Lostpedia Blog

Lostpedia Debate League Premieres May 11

2008-05-10T16:03:00.005-07:00

Lostpedia's new debate league premieres in the Lostpedia IRC Chat tomorrow Sunday 11 May at 2pm EST and 7pm GMT at irc.gamesurge.net #lostpedia. If you are unfamiliar with IRC, simply click here to use our server's Java chat application in your browser.

The debate topic for tomorrow's event is Ben: good or evil?. Debate teams have already registered in Lostpedia forums here. Team registration for future debates will also be in forums. Please join the chat to watch and make this moderated debate a success!

Actor talks stall without deal

2008-05-06T23:54:00.013-07:00

The negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the producers group (AMPTP) ended today without a deal for a new primetime contract (link). The current contract expires in just under eight weeks on June 30, after which a strike (and a delay to the start of filming of Lost Season 5 in August) becomes a possible outcome.

The talks had been repeatedly extended, with the most recent extension last Friday due to a promising thaw in some no-compromise issues. However the talks are now indefinitely postponed as the AMPTP now turns to negotiating with AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), the sister actors union which recently divorced SAG for the purpose of joint bargaining. A new round of talks with SAG are not scheduled, although the talks with AFTRA may well end with a deal in only two weeks.

If you haven't been keeping up with the issue, the vast majority of prime-time television, including Lost, are under SAG contracts. The primary area of dispute are payments for DVDs, and new media including downloads and ad-supported streaming.

There are some reasons to believe a strike is not necessarily imminent come June 30. The producers axed the prospect of further negotiations with SAG today, despite SAG's statements that a deal was close; therefore it may be only a pressure tactic when in reality the two sides are closer than ever. Hollywood is still reeling from the recent writer's strike, and it is not a certain prospect that SAG would be able to generate a landslide vote among its own members to actually authorize a strike. Furthermore, SAG may be loathe to strike since it would mean the now-unfriendly sister union AFTRA may gain a larger footprint in prime-time, and a large head start in digital media, the promising new wild-west frontier of acting jurisdiction. However AFTRA is expected to have lesser demands, and it is possible the producers might be unlikely to give SAG more than it gives AFTRA, a scenario which might cause deadlock and a strike.

Anything is still possible. Let's hope for a speedy resolution well in advance of June 30, but for now, stay tuned to the negotiations with AFTRA, as these will affect SAG's future efforts. But for tonight, it's definitely not good news as the end of talks without a deal will do little to settle the nerves of Hollywood.

Ship-sighting

2008-05-05T18:27:00.006-07:00

With Season 4, a whole slew of new questions, answers, and hints have come. We saw Desmond finally connect to Penny in real time. We've learned that only six of the survivors make it off the island (publicly, at least), along with Ben who seems to have teleported himself to the middle of the Sahara. There is an apparent time discrepancy on and off the island, as demonstrated with Faraday's rocket experiment. The whole thing might be some sort of elaborate game between Widmore and Ben.

However the most interesting aspect of this season thus far has been the introduction of a new relationship, between Charlotte and Faraday: "Charladay". Once a fantasy fan 'ship that provoked derision from other fans, it was suddenly confirmed last episode. Although it was a surprise to some fans, to believers like myself, it was the obvious next step...

In The Economist, when Sayid returns from the Barracks with Charlotte, she and Faraday are excited to see each other, with Faraday even putting her arm around her. This in particular caught my attention -- generally, people on Lost are strangers to each other. I believe Charlotte and Faraday have a past relationship, unknown to us. They are very obviously friendly with each other, more so than they are with the other Freighter People. This is evident with the animosity Miles treated Faraday with in Confirmed Dead and in the lackluster relationship between Frank and Faraday. Much like the Numbers in Season 2, the interactions between Charlotte and Faraday have been a consistent string of nice little things for observant fans to look for.

The clues about "Charladay" have been subtle. When Charlotte decides to stay on the island, Faraday does too, awkwardly. Not to continue with his experiments, but because she had decided to stay. Charlotte soon encourages him, confidently stating that remembering two out of three cards is progress. He gives her a cup of water in The Constant (mundane things are always of importance!), and cuts her off when she starts to get too sarcastic for her own good. In The Other Woman, Charlotte encourages him again and protects Faraday from physical harm. She is audibly worried for him when Juliet out-wrestles her. When Faraday scolds Charlotte about her attitude in Something Nice Back Home it is reminiscent of an old married couple bickering. Charlotte smiles when she overhears Sun and Jin gossip about her and Dan, and later, when Jin threatens him, she reveals that she can speak Korean and immediately agrees to his terms. The two characters are practically always seen together, seem very content with each other, and have looked out for one another on numerous occasions.

