TELEVISION Dweebing (why can't it always be Star Wars?)

EDITOR'S NOTE: I AM TOLD THAT WE MUST DWEEB IN OTHER UNIVERSES BESIDES STAR WARS.

I AM NOT SURE WHY.

BUT I ALWAYS DO WHAT THE VOICES IN MY HEAD TELL ME. (WELL....MOST OF THE TIME)

Fans of Lost find clues on the Internet
By DENISE FLAIMNewsday
Fans of ABC's Lost have been, well, lost since the addictive drama about 48 plane-crash survivors on a maddeningly mysterious island aired the final episode of its first season in late May.

But TiVo clutchers who scour episodes for embedded clues found a live one in a fleeting shot of a poster for the fictional Oceanic Air.

Slickly designed and realistic enough to mimic the unplugged Web site of a now-defunct air carrier, www.oceanic-air.com was developed with the show's creators and writers, says Mike Benson, ABC senior vice president of marketing. "With this show, everything happens for a reason, and it's the same with the Web site."

Which is why Internet fan boards are buzzing with deconstructions of the site's hatchlike mystery items: an interactive seating chart that pops up when the show's mystical numbers — 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 — are plugged in to some empty fields. And a pink script page with a scene revealing the island's monster, with the hand-lettered admonition, "No! No! No!! No mapinguari! NOT YET!"

According to the lore of Brazil's Amazon jungle, a mapinguari is a slothlike creature with a terrible smell, slashing claws and an aggressive disinclination for being disturbed, even by very highly rated network shows.

As for Benson, he won't elaborate on the significance of mythological South American beasts on this infuriatingly tight-lipped island, where the second season resumes in late September.EDITOR'S NOTE: WHAT FUN. WHAT EVIL FUN!

Holloway Muses on 'Lost' Finale

Actor who plays Sawyer says cast was left with lots of questions

Calling in from the set of his new movie, "Whisper," in Vancouver, B.C., Josh Holloway has a few thoughts on the finale of ABC's "Lost."

"I was a little disappointed in the finale," says Holloway, who plays con man Sawyer on the hit series. "I liked it, but I didn't love it. The script was one thing, but they tried to do so much, I feel like that some things lost the power they had. But that's OK; it was still good."

After a season full of dangling plot threads and tantalizing clues, fans were hoping for some solid revelations at the end. What they got in the May 25 finale were some hints and a few surprises, but in the end, more questions than answers. And that goes for the actors as well.

"We don't get answers either," Holloway says. "So I'm like, 'Aaaarrrgh!' I'm assuming that's the way TV is. I'm excited personally to quit asking questions about the writers and what they do and just do my job."

"Lost" follows survivors of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 from Sydney to Los Angeles, crashed on a tropical island a thousand miles off course.

In their month or so on the island, the castaways have discovered that it's no ordinary place, with polar bears, an invisible "security system" and the unseen "Others" whispering in the jungle.

They've also learned they're not alone. Mira Furlan plays Danielle Rousseau, survivor of a boat accident, who's been on her own for 16 years, and William Mapother played Ethan Rom, who faked being a crash survivor in order to pursue his own nefarious ends before being killed by one of the castaways. Both Danielle and Ethan showed a lot of interest in pregnant castaway Claire (Emilie de Ravin), both before and after she had her baby.

In the finale, Danielle stole the baby, hoping to trade it to "The Others" for a child stolen from her 16 years ago, but they had other plans. The Others -- or at least their scruffy, seagoing minions -- tracked Sawyer and fellow survivors Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Michael (Harold Perrineau) as they set sail on a raft.

They ultimately snatched Michael's young son, Walt (Malcolm David Kelley), instead of the baby, shooting Sawyer and leaving the raft ablaze.

Sharp-eyed viewers may have noticed something about the people on the boat, but if not, Holloway says, "There were twins, which I don't know if you could tell. They were identical twins, which was really spooky. There again, that wasn't emphasized."EDITOR'S NOTE: OK, THAT'S SOMETHING I DIDN'T CATCH. HMMMMM....

There also may be more footage showing what happened when everyone was forced off the raft.

"They filmed some stuff of us in the water that they cut out," Holloway says. "I'm wondering if they're saving that for the premiere. I'm hoping that it wasn't for no reason, because it was cold and it was 3 in the morning when we got there."

Loyal Sawyer fans probably noted that he had a new hairstyle on the raft, trading in his free-flowing locks for a samurai-style ponytail.

