The End of Lost

I assume most of you Lost fans have heard the news that the show is ending in 2010 -- just three more seasons. I think it is a fantastic idea. Some shows, like 24 and Heroes are designed so that they can continue to run indefinitely. Their stories are structured that way. But others, like Lost, that center around a mystery have a definite end point. The traditional Hollywood approach, of course, has been to drag that end point out as long as possible if the show continues to be successful. I applaud the creators of Lost and ABC for having the foresight to take a different approach for a change. It means both that we won't be disappointed by a show that suddenly tanks in the ratings and gets canceled before we have sufficient resolution and that the remaining episodes should be of high quality since the writers can now focus exclusively on moving towards the ultimate resolution. Personally, I would like to see more shows adopt such an approach. There are some shows with a limited story to tell that should just annouce from the outset that they will run X number of years and then end. I think more viewers might be willing to jump on board for the ride if that were the case.