I've never been a big fan of the relationship aspect of Lost. I like Desmond and Penny, but that was established as a firm relationship before the actress for Penny was even cast. Rose and Bernard are nice as well, but they too were setup long before Bernard was introduced. Charlie and Claire was a roller coaster ride and Charlie has since died. Sayid and Shannon never really clicked in my book. The Harper-Goodwin-Juliet-Jack-Kate-Sawyer-Ana Lucia love polygon is a bit of a mess. I preferred to concentrate on the mysteries – the Smoke Monster, DHARMA, and where exactly all of Jack's chest hair went. Charladay is the first "ship" I've truly enjoyed watching develop. It has just enough unknown back story to make for an interesting and compelling relationship, similar to Jim & Pam on NBC's The Office.

Love is a central theme of Lost. It's nice to finally watch the blossoming of a relationship that makes sense and isn't complicated by a love triangle. I hope that you enjoy watching Charladay develop as much as I have. Please, visit the Lostpedia chat (Java) and discuss it. We've also been busy trying add as much as possible to the Charladay article here on Lostpedia – any help there would be much appreciated!

A breath of hope: SAG talks extended with progress

2008-05-03T19:19:00.004-07:00

Friday ended with some good news: progress on the primetime contract talks between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the producers. These already extended talks had been scheduled to end yesterday, and there were ominous signs of deadlock. However the end of talks on Friday brought the good news that progress had indeed been made, and under this circumstance, both sides agreed to extend the bargaining again, through this weekend until Tuesday.

The first sign of give-and-take bargaining was that SAG finally dropped its ironclad demand for a doubling of DVD payment, shifting reimbursement to other methods. Although a deal is still not certain, the good-faith move by SAG has opened a door of promise and hope that a deal may be cut by next Tuesday. The sister actors union, AFTRA, has agreed to delay the start of its own talks until after Tuesday. In case you haven't been reading up, the actors' contract expires on June 30, and Lost (like the vast majority of primetime shows) works under a SAG contract.

Actor Strike Possible? May Update

2008-05-01T15:13:00.010-07:00

As reported in our previous entry, the primetime TV contract talks between the producers (AMPTP) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is about to end tomorrow, after three workweeks of negotiations.

The prospects don't look good, according to industry press (see Variety). Yesterday, the AMPTP broke media neutrality with a public criticism of SAG, which apparently has not backed off of its hot-button demands, in particular for a doubling of DVD reimbursement as well as its demands for New Media which are significantly better than the terms recently negotiated by the writers (WGA) and directors (DGA). The producers have long said the actors should not expect a better deal than these other unions.

In all likelihood then, talks with SAG will end tomorrow and go on hiatus and the AMPTP begins talks with SAG's rival union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors (AFTRA). As a reminder, most primetime shows are under SAG contracts, including Lost. AFTRA only has 3 shows in primetime (they are powerful in daytime TV), but if they can ink a quick deal at less demanding terms, they may be able to get a larger foothold in SAG's traditional territory, and maybe even in upcoming digital new media projects.

Talks may with SAG might resume after AFTRA is finished with its negotiations, but it's already May and the contract expires in two months on June 30. There's plenty of time for more negotiations, and a strike is not for certain, but a quick resolution and ease of mind by tomorrow evening now seems very unlikely. Lost Season 5's timely resumption may hang in the balance. We'll check back tomorrow.

Eyes wide shut: Is another strike possible?

2008-04-17T01:16:00.027-07:00

Most fans are blithely ignoring the possibility that the prospects for a normal Season 5 may be in jeopardy. In anticipation of the April 24 resumption of the post-WGA-strike episodes of Lost Season 4 in one week, and the recent news that ABC Chief Stephen McPherson has green-lighted the Lost team's request for an additional hour for this installment, most fans are eagerly gearing up to consume more of Lost. Why the worry?

On June 30, the major producer's film-primetime contract with the two actors unions expires. If a new contract isn't signed by that date, the actors are free to strike, and unlike the writers, an actor strike would end production immediately. If a strike does happen this summer, it could potentially impact Lost Season 5, which otherwise would begin filming in the mid August...

In short, that's the scary part, that we might be in for a strike all over again. We don't know if a strike will really happen, but after what happened with the WGA, the fans should know that the long dance to the culmination of this contract has recently begun. Today will mark the third day of official negotiations between Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and producers.

