I'd like to say that the greatest aspect of an ensemble show like Lost is the rich layers added to each character. For example, it is very interesting that of the survivors Sawyer, so far as I've seen, has never directly lied to any other survivor and yet is considered untrustworthy because he hoards and barters items, while "heroes" like Jack and Kate are worth their word and yet have openly lied to each other and other survivors. In no way does this detract from the characters of Jack, Kate, Locke, or any of the others, but it exemplifies the point that the layers of each character are many and the success of the show lives and dies on the intricate aspects of each character's "life". In the future I believe any televisioin series that deals with ensemble casts will consider themselves successful if they are mentioned in the same sentence as Lost.

I just realized I'm supposed to have a question here :) Therefore, if things fall into place ideally how many seasons should Lost exist?