'Lost' season 5 gets a premiere date

'Lost' season 5 gets a premiere date
Nov 7, 2008, 03:58 PM | by Jeff Jensen

We don't know where the Island went -- but now know when we'll be seeing it again. ABC insiders say that the fifth season of the Emmy-nominated cypto-drama will premiere with a two-hour event on Jan. 21, 2009, at 8 p.m. That's a Wednesday, in case you don't know next year's calendar by heart, which means that Lost will be returning to its original day-of-the-week slot. (Last season, it aired on Thursday nights.)

While plans are still being finalized, sources indicate Lost will launch with its first two episodes aired back-to-back, not a single, two-hour opus like its season finales. (Should ABC reconsider the plan, look for the first hour of the two-hour event to be some kind of recap special.) Still TBD: if Lost will be making 8 p.m. its weekly Wednesday berth. An 8 p.m. start means the show will be competing against (gulp) Fox's American Idol. At 9 p.m., Lost will be tangling with Fox's new House-meets-The Mentalist procedural, Lie To Me, which will premiere the same night as Lost's return. When we get the regular time slot thing nailed down, we'll let you know. -- Additional reporting by Michael Ausiello and Lynette Rice

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/11/losts-fifth-sea.html?xid=email-alert-lost-20081107-item1