What are the chances for a strike? Well first of all Lost is a SAG production, not AFTRA. The two actors unions were going to negotiate together for added leverage but have a history of bad blood and distrust, and just about 2 weeks ago, AFTRA surprised SAG with a sudden divorce. (link) And just over a week ago, Disney's Bob Iger and News Corp's Peter Chernin ended informal talks with SAG. (link) In case you hadn't paid attention during the last strike, these are the two individuals who single-handedly revived the hopelessly-stalled talks with the writers (WGA) immediately after the directors union (DGA) had inked a deal, and thereby started the chain of events that ultimately brought Lost back to you.

Yeah those guys. And they just essentially gave up on the actors. Thus only two days ago, formal negotiations began between the producers and SAG. (link). The good news is that thus far, both parties are avoiding the public mudslinging that made the writers' talks so spiteful and unproductive. In fact they've made joint announcements that are essentially a news blackout: "Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers held a full day of meetings today and exchanged proposals. We will meet again tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. We have no further comment at this time."(link) Press releases don't get drier than that!

The bad news is that SAG has been publicly unsatisfied with the terms of the recent DGA and WGA deals, a dissatisfaction that Iger and Chernin were apparently unable to budge. SAG head Alan Rosenberg said as much in a letter to his membership (link), although he has been meticulous in denying that he "wants" a strike. The clock is ticking because in two weeks, AFTRA begins its negotiations separately-- and since they are known (for various reasons we won't get into here) to accept more lenient terms than SAG, they may reach an agreement relatively soon after that date. If that happens and SAG doesn't have a contract and later goes on strike, AFTRA could move in on some SAG territory, especially on the digital frontier. That possibility might discourage SAG from striking. But just yesterday, AFTRA also shuffled its leadership in a new vote with five new "dissident" board members who want a more SAG-like stance, so that AFTRA may negotiate harder than previously guessed (link). In that case a return to joint bargaining with SAG and even a joint strike is not absolutely out of the question. The repercussions of the AFTRA board shuffle are not yet clear.

So all in all, nobody wants a strike. But SAG has long been made it clear that it considers the current contract renewal to be a watershed moment, that it wants a revolution in the new media side, and has hinted strongly that using the recent WGA and DGA deals as templates for their own deal may not be adequate. And if the producers don't cave, that means a strike, and a delay to Lost Season 5. Let's hope it doesn't play out that way.

UPDATE 1 (Thurs Apr 24): Negotiations have been extended a week until Fri May 2. (link)

FCC Cites ABC $5M for Profanity in Lost "Whispers"

2008-04-01T01:26:00.017-07:00

"We didn't think anyone would play them backwards" claims script boss Gregg Nations
(April Fools Day Parody Post)

04/01/08 - ABC was hit Monday with a record $5M indecency fine by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for improper language in two recent episodes of the hit television drama Lost. The proposed fines, which include $7000 fines against each ABC local affiliate, underscore the FCC’s efforts to enforce the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005.

ABC press officer Jeff Fordis released a statement reading that ABC believes the decision to be “capricious, arbitrary and not numerically consistent with fines for past alleged infractions, as well as an irresponsible action in light of the recent and ongoing appeals process regarding the federal government’s decency campaign currently in the Supreme Court.” American Civil Liberties Union Policy Counsel James Tucker commented, "this is paternalistic suppression of free speech and the creative process at its worst."

ABC’s most recent indecency fine was a $1.2 million penalty for a 2003 episode of NYPD Blue which showed shots of a woman’s bare buttocks (link). ABC’s parent company Disney unsuccessfully challenged the penalty. The previous largest fine was a $3.5 million penalty levied against CBS for what the FCC described as essentially a “teen sex orgy” on a 2005 broadcast of the hit drama Without a Trace (link).

Broadcasts of Lost included numerous profanities as well as explicit sexual and bodily function language embedded in so-called “Whispers” in two of the episodes shown in March, “The Other Woman” and “Meet Kevin Johnson.” The audio track of these whispers, when played backward, allegedly reveal the indecent language.

"We believe in enforcing tougher standards in broadcast decency and that includes language, especially during primetime when children are watching,” said FCC spokeswoman Mary Diamond. “The language that was used was inexcusable. The fact that ABC retrospectively redacted this so-called “whisper audio” from their online streaming episodes reveals that they were aware of the content from square one.”

ABC Entertaiment division chief Stephen McPherson dismissed the fine as likely to be overturned, noting that “the dollar amount is on its face improper as it exceeds the $3 million cap specified in the Broadcast Decency Act.” When asked if the Lost executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof of Bad Robot Productions had briefed ABC on the matter before the broadcast, he replied, “We’re trying to locate them ourselves, and we’ll have no comment on this topic until that time and we have an internal discussion with them.” According to yesterday’s news at the website The Smoking Gun, Lindelof had been arrested in Pasadena, CA for indecent exposure when he allegedly threw his shorts at officers.

