Only 8 episodes planned for this year unless the writers get back in time, folks; I don't mind, though if it helps other shows get more episodes in the long run.
From tv.ign.com:
http://tv.ign.com/articles/832/832730p1.html
ABC's big mid-season show was meant to be Lost, which was to return to begin a 16 episode fourth season early next year. Last week Eonline reported that Lost had been written up through episode 14, so that the majority of the season could be shot.
However, IGN spoke to Lost star Michael Emerson this past Friday and he said, "You know, I know that's out there but I don't think that's true. I think that story is not true. To the best of my knowledge, they never have more than one episode beyond what we're shooting." Emerson told us he was currently shooting the seventh episode of Season 4 and that "We probably have enough material to complete the first half of their season." It's assumed that ABC will likely decide to at least air the completed eight episodes in the spring.
Entertainment Weekly.com:
http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2007/11/how-will-the-st.html
So far, the news about what the strike will mean for Lost's return to ABC this winter isn't all that bad, but it could get worse if the picketing persists. According to Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse — who was walking the picket line Monday in front of Burbank's Disney lot with fellow EP Damon Lindelof — ABC will soon have eight episodes in the can that it can begin airing after the first of the year (ABC has yet to announce a start date, though it seems likely the show will return in February). If the strike is prolonged and the scribes can't get back to work writing the rest of the episodes, fans are going to be stuck with the kind of stunted season they were forced to endure last year. "It will feel like buying a Harry Potter book, reading half of it, and then having to put it down for many months," explains Cuse. "There is a cliffhanger at the end of the eighth episode. It will only be frustrating [for viewers] to have to step away from the show and not see the second half of the season.
"The first half of the season, like a good novel, sets all the events of the show in motion and the second half deals with the consequences," Cuse continued. "We're very proud of the first eight but it feels weird to have to stop literally mid-stream."
