We look back at perhaps the most iconic network show of the 200os, Lost!
There are a handful of shows in the history of television that make an impact so large that it shapes TV for decades. MASH, Cheers, Babylon 5, and Buffy are a few that come to mind. But one the most memorable, was a series about people stranded on a desert island no, not Gilligan’s island and no, I am not talking about survivor either.It was of course Lost. This series was not a silly TV show, it was a game-changer. It wasn’t focused on storylines but rather a perfect combination of characters and mysteries. Lost is one of those series that still sparks strong emotions from people. Many people love it or hate it. But is the hate for this show misplaced? Is it really that bad or could Lost be one of the greatest TV shows of all time? Let’s explore the Island in this episode of Gone but Not Forgotten.
The story behind Lost is an interesting one. It all started at the ABC network retreat where executives have to pitch ideas for upcoming shows. Lyod Braun the president of entertainment at ABC at the time, proposed “Castaway the TV series”. Granted it was a stupid idea but the person in charge of dramatic programming Thom Sherman found it an intriguing one. The greenlight was given and Thom and another writer wrote a script but, it came back as a disaster. So Thom always said that whenever he had a project that he had issues getting off the ground he would say “What would J.J. do?”
The J.J. they were referring to was J.J Abrams. Abrams had created the hit tv show Felicity and was currently behind the network’s most popular series at the time, Gone But Not Forgotten favourite Alias. So he was approached to see if he would be interested in developing the show. At first, J.J. was apprehensive about it. All they had was a basic concept, people survive a plane crash and are stranded on a deserted island. So Abrams thought what would intrigue him about such a premise. “What if the island wasn’t the island?” “What if there was a mysterious hatch?” He thought that the show shouldn’t be a standard survival show, He wanted to make the island a character to itself, surrounded by mystery.
However, he said he didn’t have the time to develop the show alone. So another person had to be tasked to partner with him to create Lost. Sherman thought of a writer he had worked with in the past named Damon Lindelof. Lindelof had been working in Hollywood for years having worked on shows like Crossing Jordan and Nash Bridges. He had a good relationship with Sherman and the other executives at ABC. He was given the same script to look at and asked his opinion. He said that the mystery aspect of the island had to be the heart of the show. But not just the mystery of the island but the mystery of the survivor’s pasts. He was then introduced to J.J Abrams and it was love at first site. They immediately got each other and the ideas began to flow.
For the rest of our take on Lost – make sure to watch the video embedded above!