"I've been really having a hard time just with the logistics of the frickin' hair," Holloway says, "and trying to work with the hair whipping in your face all the time, because we shoot outside on the beach, right? I was thinking about that, on the raft, God, it's going to be coming from all directions! So I came up with that little idea. It worked great. I could actually see."

In one of the episode's unexpected moments, high-school science teacher Arzt (Daniel Roebuck) was helping the castaways deal with some old, unstable dynamite when he was suddenly blown to pieces.

"That was one of the best deaths I've seen," Holloway says. "'A shower of meat,' as it was described in the script. We were like, 'Oooh, God!,' but even that could have been a little more Tarantino-ish, if you will. It needed a little more blood." EDITOR'S NOTE: HOW GHOULISH OF YOU, MR. HOLLOWAY.

Since he went to work on "Whisper" the day after "Lost" wrapped in late April, Holloway didn't exactly get to have a viewing party for the finale. "I watched it in my hotel room after we wrapped at 3 in the morning here," he says. "That's how I've seen the last four episodes, actually, because I've been working every day."

Since Sawyer is currently underwater and his fate unknown, fans may have to wait a bit to see another scene between him and Jack Shepard (Matthew Fox), the neurosurgeon who has become the castaways' de facto leader. That would be a shame, since the fireworks between them are one of the show's most entertaining elements.

"They're like two brothers who were separated at birth," Holloway says. "They're two sides of the same thing. Sawyer's just had a different life experience. He was raised more on the darker side of life. I find it really interesting because Matthew and I work kind of similar. He's the kind of person I can sit next to and not have to say a word to and just get it. We really don't have to talk that much, like brothers.

"When we've got a big scene to do, we're not all joking with each other. We don't even talk to each other. Then after the scene, we give each other a big hug. That chemistry, and the way we work, comes through on screen. So I find a scene with Foxy to be very intense, but easy to do, because he's right there, on fire, and I'm right there. It just works."EDITOR'S NOTE: I THINK IT WOULD BE GRUESOME IF YOU WERE TRAPPED IN AN INTENSE SHOW EXPERIENCE LIKE THIS ONE AND DIDN'T GET ALONG WITH YOUR FELLOW PLAYERS. WHAT A LONG SLOG THAT WOULD BE.

Showtime slates diverse pilots

Once again, Showtime is casting a wide net with its pilot pickups.

The network has given the green light to four drama projects whose protagonists range from a criminal lab technician doubling as a likable serial killer,EDITOR'S NOTE: A HAPPY SERIAL KILLER? (FOR THIS WE HAVE CABLE) Britain's notorious King Henry VIII, a scheming young lawyer and an ensemble of paid male and female escorts.

In his first batch of pilot orders last May, Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt picked up three dramas and three comedies featuring wide-ranging and often unconventional themes and settings. EDITOR'S NOTE: AND SINCE IT IS SHOWTIME, THEY ALL INVOLVE TOPLESS WOMEN WANDERING THRU SCENES FOR NO REASON?

Four of the pilots, including two dramas, "The Cell," about an Islamic sleeper terrorist cell in the U.S., "Brotherhood," about two brothers, a politician and a mobster, have since been ordered to series.

This year's crop of drama pilots include "Dexter," from Emmy-winning writer James Manos Jr. and former Paramount Pictures executive-turned-producer John Goldwyn; "Filthy Gorgeous," from Oscar-nominated writer Ron Nyswaner and producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron; "The Tudors," from writer Michael Hirst and producers Ben Silverman, Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan; and "The Bastard," from writer Robert Greenwalt.

NBC Wants Another 10.5
NBC has signed Kim Delaney, Beau Bridges and David Cubitt to star in 10.5: APOCALYSPE, the sequel to 10.5. Bridges is back as President Hollister, Cubitt returns as Dr. Jordan Fisher, and Delaney will reprise her role as seismologist Dr. Samantha Hill.

Frank Langella, Dean Cain, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Oliver Hudson, Carlos Bernard, Carly Pope and Tamara Hope, Melissa Sue Anderson and Barbara Eve Harris will also star. EDITOR'S NOTE: GOOD CAST. POINTLESS MOVIE?

APOCALYPSE will pick up in the aftermath of the original chain of events. Another round of quakes threaten to destroy North America. Delaney's character discovers that her father's earlier, discredited seismographic hypothesis may actually be correct and could portend greater doom. EDITOR'S NOTE: YEAH. THAT HAPPENS A LOT AROUND DELANEY.

Filming started last week in Montreal. The TV movie will air this fall.