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‘Lost’ to air
1-hour special

ABC has given the green light to a one-hour "Lost" special, with the network's marketing and programming departments overseeing production. The special, to air April 27, is designed as an introduction to the series, to include tidbits about six of the main characters that have been revealed since the series began in September.

A source said the characters will retell their stories "in a linear fashion" -- an idea by the drama's co-creator Damon Lindelof -- to see how the characters are interwoven. The focus will be on Jack, Kate, Locke, Sawyer, Charlie and Sayid, as these core characters are constantly interwined with everyone else's lives. The unnamed South Pacific island they're marooned on will also have its own segment.

And, in a bit of welcome news, producer Carlton Cuse says that things have been worked out to allow the production to stay in Hawaii.

Looks like the premiere of the Season 2 will be held at Sunset on the Beach in September. And a new series regular, Daniel Roebuck, will appear in the last three episodes.

Series star Matthew Fox heads to New Zealand's exclusive Treetops Lodge and Estate for a five-day stay once the series wraps in mid-April.

Kudos to Kauai-based still photographer Mario Perez, who's had a busy year with NBC's "Hawaii," Fox's "North Shore" and "Lost," and now scores a Page 1 photo in Sunday's Los Angeles Times travel section about "Lost" ...

The Wall Street Journal featured Kaveh Kardan, chief technologist and animation/gaming curriculum head of the University of Hawaii's Academy for Creative Media.

In the article -- "States Hope Videogame Schools Will Put Them on the Map" -- Kardan had this to say about UH: The university last year raised about $500,000 in grants and donations and received $350,000 through the reallocation of university funds. The academy offers courses in computer-game production and 3D character animation. Blue Planet Software Inc. and Backbone Entertainment, game companies with operations in Hawaii, recently called on lawmakers to increase support for the industry ...