You can add 2010 to that mysterious sequence of numbers in Lost.

TV's most maddening yet addictive serial thriller will end in May, 2010, Lost's parent network ABC announced Monday.



Three shortened, 16-episode seasons will air beginning next February. Each season's episodes will air over consecutive weeks, with no reruns.



Monday's announcement was the first time a major network has telegraphed the end of a top-rated series so far in advance.



Lost suffered a ratings shortfall this season after an ill-advised three-month break between November and February. More than 18 million U.S. viewers watched Lost when it aired last fall. That number dropped to 12 million when it returned in February after a 12-week hiatus.



Lost, however, remains one of the most-watched dramas on TV.



The April 25 episode was watched by 11.9 million viewers in the U.S. — the same number that watched last year's equivalent episode. Lost,winner of 2005 Emmy Awards for drama series and best director, is presently ranked No. 18 in the weekly Nielsen ratings.



The decision to delay Lost's return until February of next year means fans will have to wait eight months before learning more about the downing of Flight 815, the Dharma Initiative, the black smoke, the Hanso Foundation and that lottery-winning sequence of numbers — 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 — that seems to bring nothing but bad luck.



Lost's producers believe fans will be willing to wait, however, if the trade-off is no reruns or breaks between new episodes.



They cited The Sopranos and 24 as examples of serialized series that took long breaks between seasons with no ill effect. In a prepared statement, Lost co-producer Carlton Cuse equated ABC's decision with J.K. Rowling's  announcement that there would be seven Harry Potterbooks.



"It gave readers a clear sense of exactly what their investment would be," Cuse wrote. "We want our audience to do the same.” ABC's decision to run new episodes between February and May puts Lost's Canadian broadcaster, CTV, in a potential bind during the series' swan-song season in 2010.



Lost's season debut that year will coincide with CTV's planned coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. It's unlikely that either ABC orLost's producing studio, Touchstone Television, will agree to let CTV pre-release episodes. That means that CTV will in all likelihood air a marathon of unaired Lost episodes following the Olympics.



ABC, for its part, will schedule Lost directly opposite the 2010 Olympics, which will air on NBC in the U.S.