If ABC is wondering why ratings have fallen steadily this season for its hit show "Lost," the network need only look to the last few weeks for the explanation. More so than just about any other series on TV (except maybe "Veronica Mars"), "Lost" seems to constantly go into reruns just as the action starts to gain momentum, and those rerun stretches can last up to a month sometimes. To make matters worse, on several occasions the series has aired a clip show that recaps events from the series that every viewer already knows backwards and forwards. It would be one thing if I could ignore these clip shows, but the network promotes them as new episodes to trick everyone into watching. Even my TiVo thinks it's a new episode. Then when I finally sit down to watch the episode, often going through a long pre-show ritual of preparing snacks and a cold beverage, I discover within 5 seconds that I've been duped. Again.

"Lost" is too good a show for its producers and network to taint with these kinds of tactics. And given ABC's poor track record this season (and the steady decline in quality of "Desperate Housewives"), this show is far too valuable for the network to risk ruining it like this.

The show goes into it's final burst of new episodes for the season starting next week, so this shouldn't be a problem again for awhile. But I certainly hope some changes are made by this fall.