Some early info on ABC’s Sunday and the Lost finale, ahead of the regular press release.

With the series finale of Lost, ABC posted a definitive victory the final Sunday night of the 2010 May Sweep and 2009-10 TV Season, leading its nearest competition by 2.3 million viewers (CBS) and by 100% in Adults 18-49 (NBC). Winning the evening for 4th time in 5 weeks among Adults 18-49, ABC registered its 6th straight May as Sunday’s #1 TV network in the key young adult sales demo.

· Excluding the nights of its Academy Awards broadcasts, ABC marked its strongest Sunday in nearly 2-1/2 years among Adults 18-49 – since 12/2/07.

From 7:00-9:00 p.m., Lost: The Final Journey (a clip show covering the series’ 6 seasons), drew an average audience of 9.8 million viewers and an 4.0/13 in Adults 18-49 to win its time period on both counts.

· The Lost recap special generated ABC’s best non-Oscar Adult 18-49 number in the 2-hour time slot since November 2007 – since 11/25/07.

Surging from its lead-in at 9:00 p.m., the 2-1/2 hour series finale of Lost pulled in an average audience of 13.5 million viewers and an 5.8/15 in Adults 18-49 to stand as the #1 TV show on Sunday night on both counts. Lost soared to the top of its time period, beating out its nearest network competition (NBC’s season finale of Celebrity Apprentice from 9:00-11:00 p.m.) by 4.2 million viewers by 71% in Adults 18-49. Lost registered as TV’s highest-rated drama finale this season in Adults 18-49.

· In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, Lost generated its biggest finale in 3 years – since 5/23/07. It was the series’ strongest telecast overall since February 2008 in viewers and young adults- since 2/21/08 and 2/14/08, respectively.

· ABC estimates that 20.5 million unique viewers watched the series finale of Lost during its 2-1/2 hour broadcast – unduplicated viewers that watched 6-minutes or more of the program.

From 12:05-1:05am, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live: Aloha to Lost generated a big boost and broad exposure to the show, up by 3.22 million viewers (4.88 million vs. 1.66 million) and by 2.04 million in Adults 18-49 (2.73 million vs. 690,000) over its late-night average this season. In fact it was JKL’s 3rd-largest ever Adult 18-49 audience (any telecast), behind only its 2 post-Super Bowl airings.

Quick Take for Sunday, May 23, 2010 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Wins the Final Sunday of the Season, Leading the Night in Adults 18-49 For the 4th Time in 5 Weeks and for its 6th Consecutive May Sweep Period

ABC Marks its Top-Rated Non-”Oscar” Sunday in Nearly 2-1/2 Years

“Lost: The Final Journey” Recap Special Wins from 7-9pm, Pulling ABC’s Best Non-”Oscar” Adult 18-49 Rating in the Slot Since November 2007

Sunday’s No. 1 TV Show, the Series Finale of “Lost” Soars to the Top of its Time Slot

“Lost” Marks its Best Finale in 3 Years, with the Series’ Top Telecast Since Feb �08

“Jimmy Kimmel Live: Aloha to Lost” Generates Broad Exposure for the Show, with its 3rd-Highest Ever Adult 18-49 Number, Behind only its 2 Post-”Super Bowl” Airings

Sunday Night (7:00-11:00 p.m.)

With the series finale of “Lost,” ABC posted a definitive victory on the final Sunday night of the 2010 May Sweep and 2009-10 TV Season, leading its nearest competition by 2.3 million viewers (11.4 million vs. 9.1 million – CBS) and by 100% in Adults 18-49 (4.8/14 vs. 2.4/7 – NBC). Winning the evening for 4th time in 5 weeks among Adults 18-49, ABC registered its 6th straight May Sweep as Sunday’s No. 1 TV network in the key young adult sales demo.

· Excluding the nights of its “Academy Awards” broadcasts, ABC marked its strongest Sunday in nearly 2-1/2 years among Adults 18-49 – since 12/2/07.

“Lost: The Final Journey” (7:00-9:00 p.m.)

From 7:00-9:00 p.m., “Lost: The Final Journey” (a retrospective covering the series’ 6 seasons) drew an average audience of 9.8 million viewers and a 4.0/13 in Adults 18-49 to win its time period on both counts.

· The “Lost” recap special generated ABC’s best non-”Oscar” Adult 18-49 number in the 2-hour time slot since November 2007 – since 11/25/07.

“Lost” (9:00-11:30 p.m.)

Surging from its lead-in at 9:00 p.m., the 2-1/2 hour series finale of “Lost” pulled in an average audience of 13.5 million viewers and a 5.8/15 in Adults 18-49 to stand as the No. 1 TV show on Sunday night on both counts. “Lost” soared to the top of its time period, beating out its nearest network competition (NBC’s season finale of “Celebrity Apprentice” from 9:00-11:00 p.m.) by 4.2 million viewers by 71% in Adults 18-49. In addition, Lost registered as TV’s highest-rated drama finale this season in Adults 18-49.

· In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, “Lost” generated its biggest finale in 3 years – since 5/23/07. It was the series’ strongest telecast overall since February 2008 in viewers and young adults- since 2/21/08 and 2/14/08, respectively.

· ABC estimates that 20.5 million unique viewers watched the series finale of “Lost” during its 2-1/2 hour broadcast – unduplicated viewers that watched 6-minutes or more of the program.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live: Aloha to Lost” (12:05-1:05 a.m.)

