TVSquad

We mentioned that Matthew Fox (along with Evangeline Lilly) was in negotiations for a higher salary. Well, it looks like he got it. Fox will now be earning about $225,000 per episode of Lost, as opposed to the approximately $150,000 per episode he was making before.

I guess Jack Shepard will be with us through the rest of the season (and likely the rest of the series). If the character were more disposable, it's likely he would have gone the way of other now-dead Lost characters such as Charlie.

Success comes with a price. That price is giving the stars of that success a bigger piece of the action.

ABC has started to quietly renegotiate the contracts of Lost stars Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly, increasing their take for each episode to about $150,000. Unfortunately, "quietly" and "Hollywood" are contradictions in terms. Upon learning of this, other supporting players are also attempting to bump up their salaries.

Two things I don't understand: First, knowing that the show would last six years, why didn't the producers verify the participation of the required actors before they could potentially walk away like this? I know the show has a high mortality rate, but can they get away with killing off Jack or Kate? Second, how did ABC honestly think they could keep this quiet?

It's wonderful to see capitalism and egos at work and everybody exaggerating their worth in order to get a higher salary. I just hope Fox and Lilly remember to include their take for those Lost action figures.

Don't worry, their names aren't Nikki and Paolo.

Michael Ausiello over at Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive news about two new characters that are coming to the Lost world. No word yet on whether these characters will be on the island or off of the island, but they sound intriguing.

One is a man in his late 30s/early 40s named Caesar, who is described as "dangerous, physical, and extremely intelligent" and that he's "as skillful at charming people as he is at killing them." Sounds like an assassin type, no? The other character is Ilanna, a female in her late 20s/early 30s who is described as European, intelligent, dangerous, and "used to getting her own way." Except for the European part, that sounds like a lot of the women I've dated.

Lost starts filming its new season in less than two weeks, so we'll have the answers soon enough. And by answers I mean "more questions." This is Lost, after all.

As I awaited the Lost panel to start in Hall H Saturday morning, I felt bad for the multitudes of people who were still standing in line outside the convention center, behind the convention center and all the way down the road behind the Marriott hotel. If you were a fan of Lost, but not of Heroes, you simply had to sit in line and then sit through the Heroes panel in order to see Lost; there was no way around it.

The Lost panel was quite a change from Heroes, as rather than the entire cast appearing on stage, only Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse made up the panel. Later, though, a "surprise guest" came out: Matthew Fox. However, nearly everything discussed came from Lindelof and Cuse.

We talked about the presence of a Lost viral-esque booth appearing at Comic-Con this year, and during preview night it was already in full force. They had a sign-up sheet for taking an "eligibility test", where I believe you went into that booth there in the picture to the right, answered some questions and then got a special "code" to apply on their website. Apparently we'll learn more during the Lost panel on Saturday.

Meanwhile, I was able to snap a video of what was running on the monitor above in that picture. The sound isn't so important, so enjoy.

I wanted to wait a bit before I posted about the ABC showrunner panel, because a) I already posted about the "news" from Shonda Rhimes about Katherine Heigl's statements, and b) I wanted to think about why these panels seem to be so much more informative than the individual show panels?

We'll get to that more later. On the panel were Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice), Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives), Silvio Horta (Ugly Betty), Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (Lost), and Greg Berlanti (seemingly the rest of ABC's schedule). As you'd expect, Rhimes got the Heigl questions, Lindelof and Cuse got the most esoteric questions, and Chery made the most jokes. The funniest line, though, came from Horta.

After Jimmy Kimmel left the room, ABC Entertainment Steve McPherson got on with the business of facing the press at his executive session. I kicked it off with a question about Scrubs, following up on what Bill Lawrence told me in May about a possible "next generation" ninth season.

"We do think there's an opportunity after (this eighth season)," said McPherson. "If any or all the cast is a part of that, I think there's a growth (opportunity) there. It's a show that, despite being moved around into like 17 time periods and really never being given the marketing support, has really performed unbelievably well on NBC." He went on to say that they hope "it won't be a one-season situation."

Other than that, most of the conversation revolved around the network's returning shows, which makes sense, since the network is only debuting a few new shows (none of which had pilots that the network thought were suitable for preview) this fall.

Saturday -- a time of rest and relaxation. A time to put your feet up, grab a lemonade, open a book, and let the cool, summer breezes gently rock your hammock as a lazy July day passes. Of course, that's if you aren't attending the San Diego Comic-Con. Then, it's out of your bed, quick shower (if any), breakfast-on-the-go, and right back into the queues to see your particular favorites talking about their television shows.

Like Friday, Saturday at Comic-Con will be packed with television goodness. This is the day that many of the big guns come to play. Shows like The Office, Lost, Battlestar Galactica will be making appearances. They will be joined by newcomers Chuck, Dollhouse, and Pushing Daisies. There will even be an appearance by the recently single Sarah Silverman. There's also a good bit of television animation being featured, particularly by Nicktoons and B.E.T. Animation.

