Lost and Heroes headline new model of television viewing

I think I like the new system for airing serialized dramas.

Shows like "Lost" and "Heroes" are following the model set out last year with "Prison Break" that had episodes play out in two rerun-free segments sandwiched around a mid-season hiatus. The length of the hiatus varies by show, with "Lost" fans having the longest wait, but the benefits for people like me are still the same.

No surprises. Like most other people, I enjoy an unexpected gift (like a giant wheel of cheese or a jaunty hat) but when it comes to television, I want to know what I'm getting. It's just lousy to settle in on my couch in front of the PVR to find that last night's episode of whatever is one that I have already seen.

Reruns of serialized dramas are frustrating. It's one thing to watch the same episode of the Simpsons or Seinfeld multiple times, but when you have an ongoing storyline, it's maddening to backtrack. Characters and viewers undergo so much angst overcoming the various dramatic obstacles that it's annoying to see the characters retreat to an earlier point in a story arc. And dramas like these are so replete with satisfying "aha!" revelations that it's actually pretty dull to see the stories again, once the big moments are already known.

The other problem is that in September, January is too damn far away. Fox's "24" is an example of a show that plays out in consecutive episodes that start after the new year. If you can make it that long, you're treated to over five months of non-stop new episodes, but if being a fan of Sopranos has taught me anything, it's that I lack the patience to good-naturedly wait for a new season to begin. I'd rather have something cool and new to settle into as summer turns to fall, then a little break to build suspense, followed by a big finish drawn out through the cold Canadian winter months.

Now I'm off, to sit quietly in my darkened living room while I gnaw on a wheel of cheese and wait for late January.

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