The wait until the final season of Lost now is no longer a mystery.  Today ABC revealed that Lost's sixth and final season will premiere February 2, 2010.  A Tuesday.

Lost will air a special one-hour recap at 8pm on February 2, followed by the two-hour premiere, cryptically titled "LAX."  The following week the show will settle into its regular time slot at 9pm.

The rest of ABC's schedule is still as mysterious as the Island, though the move to Tuesday most likely means Lost will be paired with V, Elizabeth Mitchell's new sci-fi show.

The official announcement also confirms which actors are going to be official series regulars, which really means very little since being a series regular doesn't mean you get to appear in every or even most episodes.

The season 6 cast is:
Naveen Andrews, Nestor Carbonell, Emilie de Ravin, Michael Emerson, Jeff Fahey, Matthew Fox, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Ken Leong, Evangeline Lilly, Terry O'Quinn and Ziuleikha Robinson

If you're unsure of that last name, it's Ilana from Ajira 316.  With her, Emerson, O'Quinn, Carbonell and Fahey, it looks like there might still be an Island despite last season's explosion, as they were the principle characters in the present-day Island.

As for the rest, I'm excited to see de Ravin officially back, as promised, and expect some pretty crazy things.  Given the premiere title, "LAX," it seems logical that all those theories about the bomb changing history and allowing Oceanic 815 to land safely instead of crashing to the Island might just be true.

But that doesn't really explain how Islanders Like Carbonell's Richard Alpert are series regulars.

Another question is: what about Dancing with the Stars?  Tuesdays at 9pm is usually when the result show airs, so my best guess is that the results show will move up an hour to 8pm when the show returns, meaning V will most likely come after Lost at 10pm.

This marks the third day Lost has aired.  The show has always been on Wednesday nights, except for season 4 when it was moved to Thursdays.  With limited scripted competition (freshman dramas NCIS Los Angeles and Melrose Place), Lost might have an easier time in the ratings, but this move also means it will be up against American Idol.



-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)