Barack Obama May Pre-Empt 'Lost' Premiere

UPDATE: Breathe easy, 'Lost-ies. Looks like you won't have to wait an extra moment for the massive three-hour season 6 premiere of 'Lost' just because President Obama is constitutionally mandated to deliver his State of the Union address. According to the New York Times blog The Caucus, the White House still hasn't picked a date for the speech, but White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says it won't conflict with the Feb. 2 'Lost' premiere. "I don't foresee a scenario in which the millions of people that hope to finally get some conclusion in 'Lost' are pre-empted by the president," Gibbs said on Friday. Conspiracy-minded 'Lost' fans will note that 'Lost' co-executive producer Carlton Cuse is repped by the William Morris Endeavor agency, whose CEO, Ari Emanuel, is the brother of Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. But did the White House bow to pressure, either from Hollywood or from angry masses of 'Lost' fans petitioning on the Internet? Co-executive producer Damon Lindelof hinted in a Tweet, that there was a deal: the White House would back off of Feb. 2 if Lindelof and Cuse agreed to bring back the Frogurt character. As Lindelof put it in another Tweet, "OBAMA BACKED DOWN!!!! Groundhog Day is OURS!!!!!!! (God Bless America)."

The castaways of 'Lost''s mysterious island may be facing a nemesis more powerful and implacable than time loops, hydrogen bombs and smoke monsters: It's President Barack Obama.

According to The Wrap, the president is deciding when to deliver his annual State of the Union address, and the most likely airdate is Feb. 2. Which means the speech would likely bump the long-awaited premiere of the sixth and final season of 'Lost,' which had been scheduled for that date for months.

The Constitution mandates that the president disrupt our primetime viewing once a year with the State of the Union speech, traditionally delivered around the end of January, The Wrap reports that the White House has narrowed the date for this year's speech down to two choices: either Feb. 2 or the previous Tuesday, Jan. 26.

This raises a number of interesting political questions. A Jan. 26 speech would likely disrupt 'American Idol.' So which constituency would the president rather alienate: the large group of red-state heartlanders who watch 'Idol,' or the smaller group of pointy-headed coastal elitist blue-staters who watch 'Lost'? (Some angry 'Lost'-ies have already mobilized against the White House, at least on Twitter, where they've started a "#NoStateofUnionFeb2" hashtag.) Then again, wouldn't Fox just air 'Idol' anyway? (They've declined to air Obama's primetime speeches before, though not one as major as the State of the Union address.) Might Obama toss a bone to the 'Lost'-ies by offering up some clues? (He could start by telling us the name of the guy who's impersonating the dead John Locke, or where Claire's been since she disappeared in season 4.)

Five seasons of 'Lost' in 8 minutes


Then again, 'Lost'-ies have been waiting nine months for this season - and five and a half years for a satisfying wrap-up to the show's confusing mythology; would it kill them to wait one week longer? Shouldn't Americans care enough about the fate of the nation to set aside their favorite entertainment shows, whether 'Idol' or 'Lost,' for one hour? Doesn't the fact that we're even raising these questions say more about the state of the union than the president can tell us?

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