kim's demure Sun has been one of the highlights.
   At the outset, Sun and her possessive husband, Jin-Soo (Daniel Dae Kim), spoke only in Korean and isolated themselves from the rest of the survivors. Recently, though, Sun revealed that she speaks English and proved that she possessed more inner strength than anyone, including her husband, had imagined.
   Kim, 31, grew up on New York's Staten Island but has called Seoul, South Korea, home for the past eight years. She's appeared in numerous miniseries and movies, including the international hit Korean thriller "Shiri."
   Before reporting to work on "Lost," Kim was on a popular reality show in which celebrities foster orphan babies to help them get adopted. Kim, who is single, fostered a 10-month-old boy for two weeks before a family was found for him.... Read the full story here. (9:42 PM)

   The two hottest new series of the season - "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" - have more in common than just stunning success and the fact that they both air on ABC: New Jersey guys have had a big hand in making these serialized dramas what they are.
   Teaneck native Damon Lindelof, 32, is a co-creator and executive producer of "Lost," which fulfills a dream he'd had of working with producer J.J. Abrams. And Kevin Murphy, 37, of Tabernacle - a Drew University graduate whose "Reefer Madness" movie musical recently bowed on Showtime - is a writer and co-executive producer of "Desperate Housewives," whose deliciously convoluted plot lines keep even his own mother guessing.
   As the first-season finales of their hit shows approach, Lindelof and Murphy chatted with a home-state TV writer about their thriving shows - and careers.... Read the full story here. (9:34 PM)

   What is that monster on the island? What if they're really all dead? And why is that bald guy so creepy?
   If you've been anywhere near a water cooler or, say, another human being lately, you know these are the questions consuming America this TV season, thanks to the astounding popularity of ABC's "Lost" (Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET)." We don't just watch this show: We obsess over it, canceling Wednesday-night plans, joining online forums, and discussing plot points and character flirtations ad nauseam.
   It's fandemonium at its finest, with the cast a cult-TV version of the Beatles. "We were mobbed at the airport," Daniel Dae Kim (who plays Jin) says of a recent flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles with his co-stars. "We signed autographs for an hour and a half."
   "I just stood there with my jaw open," says Jorge Garcia (Hurley). "I was calling my mom and going, 'Did you ever think it would come to this?' " Truth is, no one did.... Read the full story here. (12:33 AM)

   It's prime time''s annual spring fling, the mad dash through May days of big finales as another TV season rolls to a climax.
   Sentimental farewells, cliffhangers, emotional moments, mysteries solved and Jack Bauer saves the world again! They're all here this month. So pass the remote. It's time to get clicking with our eye candy sampler of season and series finales...
   ..."Lost" (ABC, 8 p.m. May 18 & 25). The producers are promising a cosmic cliffhanger as the first season of the beguiling suspense thriller rolls to a finish. What's up? The spooky Frenchwoman returns with a dire warning. So does the monster. And some of the castaways try to split on a raft. Reasons to watch: Great characters, cool flashbacks and that cliffhanger, of course.... Read the full story here. (11:46 PM)

   Take 48 plane crash survivors stranded on a very unusual island, add an angry polar bear, a seething love triangle or two, and an invisible monster and you've got a surprisingly effective recipe for a television drama that critics call "the next great cult-pop sensation" - ABC's new hit series, "Lost."
   "Lost" averages more than 15.5 million weekly viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. The show has spawned countless Web pages where millions of avid fans log on and obsess about the show's secrets. Like: Where is this mysterious island? Some guess they're trapped in the Bermuda Triangle. Another theory says they're all dead and in purgatory.
   "Lost" co-creator J.J. Abrams appreciates the fans' creativity.
   "The purgatory one is a great one, I love that theory - but it isn't what it is. I'd be frustrated if that were the answer I have to say," he said.
   So the survivors are not in purgatory and it's not a dream. And producers say there is a logical explanation for everything.... Read the full story here. (11:37 PM)

   The 31st Annual Saturn Awards were handed out last May 3, and Lost took home two awards: Best Network Television Series, and Best Supporting Actor on Television for Terry O'Quinn. Congratulations! (11:34 PM)

   Tonight on ABC, "20/20" offers a chance to catch up on the twists and turns of the hit ABC series "Lost." Elizabeth Vargas interviews the stars, creators and producers to get a closer look at some of the "Lost" secrets that viewers may have seen - but not really noticed during the smash first season. Co-creator J.J. Abrams even answers a question regarding one of the theories as to the location of the mysterious island. "20/20" airs on ABC at 10pm Eastern, 9pm Central. (12:07 PM)

Tune those tv sets to your local ABC channel for 20/20 tonight (10 pm PDT -- not sure what it is in YOUR part of the world). 20/20's Christine Vargas will be interviewing the creators and cast of "Lost!"

Yippe! Can't have too much "Lost" now, can we? If you don't get American television, watch the usual spots for clips and such of your fave "Lost" actors and VIPs. (12:00 PM)

   Zap2It reports that Lost won its timeslot with overnight ratings of 10.1/17. Mediaweek reports that total viewership was at 16.53 million. (5:00 AM)

   USA WEEKEND and E!'s TV expert uncover secrets on this season's hottest new show, Lost, and explore why the nation is obsessed with the show. Plus, Lost's creators reveal what to expect next.
   Check your local newspaper for your own copy of USA WEEKEND or you can read this article online at usaweekend.com beginning 5/6. (12:53 PM)

   The television series "Lost," created by J.J. Abrams with Damon Lindelof, reminds many of us of the abuse we suffered from David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" and Chris Carter's "The X-Files"--how we watched those shows beyond all reasonable limits of loyalty, waiting for the deliberately opaque Lynch and Carter to grant their audiences anything in the way of satisfaction, closure, solution. We never got it.
   And so we're drawing the line here, saying "no": no to the complicated plot lines of "Lost" that never budge an inch. No to the ceaseless, layered mysteries that will never be solved. No to the hidden details, objects, phrases and numbers that actually have no meaning whatsoever. No to the picture of Matthew Fox wearing tight pants in the latest GQ. (Well, yes, but no.)
   Television reporters confronted Abrams earlier this year.... Read the full story here. (1:45 PM)