In a radical shift from conventional, American network television, ABC execs have signed a deal with Lost showrunners and head writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to wrap the hit series after 48 more episodes. The remaining order will be split into three shortened seasons of 16 episodes each that will run without repeats.

"In making this deal, Damon and I had two priorities: defining an end point for the show and keeping the quality bar high," Cuse said. "To do that we are both fully committed to the day-to-day running of the show right up until the very end. It's also why the 16 episodes per year was key for us. Because our show is so mythological, and because, unlike 24, we can't reset each season, we need the extra time fewer episodes affords us to really plan out the specifics of our storytelling. I think for story-based shows like Lost, as opposed to franchise-based shows like ER or CSI, the audience wants to know when the story is going to be over. When J.K. Rowling announced that there would be seven Harry Potter'books, it gave the readers a clear sense of exactly what their investment would be. We want our audience to do the same."

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