ABC’s Lost and its increasingly multiplying number of mysteries will come to an end… after three more seasons totalling 48 episodes, the show’s producers and ABC execs have decided:

“Due to the unique nature of ‘Lost,’ we knew it would require an end date to keep the integrity and strength of the show consistent throughout and to give the audience the payoff they deserve,” ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson said.

Lindelof said having the end point in sight was “incredibly liberating. Like we’ve been running a marathon and we actually know where the finish line is for the first time.”

Lindelof and Cuse said they’ve had “a road map for the series with all the major mythological milestones and the ending in place” for a while.

“What we didn’t know was how long we had to play the story out,” Cuse said. “By defining the endpoint we can now really map out the rest of the series in confidence.”

In case you’re keeping track at home, that will round out the run of the show at about 120 episodes…

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ABC announced it is renewing Lost, Ugly Betty, Men in Trees, Boston Legal, and a number of other shows for next season:

Getting a jump in planning for next season, ABC announced yesterday that it had ordered new episodes for the programs, which include three series that debuted this season: the hit “Ugly Betty,” the drama “Brothers & Sisters” and Anne Heche’s Alaska sojourn “Men in Trees.”

Most of the other returnees are no surprises. “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Desperate Housewives” and “Boston Legal” will all be back. ABC committed to several of its successful reality shows, including “The Bachelor,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Dancing With the Stars,” “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “Supernanny” and “Wife Swap.” […]

None of the network’s comedies, including “According to Jim” or “George Lopez,” received a commitment for next fall. The broadcast networks all announce their fall schedule in May.

The producers of Lost and ABC executives are discussing a possible end date for the hit drama:

“It’s time for us now to find an endpoint for the show,” said executive producer Carlton Cuse. “JK Rowling announced there were seven books in the Harry Potter series and it gives fans [a framework for understanding the arc of the show]. ‘The X-Files’ was a cautionary tale for us. It was a great show that ran two seasons too long. ‘Lost’ has a short-half life.”

“None of us want to be doing the stalling show,” added executive producer Damon Lindelof. “We don’t want them to be building sandcastles next week.”

This new idea of planning an end to the show seems to be in response to fans and critics growing frustration with the route the show has been taking, continuing to add more and more mysteries and new characters.

So how many more episodes can Lost fans expect? Lindelof suggested 100 episodes would be a good maxumum, while ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson downplayed announcing a specific number.