Dave Gee: Life from Right Field

The sixth and final series of ABC's tv show Lost is due to hit American sets on Tues February 2, and TVNZ may have some good news for New Zealand fans of the tv show.

Throng says TVNZ will be playing Lost just 6.5 hours after it screens in the United States (as in 9.30pm Wednesday nights on TV2, from February 3rd), following ABC's hit new show Flash Forward. (The information came from TVNZ's Planit schedule and ratecard information released to advertisers.)

Screening a weekly TV show so quickly after its US airdate is ambitious, but impressive if the plan comes off. (However, there may still be a gap in the screenings at some point, to fit in with a corresponding season hiatus in the US.)

Broadcasters here (particularly TV3 and Prime TV) have been trying to get American and English shows to air more quickly over the last year, to try and limit the ratings effects from illegal downloading and overseas DVDs.

Lost was given a definite ending date by the network a few years ago, after ratings started to drop as viewers either lost faith with the show, or became increasingly confused by the flash-backs, flash-forwards, and mystical storylines.

US Network ABC is expecting (along with international broadcasters) that viewers will return to Lost for its final 18 episode season, to find out how all the complicated puzzle pieces fit together. (Lost was also the second most downloaded tv show for 2009 via BitTorrent).

The show's creators say fans will definitely get the answers they've been waiting five seasons for. In fact, EOnline says there are more "answers" to Lost's mysteries in the show's 2-hour 6th season episode (titled "LA X") than there were in all of last season combined.

John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) takes centre-stage in the final season. It's also a reuinion of sorts, with many of the Lost characters who've died/ disappeared/left over the past 5 years coming back in some capacity, including Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan), Boone Carlyle (Ian Somerhalder), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume), Jeremy Davies (Daniel Faraday), and Rebecca Mader(Charlotte Lewis).

ABC has released a promo trailer for Season Six, although the clip does not contain any new footage, as the show's creators said it would give away what happened after the hydrogen bomb, and how things now stand with the island.

However a couple of new publicity photos have been released... 'The Lost Supper' (in the style of da Vinci's famous painting The Last Supper), which apparently contain a number of hints about the final series...

* Wall Street Journal: “Lost” Last Supper Promo Pic: Clues Buried Within?
* Daily Mail: Can you decipher it? Lost fans promised a 'shocking finale'