"Lost" - 48 episodes

ABC officially put a time limit on "Lost": 48 more episodes spread over three seasons.

Executive producers Damon Lindelhof and Carlton Cuse have always said the series needed an ending point, and you have to think ABC is being pretty generous in giving them three season to wrap up the thicket of loose threads they've created.

I also think it's smart for ABC to shrink each season to 16 episodes and run them continuously. It makes the show event television.

I still wonder, however, whether "Lost's" ratings will be good enough to merit three more years. This is not a show that strives to bring new viewers up to date. So who's going to want to sign on now, at what it officially half-way through the story?

If you were a fan and you've drifted away, I remind you: The show's gotten good again. And now you have some reassurance that you'll see answers to your questions, if you can just wait a few more years.