Lost co-creator wanted show to end after three seasons

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 01 July 2020

Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof reveals that he originally wanted to end the show after three seasons.

Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof has revealed that he wanted to limit the show to just three seasons but was told to keep going.

The cult mystery drama aired on US network ABC from 2004 to 2010, eventually running to six seasons and 121 episodes before being brought to an end.

Now in a new interview, Lindelof has opened up on the pressure he faced from network bosses to keep the ratings hit on the air for as long as possible.

"The conversations about wanting the show to end began as early as the pilot," he admitted to Collider. "One of the notes that we were getting back from ABC was 'When are you gonna resolve these mysteries? And once you resolve these mysteries, why will people keep watching the show?'

"And level one of that was, 'Well we're gonna be introducing new mysteries as we go. So hopefully for every one that we answer, we've set up a new compelling mystery. If we get that balance right, they're not gonna stack up.' I think that we can both agree that we did not get that balance right.

"There were all of these compelling mysteries and so we were saying, 'We wanna have this stuff answered by the end of season one, this stuff answered by the end of season two, and then the show basically ends after about three years.'

"That was the initial pitch, and they were not even hearing it... they were just like, 'Do you understand how hard it is to make a show that people want to watch? And people like the show? So why would we end it? You don't end shows that people are watching.'"

Lindelof went on to reveal that at one point ABC had expressed a desire for the show to run to as many as 10 seasons.

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