Changes

''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>

''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, which aired 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>  

''Lost'' makes unusual demands on its audience's ability to keep track of a long-term, detailed plot, and not surprisingly has gradually lost viewership, from 15.5 million in the first season to an average of 11 million in its fifth season, which ended on May 13, 2009.<ref>

''Lost'' makes unusual demands on its audience's ability to keep track of a long-term, detailed plot, and not surprisingly has gradually lost viewership, from 15.5 million in the first season to an average of 11 million in its fifth season, which ended on May 13, 2009.<ref>