The Smarmy Carny

On the second episode of NBC's new series Chuck, there was a rare cross-network reference.

The basic plot of the show is that Chuck accidentally "downloaded" all of the United States government's secrets into his brain via a government program designed for exactly this purpose. When Chuck sees a seemingly harmless picture from this program, a government secret is brought to the forefront of his mind.

In this second episode, a doctor tests Chuck by showing him images that trigger these secrets. As the images fly by, Chuck begins spewing out government secrets. The audience hears only half-secrets, so we don't know the full details, but we are aware that the secrets are out there. After mentioning something about a presidential assassination attempt, the next fragment of a secret we hear is:

Oceanic flight 815 was shot down by –
.

Of course, this is a reference to the airline and flight that crashed in the series Lost. We obviously don't hear the rest of the secret, but hearing that in the list was certainly fun.

What's amazing is that NBC allowed an ABC reference on one of its shows. Clearly, the writers of Chuck are aware that many of their viewers are also Lost fans, and this is why they slipped the reference in. Can it be that the NBC staff responsible for viewing the program let this one slide, or did they simply not recognize the reference to the ABC show?

Despite rumors (or April Fools' jokes) that Lost would be cancelled early, ABC and Lost producers announced that Lost will be on the air for three more 16-episode seasons, when the series and the storyline will end in 2010.

At the producers' request, ABC provided the solid end date so that the storyline could be timed out evenly. Making your storyline last 16 episodes is a whole lot different than making it last 48.

This announcement is also welcome news to television fans who have been disillusioned by several series' premature cancellation with no resolution, which happened to fans of Invasion, Kidnapped, Surface, Drive, and Daybreak.

The Charlie Action Figure

Mcfarlane Toys announced that they will be making Lost action figures, currently due out in November 2006. The company plans on releasing a few characters at a time in multiple series, including deceased characters. Each character will also come with a small prop (e.g. Kate comes with the toy plane).

As you can see here, a picture of the Charlie figurine has been released. The other characters slated for this first series are Jack, Kate, Locke, Hurley, and Shannon. And yes, that's a bikini-clad Shannon, not a bloody-hole-in-torso Shannon.

If you purchase the deluxe boxed sets, you will also get dioramas of appropriate Lost sets so the geekiest of you can recreate scenes from the show.

Each of the figures will say various phrases (e.g. Hurley yelling, "The numbers are BAD!!!")

You can currently pre-order the figures at AllStarFigures.com at a price based on early estimations. The eventual price might be higher or lower, but you can lock in on the AllStarFigures price right now.

As if that weren't enough, Ubisoft (Myst, Resident Evil, Far Cry, Heroes of Might and Magic, Splinter Cell, and a game based on CSI) is working on an interactive video game slated for a 2007 release. Don't get your hopes up . . . that's going to be late 2007, most likely. The game should support game console and PC platforms.

Tonight's episode of Lost (titled "?") is the episode that Darren Aronofsky was to have directed, except that he had to pull out a couple months ago.

You can read more about the initial announcement and subsequent reneging.

This information was proffered by Damon Lindleof and Carlton Cuse in the Official Lost Podcast, a somewhat entertaining and always informative show that airs the Monday before each new episode. If you haven't already, definitely head to the site and start listening, or search it in iTunes and subscribe to it there. For the anti-iTunes folks, here's the RSS feed for the podcast.

Here's the synopsis for tonight's episode, titled "?":

Mr. Eko seeks Locke's help in finding a secret location he believes holds the key to the island's mysteries; Jack and the other survivors grapple with the horrific situation in the hatch.

Enjoy! (But try not to think about what the episode would be like if Aronofsky directed!)

Allow me to begin by giving you some viewing advice for this week's Lost episode: Watch the commercials! Normally, I advise everyone to get a DVR (or Tivo, if that's your thing) and quickly skip past the silly commercials. This week on Wednesday night is different, though. A special game will be launched during the show (including commercials) on the May 3 airing of Lost. (The Brits will see it on May 2 when the episode airs there.)

Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse announced on The Official Lost Podcast that the show would be launching an interactive internet-based game this month. In fact, the Lost Experience Alternate Reality Game will primarily take place online, but will also incorporate other forms of media, too. For instance, the first clue is in the form of a toll-free phone number.

The game is not dependent on the current story-lines of Lost and will extend from Season 1 through portions of Season 3. The game should continue through the summer, so we Lost addicts will have something to discover during the horrendous off-season. Though the story played out in the game is not dependent on the television show's plot, it is related to the series through characters and plots. We know that the game will stay true to the show because Lindelof and Cuse are involved closely with the project.

So, keep a sharp eye out on Wednesday! We should be learning plenty more about the Lost mythology soon!

Update: Call 877-HANSORG and also check out thehansofoundation.org for the first sets of clues!

The Swan

After my Lost April Fools' Joke, I figured that I should post something worthwhile about Lost instead.

As usual, Sledgeweb posted a detailed map with each section typed overtop the previously illegible writing. It's certainly worth a closer look, considering the map mentions polar bear gene therapy, another hatch called "The Flame," and a treatment for disease.

Entertainment Weekly also grabs the map and details five of the phrases listed on the map with some very brief commentary.

We learned (again) that Locke's father continues his little scams or cons on his son. In fact, I'm still not convinced that Helen isn't part of Locke's dad's long con. That said, Locke's father is a con man . . . anyone else on the island looking for a con man?

Tomorrow's episode is, happily, Hurley-centric. We should see more of Hurley in the psychiatric institution, and maybe we'll get a chance to see Locke's mother in there as well this time. Having a Hurley-centric episode now is especially fun because Hurley complained about being out of the loop in the last episode. Be careful what you wish for . . .

This morning, Lost creators J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof announced that ABC would not be carrying a third season of Lost.

Citing creative differences along with increasing salary demands from the cast and crew, Abrams read a pre-written press release, showing no emotions:

J.J. Abrams

Over the past few months, ABC and the cast of Lost have attempted to come to an agreement on salaries and bonuses for a third season of Lost. Unfortunately, the cast demanded large pay increases due to the popularity of the show and ABC cited a declining ratings trend along with a decline in merchandice sales as their reason for retaining current salaries.

In addition, ABC has attempted to obtain creative control and dictate the plotlines for the third season that are not acceptable to me or to Damon. Because Lost was originally intended to run as a miniseries, we had not anticipated the task of retaining the secrets of Lost throughout multiple seasons. This fact has allowed a large percentage of the viewership to figure out many of the Lost secrets, which takes the fun out of writing for the show.

Because of these two issues and after much thought and consideration, Damon and I have agreed that the best course of action is to wrap up the Lost storylines at the end of the second season and terminate our relationship with ABC.

I'm not sure about you, but the Lost secrets have remained hidden from me! Perhaps they are referring to Sledgeweb's Lost Investigations page, or maybe they are referring to the speculation threads over on the LOST-TV Forums.

I'm curious as to which actors are demanding larger salaries, because they seem so happy with the show. Perhaps it's lead actors like Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly, or maybe the majority of the minor characters are demanding the pay that a normal leading role might bring in. As for ABC's demanding of creative control over the show, that's just rediculous! How could ABC think that they could do better than Abrams and Lindelof have done thus far? Whatever the reasons are, Lost will certainly be missed.

And, on top of that all, the worst part is that April Fools' Day!