In order to make sure you get the most out of the money you paid to get into the convention, we here at TV Squad are providing you with a complete list of television-related panels for that day. If you are interested in seeing what else is going on July 25th you can review the official full schedule at the Comic-Con website. Remember, times and appearances are subject to change and seating in all event rooms is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

OK, technically this first bit is more movie news than TV news, but it does involve two pretty big TV names, so go with me here. Joss Whedon is reuniting with Drew Goddard for a new movie called Cabin In The Woods. Buffy fans will recognize Goddard as one of the writers from Buffy and Angel. He followed that up with stints on Alias and Lost. The pair wrote the new script together and it will mark the directorial debut of Goddard. Whedon is set to produce.

As is so often the case, there are not a lot of details about the script. When asked, Goddard said, "It's got a harder and darker edge, but it's also got classic Whedon qualities." He went on to add, "There's a reason the title is so straightforward. It's its own sub-genre, the cabin in the woods, and this is sort of our take on it." The cabin in the woods is its own sub genre and, for me, calls to mind Eliza Dushku in Wrong Turn. A handy recollection, because they also talked a little TV. More on that, after the jump.

Friends telling you Lost is the best thing since sliced bread? Everyone laughing at you at work because you're lost when they talk about that wacky island? Don't know who Jack, Kate and Sawyer are and whether or not John Locke is more than just some old dead philosopher? Ridiculed for being a Lost-less moron but too cheap of a bastard to go out and pick up those DVD sets? Well, good news.

Rarely does a show hit television that's so serialized it's almost impenetrable to come late into. And even more rarely does a network let it last past ten episodes; FOX'll yank it in one if they think they can get enough videos of aquatic life attacking compiled in time for a special. Well, never fear ... it's Sci Fi to the rescue!

That's right, starting September 15th, you can catch four episodes of Lost every Monday on Sci Fi. And Lost is a show that works even better in large chunks like that. I recorded the entirety of season three to my DVR before I even started it and wolfed it down in a weekend! But wait, there's more ... like what that picture has to do with this story!

ABC wants Lost fans to spend the show's long hiatus curled up with a good book. The network has created the Lost Book Club, a resource for viewers who want to know more about the drama's numerous literary references. The book club website contains a list of the books seen or referred to on Lost. You can peruse the list according to season or based on a number of categories (background, dialogue, and show theme).

In a brief letter to fans, executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse mentioned that the club is informal and that the books should be used to enhance the Lost experience, not provide answers to the show's mysteries.

As the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences tries to whittle the submissions down to actual nominees, it's interesting to take a look at who has made it to the semifinals. It's not a nomination, but it's one step away. Today comes word of the finalists for best comedy actress and best supporting drama actor. There are some surprises.

Chief among those for me is Sarah Silverman. I honestly hadn't even considered her in the running. I'm not much of a fan, but I do like that she is being considered for the simple fact that the base the nominees are drawn from can always use some expansion. And if she is the most surprising inclusion, the most surprising snub just might be Teri Hatcher. Eva Longoria, Marcia Cross, and Felicity Huffman all made the cut, but not Hatcher. Ouch. The rest of the finalists, and the supporting actors from a drama, after the jump.

The economy got you down, bucko? No prospects for any future employment? Are you just sitting there in your underwear, picking large handfuls of lint out of your bellybutton, while you wait for the phone to ring for the 'Next Big Thing' in your life journey?

Well, turn that frown upside-down, my friend! Hop a plane, train or automobile to San Diego between July 24th and 27th and make your way to your destiny, courtesy of the Dharma Initiative. Octagon Global Recruiting, on behalf of Dharma, will be at ComicCon during that time to seek out volunteers to contribute to a brand new research project. According to Octagon, the new project will play a vital role in the Initiative's objectives. What those objectives are really shouldn't matter to you. All that should matter is that there are a number of unpaid positions available.

So, tough guy, submit your email address to Octagon and they should be responding to you shortly about their positions. And, if someone should happen to mention the Oceanic Six during your interview, just ignore them. They will be taken care of as quickly and quietly as possible.

The Saturn awards ceremony was held last night, and Lost dominated the television categories with four wins. The drama won the award for Best Network Series and nearly swept the acting categories. Evangeline Lilly lost the Best Actress award to Ghost Whisperer's Jennifer Love Hewitt, last year's winner. Most of the first-time nominees, such as Pushing Daisies and Journeyman, were shut out. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was the only exception; Summer Glau tied for Best Supporting Actress.

Comedian Jeffrey Ross hosted the event. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a successful awards season for Lost. A complete list of winners in the television categories follows after the jump.

What do you get when you combine Lost, blog technology, and a fan with a lot of time on his hands? You get Keamy's Paradise.

It's a new blog from a devoted Lost fan and (more specifically) Keamy fan. You're probably wondering to yourself, how much material can you get out of one character who was only on the show for a handful of episodes? Plenty. Take a look above at Keamy as the Burger King! Or how about Keamy as the baby on the cover of Nirvana's Nevermind? Here's Keamy as Vincent Van Gogh and here he is starring in I Dream Of Keamy.

This is one of my favorites, as is this.

This is a great idea. There are several blogs and Twitter accounts that revolve around a character or a show, but a lot of the time it's just words and can get stale pretty quickly. But putting Keamy into these photos is a funny idea. Who knew that Keamy would become the Boba Fett of Lost?

[via Pop Candy]