http://chud.com/nextraimages/dec6lost.jpgLost is one of those shows that frustrates you so much, you still continue to come back every week just to see if something new is revealed. Usually, your questions go unanswered. But that still doesn’t stop it from being one of the most highly rated shows on television today. I know I’m guilty of a Lost addiction.

ABC released their new schedule today for the coming year, and there is a bit of a surprise on it. Lost, usually quite comfortable at its Wednesday at 9 PM timeslot, has made a slight jump. The show will now air at 10 PM instead. Why the sudden move?

Well, it’s no big news that Lost suffered a massive ratings loss this season. The confounding nature of the show has finally caused some of its viewers to cry out "I’ll just wait for the DVD!" Also, it would have gone directly against Fox’s American Idol, which has been a ratings juggernaut for years, if it had stayed in its 9 PM timeslot.

ABC will fill the 9-10 PM hour with two new comedies: Knights of Prosperity and In Case of Emergency. Knights has been getting some good vibes from critics, but will it be able to handle itself against the Idol ratings show?

In all, I think this was a great decision on ABC’s part. They definitely don’t want Lost‘s ratings to slip any more. It still has a TON of viewers every week, but more slippage can damage the show. And we all want to find out just what in the hell that giant smoke monster is, don’t we? ABC just better do a good job of advertising the time change. Word is that many Lost viewers haven’t been sticking around for Daybreak, which is currently running in Lost‘s timeslot, so they hopefully will launch a massive PR campaign for this one.

Lost returns to confuse the hell out of us on February 7th.