Although ABC Medianet and Lost's PR officer Erin Felentzer have apparently gone into media silence, a post at the official Lost discussion forums The Fuselage by frequent contributor and Lost script supervisor and writer Gregg Nations briefly appeared: “We didn't think anyone would play them backwards, it’s simply unbelievable what has happened. I mean who would do that? It boggles the mind.” This thread has since been removed. McPherson added, “Rest assured that the proposed fine will have no effect on our planned broadcast schedule or storyline content. ABC is committed to continuing with the remainder of Lost Season 4 beginning on April 24.”

UPDATE: It was announced today that this story is actually an April Fools joke and is actually just a parody. April Fools.

Name that Car: Lost Edition

2008-03-01T23:02:00.030-08:00

Here's a fun game for you while we wait for 4x06 next week. I was editing our Wiki list article on cars, and thought that the image thumbnails could be a trivia test for Losties.

This is how it works. In the following images from Lost, name the main character driving or riding in the car. If you know that, you should know the episode.

The list will be a mix of difficulty: 4 each in categories or Easy, Medium and Hard.

To play, don't click on the images (the URL filenames sometimes give away the answer), and see if you can do it just from the 400 pixel thumbnails.

For every correct answer in Easy, score 1 point.
For every correct answer in Medium, score 2 points.
For every correct answer in Hard, score 3 points.

Post your score in comments and see how you do against other Lost fans.

For more than you want to know about cars in Lost, see our article: Automobiles

EASY (1 pt.)
1.

2.

3.

4.

MEDIUM (2 pts.)

5.

6.

7.

8.

HARD (3 pts.)
9.

10.

11.

12.

Scroll down for answers

Highlight between the lines to reveal inviso-text answers

EASY
1. Hurley (or Johnny) - from "Everybody Hates Hugo"
2. Charles Widmore - from "Live Together, Die Alone"
3. Locke - from "Deus Ex Machina"
4. Mr Eko - from "The 23rd Psalm"

MEDIUM
5. Sawyer - from "The Long Con"
6. Kate (or Tom Brennan) - from "Born to Run"
7. Sawyer - from "Confidence Man"
8. Helen - from "Orientation"

HARD
9. Jin - from "... In Translation"
10. Kate - from "Through the Looking Glass"
11. Christian Shephard (or Ana-Lucia) - from "Two for the Road"
12. Kate - from "Left Behind"

Good Job! Next time we'll test you on license plates! Just kidding I think.

Adam Horowitz Cameo in The Constant?

2008-02-29T23:17:00.016-08:00

One thing in 4x05 The Constant nagged at me for some reason when I saw it. When Desmond first runs into Faraday at Oxford, he finds him speaking with a student. This student pops out of the background, appearing to be unusually pale, and wearing distinctive glasses with smoked lenses and a conspicuous striped yellow sweater. He looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't place the feeling.

This afternoon my unconscious, which had been working on the problem all night and morning, finally came up with the answer.

He looks a lot like Lost writer and co-executive producer Adam Horowitz. I might be wrong, but the more I mulled it over, the more the two seemed to match. He really looks like his appearance in the "Lost in a Day" extra from the Season 3 DVD set, where he appears with his writing partner Edward Kitsis. Incidentally, if you've noticed Ethan Rom wearing University of Wisconsin sweatshirts, they are likely the reason why, because that is where they met and started writing together.

One detail that argues against this theory is that Horowitz is not credited as a writer for this episode. And like all the writing staff, Horowitz is based in LA, and not in Hawaii where the filming takes place, but as a co-executive producer wouldn't you pull strings to get yourself a work vacation to paradise? Now I'll be looking for Eddie Kitsis in episodes.

I suppose we should just post a query for Gregg Nations at The Fuselage to settle the answer once and for all, but for now I'm willing to go out on a limb and on the record to call this a possible cameo and Easter egg exclusive.

And while we're talking cameos, some users noted Lost executive producer Jack Bender's dog Lulu sitting leashed on a lawn in the scene in Oxford. Maybe the dog is Jacob. Just kidding.

Comments now require an account!

2008-02-25T01:01:00.005-08:00

In keeping with the Lostpedia Wiki and the Lostpedia Forums, the blog now requires that you use a login in order to comment. The following accounts can be used with the blog : OpenID, LiveJournal, AIM, Wordpress, TypePad or Google. You will no longer be able to comment anonymously on the blog. Thank you.

Wanted : Lost: Via Domus Gamers

2008-02-24T00:48:00.002-08:00

At the end of February, Lost: Via Domus the new video game will be released around the world. The games release will see hundreds of thousands of curious Lost fans, and thousands of Lostpedians playing the game for new information, to get the chance to explore the locations from the show, or simply to play it as a game.

