Changes

In the first three seasons, each episode typically centered around one character, with events on the island mixed with flashbacks to important parts of that person's life before the crash. Later in the series, however, this formula was altered several times, in ways that were appropriate to the radically-changing nature of the plot.

In the first three seasons, each episode typically centered around one character, with events on the island mixed with flashbacks to important parts of that person's life before the crash. Later in the series, however, this formula was altered several times, in ways that were appropriate to the radically-changing nature of the plot.

''Lost'' began its first season on September 22, 2004, and is scheduled to end with its sixth season in May 2010. The announcement for the show's end date, including the number of remaining episodes and layout of the remaining seasons, was made in May 2007, close to the end of the show's third season. The show's creators had been urging the network to agree to this relatively rare arrangement for some time, and explaining this move, executive producer Damon Lindelof remarked that "We always envisioned 'Lost' as a show with a beginning, middle and end. By officially announcing exactly when that ending will be, the audience will now have the security of knowing that the story will play out as we've intended."<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20070510030616/http://www.abcmedianet.com/assets/pr%5chtml/050707_01.html</ref>

''Lost'' began its first season on September 22, 2004, and is scheduled to end with the last episode of its sixth season on May 18, 2010. The announcement for the show's end date, including the number of remaining episodes and layout of the remaining seasons, was made in May 2007, close to the end of the show's third season. The show's creators had been urging the network to agree to this relatively rare arrangement for some time, and explaining this move, executive producer Damon Lindelof remarked that "We always envisioned 'Lost' as a show with a beginning, middle and end. By officially announcing exactly when that ending will be, the audience will now have the security of knowing that the story will play out as we've intended."<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20070510030616/http://www.abcmedianet.com/assets/pr%5chtml/050707_01.html</ref>

The show's popularity is such that the sixth season premiere, scheduled for February 2, 2010, forced the [[Obama]] administration to move up the annual [[State of the Union]] address to avoid scheduling conflicts.<ref>http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/01/fans-rejoice-lost-defeated-the-state-of-the-union-today.html</ref>  

The show's popularity is such that the sixth season premiere, scheduled for February 2, 2010, forced the [[Obama]] administration to move up the annual [[State of the Union]] address to avoid scheduling conflicts.<ref>http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/01/fans-rejoice-lost-defeated-the-state-of-the-union-today.html</ref>