Lost executive producer Damon Lindelof has said that he hopes ABC will wait for a full 16 episode run of the cult show to be available before putting it back on the air.

In May, ABC signed up for three 16-episode seasons where the 16 segments would air without rerun breaks. The decision to run the episodes over consecutive weeks was made after ratings dipped during the show's third season, when a 22 episode run was interrupted for 12 weeks after only 6 episodes.

With the WGA strike now heading into a second week, only 8 out of 16 episodes of Lost's fourth season have been filmed and ABC is planning to air them in an eight week block early in 2008.

"That would not be ideal," Lindelof said while participating in a showrunners' picket outside the ABC-Disney studios. "It would be a lot like airing the six last year... Shows move at their own speed. You design the speed based on the length of the season, and if that season is cut short, you careen out of control."

Fox, which faces a similar situation with 24, has taken a decision along the lines suggested by Lindelof; 24's seventh season will not be seen until enough episodes are available for the entire season to be aired without interruption.