Lostpedia is hoping to build a game guide/FAQ to go with the game, and is looking for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC gamers to help building the game guide. We'll need people finding puzzle results, finding clues and things that tie into the shows mythology and document it for everyone, like we have for the Lost ARGs and books.

We've just opened a sub-forum for the game on the Lostpedia Forums. Join us there and take part in votes and discussions about the game until it launches, so get ready, cause the game is nearly here!

P.S: Do you have screenshot or video taking capabilities for the different platforms? If so we'd love to have you recording answers for puzzles and clues and upload them to YouTube!

Additional Post-Economist Content

2008-02-15T22:29:00.007-08:00

4x03 "The Economist" was yet another fabulous episode, and now just for you, we've found more fabulous extra content directly related to this episode.

The first is from DocArzt, who had obtained a pre-release version of this episode. Being a trusted and upright member in good standing of the fan community, he didn't spoil or leak any details beforehand, but now that the episode has broadcast, he noted a few differences in the earlier version and the final cut. One of these differences was a deleted scene as Miles, Kate, and Sayid come upon the Sonar Fence on their way to the Barracks. What happens there is surprising, to say the least. Read all the details at DocArzt's personal blog here.

The second is the third Official Lost Podcast for this season from ABC. It features Naveen and Michael E. talking about The Economist. Listen to it at ABC's Lost podcast page here, or use the direct m4v link for iTunes here.

Enjoy!

Lostpedia launches in three new languages

2008-02-14T11:27:00.003-08:00

Lostpedia is pleased to announce the launch of three translations of our popular wiki. Chinese, Japanese, and Russian are now online. We have a lot of work to do, so any translation assistance is greatly appreciated!

UPDATE: We've had some questions about how to contribute, so I'll paste the following from the comments thread:
Basically you need to register with a new user account on your language Lostpedia, for example ru.lostpedia.com or zh.lostpedia.com or ja.lostpedia.com.

Then using your normal wiki editing process, create new articles or edit existing ones. If you wish to translate the English language ones directly, you may look at the parallel article in en.lostpedia.com.

Note also that any images must be re-uploaded to the new language Lostpedia. If you wish to use the one in the English Lostpedia, download the image to your computer from the English version, then re-upload it to the other language version.

Carlton: Five more episodes

2008-02-13T00:48:00.011-08:00

The WGA strike is officially over. The 48 hour formal vote ended today with a 92.5% mandate. See industry source Daily Variety for full details.

In immediate fallout, Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse met with his bosses at ABC about continuing Season 4, and reported the results of that meeting with TV Guide's Ausiello in an exclusive interview.

The two main points from that interview:
1) The aim is to produce FIVE more episodes of Season 4. This is three fewer than the eight scheduled before the strike occurred; the season's total will be 13 eps.
2) The entire order of 48 episodes for Seasons 4-5-6 will still be delivered-- that leaves 35 episodes to be split between Seasons 5-6.

In other words:
Season 4 is to be re-written to end with the same storyline elements as previously written, but in only 5 episodes. The three "lost" Lost episodes will somehow fill in the story arc of the remaining last two seasons.

Another lesser point is that there will be at least a 4 week hiatus between the broadcast of 4x08 and the new 4x09. Note that this may push the final episode of the season beyond the end of the Nielsen May sweeps period, so we may have been lucky to get even five eps. Read the rest of this fascinating interview here.

Rebecca Mader Interview

2008-02-13T00:39:00.002-08:00

Just as the strike was winding down, Jon Lachonis of UGO interviewed new Lost actress Rebecca Mader (who plays Charlotte the freighter's archaeologist).

Lachonis also reveals he made a visit to the secret set of Lost during his visit to Hawaii last October: "In one day, I'd be on the set of Lost learning the nature of these new characters... At the last moment, ABC decided whatever they were filming that day was too secret for me to see, and my itinerary shifted a few days."

I'm dying to hear more about that set visit! However for now, we'll have to settle for this interview with a new cast member who is still a relative unknown among the fan community.

Here's an excerpt:

UGO: That's the first question I suppose. I'd read you were really enthusiastic for this part, how was it personally to have this strike come up and cut it short?

REBECCA: Oh, I was gutted. I was having such a good time. I had been out there for a few months so I had gotten to spend some time out there and have a great time. I was really, really disappointed. I never really thought it would last this long I was really optimistic, I really thought it would be three weeks or something I didn't think it was going to be three months y'know.

UGO: Do you follow the fan scene at all? The new characters are well received.

REBECCA: Oh yeah? I didn't know that...

Read more here.

