Two major genre shows have just had back-to-back series finales, wrapping up years of storylines. I’m talking of course about Lost (on Sunday night) and 24 (just last night, pictured above). Which one was the more satisfying end?

Both focused more on emotional resolutions, with a healthy serving of climactic action on the side. Both featured beloved characters saying their final goodbyes. And both had plenty of life and death on display.

Lost’s finale was certainly the bigger ratings hit, with 13 million viewers and a 5.6 rating among the 18-49 demographic. 24 scored just 9.2 million viewers and a 2.8 rating.

Lost wrapped up its story with a long-planned ending that put a definitive cap on this big, mythological saga. 24 left room open for a big-screen film that’s already in the works. It’s a common writer’s adage that you “always leave them wanting more,” because that way they’re always left with positive feelings about what they saw.

The two finales are apples and oranges, but I’m curious… Which one did you like better? Or maybe a more pertinent question would be… which show will you miss more?

I’m still sorting out my own thoughts about last night’s series finale of Lost. Needing to ponder what some of it meant, but overall I thought it was brilliant, beautiful, and poetic.

In the meantime, Nielsen reports that the finale scored 13.5 million viewers, which is its best viewer count in two years. Perhaps not as strong as ABC might have hoped for, but nothing to snore at either. Lost also averaged a 5.6 rating in the all-important 18-49 demographic.

The show garnered the number one ratings for the night in both the 9 and 10 o’clock hours, easily beating NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice finale.

ABC already has a huge night of programming planned for Lost’s big finale episode on Sunday, May 23rd: a two-hour recap show, followed by the finale itself, and then a special edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live devoted to saying goodbye to the show.

Now ABC has announced that the finale episode, appropriately titled “The End,” has been given an extra half hour. What was planned as a two-hour finale will now run for two-and-a-half hours, primarily because the show filmed so much crucial stuff that it just couldn’t be crammed into two hours.

Personally, I’m thrilled. I know it will make for an insanely long night, but Lost is my favorite show, so bring it on! I’m already in denial about saying farewell… (Though last night’s episode and the death it brought certainly hammered home the fact that the end is upon us.)

ABC will also re-air the show’s two-hour pilot episode on the Saturday night before the finale.

Prepare for Lost overload.

Lost (my favorite show) ends on May 23rd, but ABC is planning to celebrate the conclusion of this landmark series with an entire week of Lost programming.

The next-to-last episode, entitled “What They Died For,” airs on Tuesday night, May 18th. Then, on Saturday night the 22nd at 8:pm, ABC will re-air the two-hour pilot episode, which first aired in 2004. The pilot was directed by J.J. Abrams (his only directing work on the show) and cost a record-breaking $10 million to shoot.

Then the finale kicks into high gear on Sunday night. A two-hour recap show airs at 7, followed by the two-hour finale episode itself, which is appropriately titled “The End.” Following local news at 11, a special edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live will air featuring the entire cast and crew of Lost, intended to shut the door on the series once and for all.

But before all this TV stuff comes to an end, there’s even more. Los Angeles residents are in for a special treat on Thursday, May 13th, when “LOST LIVE: The Final Celebration” takes place at UCLA’s Royce Hall. The event, which is expected to include appearances by the show’s creators, as well as cast members Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert), Michael Emerson (Benjamin Linus), and Jorge Garcia (Hugo “Hurley” Reyes), will feature a full orchestra conducted by composer Michael Giacchino, who has written all of the music featured on Lost. Following the concert, the penultimate episode (“What They Died For”) will be screened.

The Saturn Awards were given away last week and we all know that the “Dark Knight” dominated the awards show, at least for the movie awards categories. When it comes to the TV awards “Battlestar Galactica” still rules, managing to get back its title of being the Best Cable TV Series, which it has won 2005 but was snatched away by “Dexter” last year.

Below’s a list of this TV winners of the 35th Annual Saturn Awards. For a full list of winners you can download this Microsoft word document provided by the by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.

Best Television Series: LOST

Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

Best Presentation on Television: THE LIBRARIAN: THE CURSE OF THE JUDAS CHALICE

Best Actor on Television: EDWARD JAMES OLMOS (Battlestar Galactica)

Best Actress on Television: MARY MCDONNELL (Battlestar Galactica)

Best Supporting Actor on Television: ADRIAN PASDAR (Heroes)

Best Supporting Actress on Televison: JENNIFER CARPENTER (Dexter)

Guest Starring Role on Television: JIMMY SMITS (Dexter)

My reaction to the winners? Being a Battlestar Galactica fan I’m glad they got the title back. I also really like Dexter though so it’s good that they at least got awards. As for Lost, I lost my interest in the series a few seasons ago so I couldn’t care less. The twists and turns are also too much to follow and I am not in the mood for a Lost marathon just so I can finally figure out what’s been happening.

Here it is again – another one of those lists which eventually crop up at the end of each year. This time, this is a list of the best TV shows that we had in the past year. This list was compiled by the people at The Connecticut Post and I do have to disagree with some items so I am merely noting down the ones I think should really be part of anyone’s list. Call me biased but here they are.

“Lost,” ABC: The wildest, most daring drama on broadcast TV continued to go for broke in its fourth season, bringing us time travel, the relocation of the island and a bunch of other nutty stuff. I don’t always know what’s going on on “Lost,” but the writing is so consistently smart and surprising that I always want more. Bonus: Michael Emerson’s pitch-perfect work as Ben Linus, TV’s best villain.

This only made number 5 on their list. Not a bad choice, don’t you think?

“30 Rock,” NBC: Though this was the year of Tina Fey as Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live,” her NBC sitcom about the nutty goings on at a sketch comedy show was also worthy of praise. The series struggled a bit after returning from the strike hiatus, but last season’s finale was great, as were several of this season’s episodes. My favorite was “Reunion,” in which we find out that Fey’s character, Liz, was evil in high school. The episode also gave us the line “I want to go to there,” now in competition with “I can see Russia from my house” for the best Fey line of the year.

30 Rock at number 7? Whoa…there’s something wrong here. I thought it should be at a higher place!

“Dexter,” Showtime: A lot of people disliked the third season of this drama about lovable serial killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), and I agree that this season wasn’t as good as the past two. But I’m putting it on the list for Hall’s always excellent work as Dexter, and Jimmy Smits’ fantastic performance as an assistant district attorney with a dark streak.

This was their last choice. Bad choice. Dexter should have been in the top 3 in my book.

What’s your opinion?

Die-hard Lost fans will be delighted to know that the new trailer for Lost’s fifth season has a hidden message. At the 1:34 and 2:25 mark, a logo flashes on the screen. This is the logo for Ajira Airways. A look at the net turns up a website ajiraairways.com.

The trailer features footage from the last season as well as the upcoming fifth season.

Lost fans will surely be anticipating January 21 as it will be the start of the hit show’s fifth season.

The premiere episode of the fifth season will be a special treat as it will have back-to-back episodes. the show will be preceded by clip recap show an hour before the season premiere.

A few Lost stars are renegotiating their contracts and may actually get fatter paychecks in return for their efforts.

Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly are currently getting $150,000 per episode, but the low-profile renegotiations can result in them getting a pay raise. This move is actually prompting the other Lost actors to start their own renegotiation deals. They may all have a happier christmas when this ends.

Lost fans, listen up! The producers are talking with ABC network about producing a 14th hour for the show. The series was originally shortened because of the writer’s strike, forcing them to squeeze the storyline into 13 episodes. Very confusing. Maybe they’ll use some of that time to explain what the heck’s been going on. We’re feeling a little bit “lost” ourselves!