Major Lost, Desperate Spoilage!
　　I've got good news and bad news about last night's ABC press-tour party. Let's start with the bad news: I interviewed only two people the entire night. Wait, it gets better. The good news is, the two folks I spoke to were Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse, and Marc Cherry's new right-hand man at Desperate Housewives, consulting producer Jeff Greenstein. And I don't know if it was the McSteamy martinis that ABC was serving, but both men were spewing major spoilers about their respective shows' new seasons. The complete transcripts from both interviews are below.
　　
　　What can you tell me about the show's first six episodes?
　　Carlton Cuse: Damon and I are designing the show as a sort of miniseason. We almost view the first six as a miniseries. And it's going to answer what we left hanging at the end of the finale. Obviously, we're going to explain what happened to Locke and Desmond and Eko, and sort of deal with the fact that Sawyer and Kate and Jack are in captivity. We really love the idea of having this little six-episode [arc], and we have a whole story design with a conclusion and a cliff-hanger that will hopefully keep the audience curious and hanging and excited about coming back in January for the longer run of episodes.
　　
　　Are you happy about the scheduling move?
　　Cuse: We're ecstatic. We couldn't be happier. Damon and I got so many complaints last year from the fans about frustration over the repeats, and feeling so confused about when Lost was going to be on. The impatience of having to wait two or three weeks before the story could continue. Now, when Lost is on, it's on.
　　
　　Would you have liked to have gotten more than six episodes up front?
　　Cuse: The problem, ultimately, is that we physically cannot produce more than 22, 23 or 24 hours. We did 24 hours of the show last year, and it nearly killed us. We were simultaneously producing episodes 22, 23 and 24 at the end of the season with three different crews. It's such a hard show to make, and yet there are 35 weeks in the prime-time season. We wish we could make 35 episodes of Lost; we just can't. There are always going to be compromises in scheduling the show. And [ABC president] Steve McPherson decided, I think very smartly, that it would be way too long to wait until January to have the show back on again. That was the other choice: to come back on in January and run straight through to May. But I think it's better and more satisfying for the fans to have a pod in the fall. To not have to wait from May until January for the show to be back on. But we like it. We see those six episodes as a little miniseries, and it's going to be intense and hyped and high-octane.
　　
　　Will Cynthia Watros (Libby) be back in flashback?
　　Cuse: We would love to tell more chapters of Libby's life, in the same way that you've got Jack's father's story. That character was dead from the word go, but that doesn't mean we haven't learned and seen his story over the course of the series. We would love to sort of finish up Cynthia's story, but if I were specific about that, it would spoil the surprise of our storytelling.
　　
　　Will the Oct. 4 season premiere pick up where we left off?
　　Cuse: We pick up where we left off, but obviously there are different stories on different parts of the island, and, you know, we will get to all of them in the first few episodes. But like last year, we didn't deal with the raft survivors in the first episode. Not everything is going to be answered in the first episode. But the captivity story [with Jack, Kate and Sawyer] will definitely be addressed.
　　
　　Where are you in terms of casting three new roles?
　　Cuse: We are right in the middle of it. We hope to have announcements next week. We're casting two female roles and one new male role. I can't tell you where [the characters] are going to come from, but obviously, one of the things we're doing this year on the show is… learning a lot more about the Others, and their society and their history. So it might be fair to say that you're going to learn more about some other characters who are also Others.
　　
　　I hear we're finally going to get some romance on the show this season. It's the season of ◆!
　　Cuse: Finally, yes! I wouldn't call it the season of ◆, but I will say that romance will play a much more active part of the show this year…. We actually meant to get to it last year. We didn't really get to the romance as fast as we thought we were going to. So this year that's definitely on [our] agenda.
　　
　　Are we talking Jack and Kate?
　　Cuse: I think actually one of these new female characters is going to be a romantic interest, possibly for Jack.
　　
　　Is she going to be the third part of the triangle that was initially planned for Michelle Rodriguez?
　　Cuse: Yeah, exactly. And it's not going to be just one new romance. There will be several new romances on the show this year…. The second season was a little darker, a little more intense, a little more mythology-oriented, and I think that this year we're looking to make the show a little bit brighter, a little bit more vibrant, a little bit more on the action-adventure axis, a little bit more on the romance axis. We were interior, we were down underground in the hatch, it was very monochromatic. I don't think the show will be as dark and as intense this year. And it will be, I think, even more on the character axis than on the mythological axis.
　　
　　Is the empiricism vs. faith issue still core to the show?
　　Cuse: I think it's one of those issues that's never really resolved. I mean, I think, in essence, the show is constantly about empiricism vs. faith. Many of the things that happen on the show are debatable on that axis. Was this something that was supernatural, or is there a logical explanation — and which one is the truth? That's part of what Lost is all about, and we actually like the ambiguity of those story choices that we make because it allows the audience to sort of participate and engage in that debate themselves.
　　
　　How will Locke be different?
　　Cuse: John Locke will be a very different person in Season 3. All of his questions and his doubts and his uncertainty have been answered. In fact, the button did mean something. And there was something at stake. And I think that will bring about a change in that character.
