“When Does Lost Return?”, “What’s up with Jericho?” and Other Burning Fall Season Questions

[Taking a break from the Emmys coverage briefly, the fall season brings a lot of premieres, but also a lot of questions. So, to help answer those, here’s some answers to the most commonly asked ones. If you have any other questions, feel free to send us an email at cultural.learnings @ gmail.com]

When does Lost return?

Due to its shortened season, and to avoid running into any hiatuses, Lost will be starting its 16-episode run sometime in January or February of 2008. This should give producers more time to produce episodes, and hopefully we’ll get a better season out of the arrangement. It does, however, mean a fairly lengthy delay before new episodes: the Season Three DVD releases in time for Christmas, so you can satiate your desire with that if you’re desperate.

What’s Up with Jericho? Wasn’t it Renewed?

The short answer to this question is that it has been renewed, but it does not yet have a timeslot in which it will air. CBS is waiting on reaction to their new shows, as an open timeslot might mean that the already completed episodes of Jericho could begin airing as soon as possible. Otherwise, if nothing falters, the network will likely look for a slot at midseason (January) in which to air the episodes.

Why isn’t The Amazing Race on the Fall Schedule?

CBS and producers decided to take a break before getting back into The Amazing Race for a variety of reasons. First, Phil actually put together his own TV series (No Opportunity Wasted) that will be airing in Canada on CBC this fall, so he had a project on the go in terms of press and the like all summer. More importantly, however, the break serves the series well because it has had some rough spots (All-Stars was a cop-out, Family was a disaster) and it might be best to have a fresh start when it returns in early February of next year.

What’s up with Battlestar Galactica?

This is an odd case, but a great one: a special two-hour movie called Razor (Covering the legacy of the Pegasus) will be aired and released to DVD in November, and then the fourth (and final) season will start in the new year. It’s a neat compromise, although there remain rumblings about the twenty-episode fourth season being split over the next year and a half or so.

What other shows are being held for Midseason?

Medium, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Law & Order are the big returning series that are waiting it out until midseason. Medium and Law & Order have Sunday timeslots on NBC post-football, but Old Christine has no timeslot in place at the moment. That will depend on the success of The Rules of Engagement and The Big Bang Theory, along with How I Met Your Mother, on Monday nights.