Latest Series To Get Split: 'Lost'

Carlton Cuse, executive producer of the signature ABC show, said that eight episodes had already been produced of the shows fourth season with eight to go. But with the writers strike and all, there's no way to produce them because no writers will be around to do rewrites. That may not stop ABC from airing the episodes already in the can, however, reports Entertainment Weekly.

"It will feel like buying a Harry Potter book, reading half of it, and then having to put it down for many months," Cuse said while picketing with colleague Damon Lindelof in front of Disney's Burbank lot. "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."

NBC is planning on keeping "Heroes" on the air, at least through the 11th episode, where they asked writers before the strike to write a season ending to cut the second outing at the end of its current "Generations" chapter. Other shows, which are only part way through their production schedule, may follow suit so that they don't get ratings drops like what happened last year when networks experimented with a longer mid-season break.

But at least "Heroes" was at a good stopping point. "Lost" was not.

"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 said. "We're very proud of the first eight, but it feels weird to have to stop literally mid-stream."

"Lost" is expected to premiere its fourth season in February on ABC, but no timetable has been set yet. "Heroes" airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

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