Damon comments on strike result

2008-02-12T01:25:00.000-08:00

Good ol DocArzt dropped us a friendly line that Kristin Dos Santos of E! Online had a column interviewing scads of showrunners and similar ilk in the wake of the (almost) end of the WGA strike.

Here's the quote she received from Lost's Damon Lindelof:

"Indeed, it would appear that we are in the endgame of the strike. Personally, I couldn't be more psyched to be part of this union. Like any negotiation, some parts suck and some parts surpassed my wildest expectations for what we could accomplish, but most of all I'm left with a feeling of pride.

"As for Lost (pending the actual lifting of the strike, which we vote for on Tuesday), a game plan should begin to manifest by the end of the week. All I can say is that Carlton and I and the rest of the writers have every intention of making sure you guys get more episodes this season beyond the eight already completed. How many and how they will be aired is a conversation we'll be having with our bosses, but as soon as we've got a plan, we'll tell the fans first."

Read her article here for some additional information about Lost

WGA: Carlton back to work on Monday

2008-02-10T14:20:00.000-08:00

WGA show-runners will report back to work Monday, according to Patric Verrone, WGA West chief, at a special press conference held today at WGA West headquarters in LA. (link) This action is in advance of a 48-hour special membership vote to be conducted Monday and Tuesday to end the strike action. That vote is itself in advance of a 10-hour membership vote to ratify the new writers contract.

But the bottom line for Lost fans, WGA negotiating board member and Lost show-runner Carlton Cuse will likely be among the show-runners returning to work tomorrow. So we'll await word from ABC's building 23 at the Disney lot tomorrow, as we assume he'll begin work reassembling the film crew and cast in Hawaii, and the post-production and writing teams in Los Angeles.

WGA Leaders to Members: Strike Must End Now

2008-02-09T12:40:00.000-08:00

"We believe that continuing to strike now will not bring sufficient gains to outweigh the potential risks and that the time has come to accept this contract and settle the strike," wrote WGA West chief Paul Verrone and WGA East chief Michael Winship.

With such words the leadership of the WGA have mass-emailed their members, as we predicted, in advance of the general membership meeting later today discuss the terms of the new draft contract.

This draft contract came about through informal talks of the chiefs with Disney's Bob Iger and News Corp's Peter Chernin, as we reported last week.

The e-mail is undoubtedly intended to quell opposition from within their own ranks, such as from a minority of the 300 strike captains who were shown the deal yesterday, as well as outspoken hardliner and WGA board member Phil Alden Robinson, who are uncomfortable in particular about the roughly 2-3 week window for Internet streaming without compensation to scribes-- this point may be a deal-breaker to some members because conventional wisdom is that the bulk of streaming revenue comes within 24 hours of the initial broadcast. However some terms of the deal are better than the DGA's draft deal: In the 3rd year of the contract, compensation (aka "residuals") of 2% of the streaming revenue.

Despite such possible discontent, industry rumors overwhelmingly seem to indicate that the contract will overall be a quick and easy sell to a strike-weary membership. The strike captains have the authority to end the strike at any point, so this may well happen in advance of the formal full-membership vote by mail. We'll keep you in touch as we hear more news about ABC possibly reassembling the Lost film crew and cast over in Hawaii.

SAT NIGHT UPDATE: Both East and West coast meetings apparently went well. (e.g. see here for a blow-by-blow which includes the WGA email.) There will be a special 48 hour vote to end the strike. Then there will be a "quick" 10 day voting process for the membership to OK the contract, although a "back to work" order might well be issued during that time pending the eventual result, as early as this Wednesday. Read more details at Digitalmedialaw blog and over at Daily Variety. The bottom line? There will almost certainly be more episodes of Lost Season 4. We think about 4-6 episodes more, depending on ABC extending the viewing season.
SUN MORNING UPDATE: A press conference is scheduled at WGA West at noon. (link)

DocArzt blog: Lost set video

2008-02-09T01:57:00.000-08:00

Popular Lost blogger DocArzt has posted a fascinating video "behind the scenes" from the set of 4x01 (link), from a set of ABC Medianet promotional material that most more mainstream news outlets don't really use-- most simply use the stills to illustrate articles. He's been showing us the promotional stills too, for example here are the stills for last night's episode 4x02 Confirmed Dead. Yes, these have mostly been available on Lost-media.com, but it's good to have another source.

And by the way, in case you have missed them, the Official Lost video podcasts are back, two new ones for Season 4 so far, both narrated by Kris White rather than Carlton and Damon. The most recent one features Lost costume designer Roland Sanchez and the mysterious Lulu the dog. Check them out at ABC's Lost podcast page.

