Partial season on track despite strike

Is an unresolved half-season of "Lost" better than no "Lost" at all?

ABC apparently thinks so. The network is -- for the moment, anyway -- holding to its plan to introduce the fourth season of "Lost" in February, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The decision stands in contrast to FOX's strategy for "24" -- rather than airing episodes produced prior to the writers' strike, FOX has put the show on hold until production starts again and it can air a full, unbroken season.

"Lost" has finished shooting eight of its 16 episodes this season, and executive producer Damon Lindelof has been quoted as saying that the eighth hour ends in a cliffhanger. How long fans of the show would have to wait to see the resolution is an open question. Both Lindelof and fellow showrunner Carlton Cuse are walking picket lines with the Writers Guild and, like others in their position, have pledged not to work at least until negotiations restart.

Neither the guild nor the media companies on the other side of the table have expressed any desire to resume talks in the four days of the strike.

ABC has a few other scripted series on tap for midseason: the comedy "Miss/Guided" and dramas "Eli Stone" and "Cashmere Mafia," all of which have at least a few episodes in the can. The network also has a bundle of unscripted shows on tap, ranging from another cycle of "Dancing with the Stars" to the ballyhooed do-gooding series "Oprah's Big Give."

There's no official word yet on a specific premiere date for "Lost," or which timeslot it will occupy on ABC's schedule.