　　
　　How big a role will Penny have?
　　Cuse: Penny is an important character in the overarching mythology of the show. I don't want to say too much about how much she's going to be in Season 3.
　　
　　Will the outside world play a significant role this season?
　　Cuse: Yeah. The interrelationship between the outside world and the island will be something that will be a part of Season 3.
　　
　　And the monster?
　　Cuse: Yes, the monster will be a part of Season 3, as will the polar bear. People are asking what happened to the polar bear, so we will be doing some polar-bear stories.
　　
　　People also want to know what happened to that thing that ate the pilot in the, um, pilot.
　　Cuse: That was the monster. He wasn't really devoured. When we saw Greg Grunberg he was hanging 70 feet in the air on a tree branch. He was dead, but he wasn't swallowed. The smoke creature and the monster are one and the same.
　　
　　Are Walt and Michael gone forever?
　　Cuse: Not necessarily. They still remain a part of the overall mythology of Lost. But as to when we will revisit their story, that's not something I can answer. But w
e will not immediately be getting back to Michael's story.
　　
　　Malcolm David Kelley will be getting older and taller. That has to be a consideration when you plan his story.
　　Cuse: It's something that we've accounted for.
　　
　　What about Cindy, the missing flight attendant?
　　Cuse: She's a personal favorite of yours, isn't she? I hope Cindy shows up at some point. Let's just say we have many actors on our show; she is not at the top of the list of actors we're servicing.
　　
　　Any firm plans for J.J. Abrams to write/direct any episodes?
　　Cuse: J.J. is going to cowrite the premiere with Damon, and our hope is he will direct Episode 7, which will be the first episode of the new pod.
　　
　　Were you bummed about the Emmy snub?
　　Cuse: Obviously, we're disappointed. We feel like we did a really good season of the show. But in the bigger picture, Damon and I are so overwhelmed by the success of the show, both critically and ratings-wise…. I mean, it wasn't our year for that to happen, and that's OK.

　内容要点概括如下：
　　1 season 3会展开一些情感故事，引入了三个新的角色(两女一男)。这一季中的故事不会像season2那么阴暗，那么沉重，那么多谜团，第三季的故事可能更加明快。
　　2 season 3中会更加详细的讲述the others的故事，包括他们的社会、历史以及the others中一些角色的故事。
　　3 season 3会把发生在 Locke、Desmond、Eko身上的事情解释清楚，还会回顾一些关于jack‘s father和libby事情
　　4 season 3中将看到walt和michale并没有逃出整个的“迷失神话”，但新一季的故事并不会立刻讲述这对父子的后续事情。
　　5 season 3会继续关于怪物和北极熊的故事
　　6 season 3还会讲到外部世界和小岛之间的相互关系、联系和影响。

第三季第1集的一个主要问题将是“为什么是Jack, Sawyer and Kate”？四趾的雕像是通向第3季的一条线索，该季会有一个考古的主题，对象是在达摩计划的人1970年代末上岛之前就在岛上的人。Kimberley Joseph将回来继续扮演Cindy 的角色。(Cindy 是815航班乘务员，在CHARLIE冲进厕所吸毒时曾追过他，还给过JACK饮料。坠机后，跟ANA LUCIA一伙人在一起，ANA一伙与海滩上的人会合途中，林中响起了THE OTHERS的低语声，Cindy就此消失，ANA认为她被THE OTHERS带走了)。怪物会在第3季再度现身。<BR>一些"不那么引人注目的"幸存者开始变得更重要。 女性, 30多岁, 具有领导才能；女性, 20出头, 极富魅力；男性, 拉美人, 20出头,英俊, 神秘。Harold Perrineau（Michael 扮演者）不再是下一季的常规演员。他将成为第2季的Walt那样的客座演员。Walt的成长将在第3季中得到处理。巨足塑使人想到了到的历史及考古的东西。第三季将探究在Dharma 于70年代末来到这里之前岛上发生过什么以及谁在岛上。黑烟怪当然也要重回第三季。第二季我们有幸看到了这个怪物但当我们看着它时还是不明白这到底是什么。下一季但我们看到这怪物时将会知道它是什么。为什么“the others”要带走 Jack，Kate 和Sawyer？他们的家在那儿？这些都将在第三季前六集中告诉大家。第三季也要讲讲主要角色以及他们之间的关系。 Locke是如何瘫痪的，还有 Jack 手臂上的tattoos怎么来的？这些都将在第三季中找到答案。我们在下一季将看到更多关于 Alex 的内容。虽然Libby已经死了，但她的身世很神秘，我们知道她曾经在精神病院和Hurley在一起，我们将会安排一些情节说说她为什么会来到这里。人们在岛上已经总共呆了60天，他们之间也已经彼此熟悉，爱情当然将会跟多地贯穿于剧。据说最终集的最后几分钟对整个庞大的故事有着令人难以致信的重要程度，因为这是在这场49小时的戏中，“Lost”第一次在现实中走出了小岛，而不是象过去只是在闪回中才如此。