Michael Eisner speaks on strike

2008-02-07T23:40:00.000-08:00

Former Disney CEO (and current CNBC host) Michael Eisner opined today that the WGA strike was essentially over (link), meaning that the remaining steps to ending the strike were a mere formality. He said: "It's over. They made the deal, they shook hands on the deal. It's going, on Saturday, to the writers. A deal has been made. They'll be back to work very soon... I know it's over."

To clarify, the strike isn't over until it's over. This means the scheduled Saturday general membership meeting for WGA East and WGA West will still happen-- this will be a townhall-style event to explain the draft contract to the members in order to gauge their opinion during a live meeting. The vote won't occur then-- if all goes well on Saturday, all of the members then will then need to formally vote. I'm not sure how it works, but I'm guessing it will be a relatively time-consuming process conducted through the postal mail.

So what Eisner is saying is that in his opinion, the WGA negotiators are very happy with the terms of the draft deal, and that by extension, the membership are almost certain take the deal with open arms. Eisner is likely to have some inside word on the deal, but the entire world will have a better idea if he was right after the WGA's live meetings Saturday. If these go well, the WGA leadership is likely to email all of their members encouraging them to vote for the deal when ballots come in the mail, a recommendation that will carry much weight. Therefore Saturday's result, if positive, will be interpreted as a de facto done-deal.

Then, the studios might begin re-assembling their various film crews in anticipation of the formal vote result. Yesterday, EW noted that this process might take until early March (link), and in the cases of many series will force story arc rewrites to accommodate a shorter season. An Ugly Betty writer commented, "We would definitely need to change storylines... I know where we're going to end up, but there's going to have to be some major readjustment to get there."

The same may be very well true for Lost, and as we commented last weekend (link), the number of recovered episodes will also depend on whether ABC extends the television season-- something almost unheard of, but possible in a season marred by a strike. We can predict the fan outcry over anything less than the full 8 remaining episodes, but that eventuality appears to be almost certainly unlikely.

And to play doomsayer, don't count on the Season 5 just yet, because the WGA deal may not be good enough for the actor's union SAG, which may have loftier goals for New Media residuals than the WGA. And SAG, unlike the writers, could immediately halt Hollywood on the first day of any strike after this coming June. See Daily Variety's article for more on this.

PC World's Game On interviews Lost:Via Domus producer

2008-02-07T17:32:00.000-08:00

The "Game On" blog at PC World has today published an interview with Gadi Pollack, the producer of the upcoming Lost video game "Lost: Via Domus" for XBox 360, PS3, and PC. The interview likely signals a promotional push before it is released at the end of this month.

Pollack answers question such as whether Lost fans as well as the uninitiated may enjoy the gameplay, and the degree of involvement of Lost's Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof in the development of the game's visuals, gameplay, and storyline.

When asked about the canonicity of the storyline, he replied, "Their main goal for the game was not to answer any questions related to the show but really give everyone the experience of being in the show and on that Island. It would have been unfair for someone to be forced to buy the game in order to find out answers to the show."

To read more, go to Matt Peckham's "Game On" blog at PC World here. If you haven't seen it, make sure you also see Gamespot's video interview of Pollack on YouTube here.

And by the way, let me go on record saying in the next week before the game release, my money's on an official Lost podcast featuring the game.

Lost Podcast back home

2008-02-07T16:31:00.000-08:00

If you aren't an ardent follower of various Lost blogs, you probably didn't know there was a new official podcast following the Season 4 premiere. A day after the broadcast on Feb 1, a new video podcast featuring ABC podcast producer Kris White appeared in ABC.com's general video section, but not the ABC Lost podcast page.

The oversight has apparently been remedied, and now it's listed a few days later as the "February 04, 2008" video podcast. Damon and Carlton do not appear, possibly due to the WGA strike. What are your theories for the delay? Simple chaos at the ABC web desk?

At any rate the new video podcast is entertaining. We get to see an underwater stunt for the filming of 4x01, and executive producer Jean Higgins is seen supervising in full-on SCUBA gear. Thanks Kris!

The World's Most Popular Lost Fansite

2008-02-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

NetWise, the Australian based internet monitor declared Lostpedia the most visited Lost fan site in the world last week, after its analysis showed a 175% increase in traffic to all Lost fan sites and forums following the Season 4 premiere, significantly higher than the 88% spike encountered for the Season 3 premiere. (link) We're delighted, thank you everybody for visiting and contributing!

Season IV: A New Hope

2008-02-03T04:19:00.002-08:00

Red Five standing by... or make it the Oceanic Six. Widespread industry rumors have it that the writer's guild may be on the verge of a breakthrough settlement to end their strike, possibly in time to save part of the remaining unfilmed half of Lost Season 4.