From 12:05-1:05 a.m., ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live: Aloha to Lost” generated a big boost and broad exposure to the show, up by 3.22 million viewers (4.88 million vs. 1.66 million) and by 2.04 million in Adults 18-49 (2.73 million vs. 690,000) over its average this season.

· In fact it was “JKL’s” 3rd-largest ever Adult 18-49 audience (any telecast), behind only its 2 post-”Super Bowl” airings.

2007

Following the events of “What They Died For”, Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), Kate Austen (Evangeline Lily) and Hugo “Hurley” Reyes (Jorge Garcia) head to the heart of the island while James “Sawyer” Ford (Josh Holloway) goes to the well to help Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick). At the well, Sawyer is confronted by Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) and the Man in Black. After the Man in Black reveals of his plan to destroy the island, Sawyer steals Ben’s rifle and reunites with Jack’s group. Jack then tells Sawyer that he plans to confront the Man in Black at the heart of island. At the same time, Desmond, having been rescued by Rose Henderson (L. Scott Caldwell) and Bernard Nadler (Sam Anderson) (who have also travelled through time in “LA X”), is confronted by the Man in Black. The Man in Black threatens to kill Rose and Bernard if Desmond does not come with him, and Desmond agrees to go with him. Meanwhile, Miles Straume (Ken Leung) finds a now aging Richard Alpert and they set to destroy the Ojira plane. Along the way, they rescue Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey) from the wreckage of the submarine.

On the way to the heart of the island, Jack’s group encounter the Man in Black, Ben and Desmond. Jack tells the Man in Black that he is going to kill him, and together with Desmond, they travel to the heart of the island. Jack believes that Desmond can kill the Man in Black because he thinks Jacob brought him back not as bait but as a weapon. Desmond tells Jack that destroying the Island and killing Locke doesn’t matter because he is going down to the heart of the island to the other reality. Jack and the Man in Black lower Desmond down to the heart of the island and he reaches a chamber, leading to a glowing pool with an elongated stone at its centre. Immune to the pool’s electromagnetic energy, Desmond manages to remove a giant stopper in the centre of the pool. However, the light goes out, and as the Man in Black predicted, sets about the destruction of the island with the unforeseen side-effect of making both Jack and the Man in Black mortal again. After a prolonged fight, Jack is able to kill the Man in Black after Kate shoots him. However, Jack is mortally wounded in the process and after professing his love for Kate, he decides to return to the heart to prevent the destruction of the island. Sawyer and Kate decide to leave the island while Hurley and Ben follow Jack.

Kate and Sawyer travel to the site of the Ojira Airlines plane where Lapidus, Richard and Miles have been quickly trying to make it air-worthy. After convincing Claire to leave, Kate, Sawyer, Richard, Miles, and Frank board the plane, which successfully takes off. Jack leads Hurley and Ben back to the heart of the island, where Jack offers an emotional Hurley to take over as the protector of the island. Jack goes down the light and rescues a barely conscious Desmond from death but cannot save himself. Jack manages to restore the light and is enveloped in the light that surrounds him. Hurley, in his role as the new protector of the island, decides to help Desmond get home and asks Ben to be his right-hand man. Hurley also decides to change things so people can come and go from the island at will and not be stuck there like in the past. Jack reawakens outside by a river and walks toward the spot where he woke up for the first time on the island. After collapsing, Vincent the dog approaches him as he happily watches the plane fly by, and he slowly closes his eyes, mirroring the first shot of the series of Jack’s eye open.

Flash-sideways

Desmond continues to gather the Islanders who begin to recollect their time on the Island. Each member begins to recognize one another based upon close contact with a person or object that was important to them throughout their time on the Island. Eventually most of them congregate inside a church, with Ben being the sole member who elects to stay outside. Kate instructs Jack to enter through the church back, where he encounters his father’s coffin. The coffin acts as the anchor for Jack’s memories after earlier contact with Locke and Kate met with resistance on his part to believe what he was seeing. He then opens the coffin and discovers it to be empty. Christian Shephard (John Terry) then appears to Jack, who asks his father how he is here. Jack then realizes that he must have died, and is emotionally embraced by his father, who reassures him that the people he has met and the events leading up until now not only happened, but that “The time you spent with these people was the most important period of your life.” Christian states that “you made this place so you could find each other”, independent of the time at which they died, and move on to “the next phase” together, as in that place time had no meaning. Jack and Christian go out into the church to meet the others.

After an emotional reunion, Christian opens the front doors of the church, which releases a bright light, not unlike the light at the heart of the island. It eventually blankets everyone inside the church.

Epilogue

Uniquely throughout the entire run of the series, instead of being displayed upon a black background the closing credits are shown alongside various shots of the wreckage of Oceanic 815 resting on the beaches of the Island.

“The End” is the series finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the 17th and 18th episodes of season 6. It is also the 120th and 121st episodes overall. The episode aired simultaneously on ABC in the United States, CTV in Canada, Fox in Italy and Portugal, Fox and Cuatro in Spain, DiziMax in Turkey and Sky1 in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland at 9pm Pacific Time on May 23, 2010. It was written by co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse, and directed by executive producer Jack Bender. Unlike the previous season finales, which were two hours long with advertisements, the series finale was expanded by half an hour; running two and a half hours starting at 9/8c, with a retrospective of the past six seasons running for two hours, starting at 7/6c.

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