i thought the writers realy wanted to know how many seasons the company that airs lost wants to do it for, so that they can plan an ending, and key points for the storyline, but there will still be filler episodes that are thought up quickly, just to make the series last longer.
i realy do like lost, but one thing that annoys me a bit is that they kill of characters too fast imo. i know that one or 2 people were killed off because they were working on other shows/movies alongside lost (against their lost contract). like all the people from the tail section of the plane (except that 1 man, whos not realy a main character, neither is his wife) have been killed off.