If you've really been under a rock, we noted back in October that the writers were about to go on strike, halting the production of scripted Hollywood TV, including halting the filming of Lost Season 4 after episode 8 of a planned 16, a strike that has now lasted three months. And 2 weeks ago we commented on the tentative agreement the director's guild made with the producers about 2 weeks ago here. The progress the directors made put the negotiators for the writers under the gun to make similar progress.

This pressure led to two big guns from the writers (John Bowman, head of the negotiating committee, and the WGA West head honcho David Young) informally meeting with two big producers (News Corp's Peter Chernin and Bob Iger, CEO of Disney which owns ABC and by extension Lost). There was a media blackout that started to break today, with good news.

The Hollywood Reporter reported that these informal conversations resulted in monumental breakthroughs that could result in official negotiations to finalize a settlement soon, perhaps in the next week. The sticking points had to do with payment for rebroadcasts in "new media" such as Internet streams and downloads.

If this actually results in the WGA authorizing filmings to resume, it may mean the salvage of part of episodes 9-16 of Lost if the cast and crew can be reassembled hastily over in Hawaii. Probably all eight episodes cannot be saved at this late date, but that's speculation upon speculation for now, and also dependent on whether ABC extends its general television season this year-- if it doesn't, there might be as few as 4 new episodes. Any shortening of Season 4's planned arc of 16 episodes provides ample speculative ground for how the storyline arc might be re-written with respect to any planned season finale, as well as the segue into the 32 previously-planned episodes of the final two seasons 5-6. So sit tight and follow the entertainment news closely because it just might mean a second installment of several more episodes of Season 4 for Lost fans.

MON FEB 4 NEWS:
See also DocArzt's blog for the debunking of a recent rumor that Lost has already resumed filming. However the facts suggest that some of Lost's laid-off crew and equipment may be tied up in another production for all of February.

UDPATE TUES FEB 5: See Daily Variety for current status. They report a draft contract might be submitted to the WGA leadership as early as Friday. They also report here that the West branch of WGA has scheduled a general membership meeting this Saturday, presumably to gauge the likelihood of the general ratification of any draft deal--this scheduled meeting is one of the most direct evidence so far that the strike is in a possible endgame. Addition: The WGA East has also scheduled a meeting the same day.

Lost: Ratings comeback kid

2008-02-01T14:05:00.000-08:00

ABC's enormous investment of three hours of prep for the Season 4 premiere has paid off with a bonanza 16.1 million viewers. Devoting four hours of primetime to one show was in some sense a big risk: 2 hours of a caption-packed enhanced-version rerun of the previous season's finale on Wednesday, and an hour of a recap clip show before the premiere. But in the barren strike-crippled scheduling landscape, it was a smart move.

I had read with some worry Lisa de Moraes' gloom-and-doom prediction in The Washington Post that the Lost premiere would underperform. She noted that conventional wisdom anticipated that original programming, such as the new episode of House in November, and of course American Idol would do very well due to lack of competition in strikeland, then points out that both have turned out to be ratings disappointments.

She further predicted that Lost's Season 4 premiere would perform well below its most recent ratings last May at 14 million viewers, that in itself being a big dip from Lost's all time peak of 20 million.

Luckily her prediction was wrong. The 16.1 million figure from last night (albeit below the S3 premiere viewership of 18.8 million) was an extraordinary affirmation of ABC's strategy: 3 hours of recaps to encourage new or casual viewers, and the Grey's Anatomy timeslot, which further comes with the bonus of not competing with the Idol machine. Also, did you notice the "It's never to late to start watching Lost" tagline? Obviously one prong of ABC's strategy is to garner new viewers, and with Lost's complex storyline, these efforts are necessary, and apparently have been effective. The road to joining as a new viewer is even better lubricated when we add the fact that today's new Lost viewers have New Media options at the ABC.com website: they can view streaming full episodes in HD going back to Season 1. In fact, underlining this importance is that for the first time, viewers can watch streaming downloads of both "catch-ups" programs: The most recent clip show as well as the enhanced version of 3x22. Adding the Oceanic TV ad to Eli Stone (which immediately followed Lost), and retaining 11.6 million viewers, was the icing on the cake.

Good job, ABC, and good job Stephen McPherson. And for fans, Lost's current role as a major anchor for the network bodes very well indeed for the future of the franchise. Now let's hope for a speedy resolution of the WGA strike (we might hear something next week), so that at least some of the rest of Season 4's planned episodes may yet be recovered.

UDPATE FEB 5: See how Lost fared against the Superbowl and other fare during the entire week's ratings at Zap2it: Week Jan 28 - Feb 03 2008