‘Lost’ fans won’t find reruns

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and his name is Steve McPherson. The ABC president of prime-time entertainment bestowed a generous gift upon the legions of “Lost” fans Tuesday morning in Manhattan, promising: No More Repeats.

“Lost,” whose unpredictable schedule of reruns throughout the season annoyed fans so much that the website IsLostARepeat.com was launched to keep track, will return in the fall with seven original episodes, and then go on hiatus until January or February, when it will return to the schedule with straight original episodes until May, McPherson said at a news conference at the annual television “upfronts,” at which the networks’ fall lineups are announced for advertisers.

The exec had something in his bag for “Grey’s Anatomy” fans as well, announcing that Dr. McDreamy and company are moving to Thursday nights next fall.

It was a lot to take in, and that does not even count all the new characters in the 12 new shows that will grace the ABC schedule next year. Which is why “Grey’s Anatomy” is being moved, so ABC can use it to launch “Six Degrees,” a new drama by J.J. Abrams (“Lost,” “Mission: Impossible III”) and his company, Bad Robot, about six New Yorkers who go about their lives without realizing the effect they will have on one another.

“If anybody has seen [“Grey’s”] lately, and if you saw it last night, there’s certainly not a better show on television,” McPherson said. “There may be a show as good, but I congratulate whoever’s show that is.... The two-hour block of ‘Grey’s’ and ‘Six Degrees’ for us is incredibly strong ... and with the comedies leading into it, it really establishes another place on the schedule for us.”

Thursday nights have long been a challenge for ABC, except for its recent success with “Dancing With the Stars,” which is moving to Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the fall to give its results show a better platform than what Fridays offered. Since NBC’s “Must-See” Thursdays went down the tube, the night has belonged to CBS’ “CSI,” a constant juggernaut, which, incidentally, McPherson developed in a previous job.

NBC had announced its plans the day before to reignite Thursdays with a fall lineup that includes its two hit comedies “My Name Is Earl” and “The Office,” the much-buzzed-about “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and “ER.” Could big dramas like “CSI,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and Aaron Sorkin’s new baby, “Studio 60,” coexist and thrive in the same time slot?

Maybe not. Talk on Tuesday was that just a day after announcing its lineup, NBC was already considering moving “Studio 60” out of such a head-to-head competition.

“It’s good for television that they have some great shows on and we have some great shows on,” McPherson said of NBC and his close friend, NBC President of Entertainment Kevin Reilly. “It’s competitive and I think great shows can compete against each other and both do well. Kevin and I never talk about the competitive side of the thing. We talk about perspective. One of us is getting overwhelmed and [we’ll] say, ‘Hey, you know what, go spend time with your kids.’ ”

When it comes to “Lost,” it’s all about the fans. “Lost” will stay in its current Wednesday time slot and run for seven episodes in the fall. Then ABC will launch “Day Break,” starring Taye Diggs as a detective who literally lives the same day over and over -- and it’s a bad one -- for 13 weeks.

“We really listened to the fans,” McPherson said. “ ‘Lost’ is a show people really love. They make an appointment for. They absolutely just get furious when it’s in repeat.”

The show’s executive producers, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, said on Tuesday that they loved the new schedule and would design the third season around the new air order.

“Now when ‘Lost’ is on, it’s on,” Cuse wrote in an e-mail. “And the audience doesn’t have to wait all the way until the spring for the show to return, which given the cliffhanger nature of our finale would be too long. We’re incredibly excited about it. It allows us to really keep the momentum of our particular type of storytelling.”

Although not airing repeats makes ABC’s schedule more costly, McPherson says he thinks it’s worth it. NBC announced Monday that it was handling “ER” the same way -- all original episodes until January, when it premieres “The Black Donnellys” in its place. Fox’s “24” has grown in its fourth and fifth seasons by launching in January with only original episodes.

“The audience has so much choice, it’s so sophisticated and it’s so demanding now, that we have to [have] more and more original programming,” McPherson said.

Later, at the presentations for advertisers at Lincoln Center, McPherson knocked out a smart Cha Cha with Edyta Sliwinska from “Dancing With the Stars” and Jimmy Kimmel reminded the crowd not to forget to stop by the ABC store: “ ‘Commander in Chief’ hand towels are 60% off,” he quipped. He also called out a seat number and told its designee that she had won an “Emily’s Reasons Why Not” book bag.