Here’s How You Make Another Lost

Sniff. I miss it.

Ever since Lost became a hit on broadcast TV fifteen years ago, they’ve been trying to recreate the magic that kept people coming back.  They fail over and over again for a bunch of reasons, but it doesn’t keep them from trying.  I think I’ve developed a list of things that need to happen if you even want to have a shot at making something even close.

It was and remains my favorite show of all time. I loved it, I miss it, I’ll defend its flaws and praise its triumphs.  I’ve also watched enough episodic TV in my life to discern the important differences between Lost and any other show.

The first ingredient would be to have a collection of writers with a common love for science fiction and character-driven stories.  Remember when Lost came out.  It straddled the end of traditional TV and the beginning of what we have now.  The series was bisected by a writer’s strike and is split into two halves.  Seasons 1 – 3 and Seasons 4-6.  The first three seasons existed when a drama needed around 22 episodes to fill a season.  Lost had a hugely successful premiere on ABC, it got the buzz and everything it needed to be a show that stayed on the air.  But the story barely left the ground.  They opened up a bunch of mysteries, but the majority of the show was flashbacks to the characters’ lives before the island.  It set up the skeleton of the show an allowed us to know who all the major players were.  If we didn’t have the answers yet, we had the characters.

Season 2 was the addition of a few new characters and their interaction with our original bunch.  Still, we had time to see the dynamics and we got plenty of mysteries along the way.  By Season 3, they started up the same old machine again and fans were ready for something else.  They show had us, but now what?  The flashbacks were stale, and they seemed to be reaching for tidbits that would keep us interested.  But that time had passed.  The show had to change.  Then, it did.

The reason why all of this happened was that the show was left alone to find itself. Not just ratings, but what the show was going to be.  TV isn’t like a book or a movie.  For those, you need everything planned out before you roll camera or show anyone your finished story.  A show can go on for years.  It can change as it goes along, and Lost did just that.

Cast members get fired.  Characters get killed off.  Writer’s strike.

Do shows have the freedom to flounder a bit anymore?  I assume that some do because the threshold of success is so much lower, but they can’t possibly have that much time to figure it all out.  If you want a Lost, you gotta leave them alone for a while.

I’ve watched a good portion of the Lost wanna-be’s in the last decade or so and I can also say to any who try to emulate, make sure that the mystery isn’t dumb. So many of these premises are so uninteresting or one-note that you can’t possibly believe that you’ll get six seasons out of it.  You can’t have all the electricity disappear or a mystery plane and leave it at that.  You can’t have the mystery be “What caused this?”  Eventually, you’ll have to spill the beans, then what?  You need to establish a world where mysteries are normal and they keep happening.  The characters solve one riddle but two more pop up along the way.  One central conceit isn’t enough.  Remember, the Lost island was more than an island.

Oh my God, don’t be so damn serious.  A story with a big cast should have all kinds of people, not just stoic leaders and stoic troublemakers.  You need levity and development that is just…light.  Fun.  You can learn a lot from people at play and so many sci-fi characters are so serious and boring.  You need a Hurley.  It helps to have a dog, too.

Here is the big one.  The absolutely necessary ingredient that separates Lost from a moderately memorable sci-fi hit.  You can only put out one show a week. In between each week, you have time to digest and episode and wonder what would come next. No bingeing at all. Bingeing makes it a different show.  Some shows benefit, some don’t. I watched the series as it aired, and I would share theories between seasons of what happened and what was to come.  It’s also important to point out the relationship Lost had with its fans.  There was so much content between seasons for fans to eat up and keep the hungry for the upcoming premiere. Mini-sodes, scavenger hunts, fake documentaries, podcasts…all this was brand new stuff when this show was running.  The creators heard fans and reacted.  No one will know how much it affected the story, but I bet there were a few decisions made based on the fans’ opinions.

It’s easier said than done, of course.  Frankly, I think it’s foolish to try to make something like Lost.  So much of it was timing and TV was so shitty at the time.  I don’t know if those budgets exist anymore either.  Mr. Robot is a sort of Lost-type show.  The Good Place is a sitcom version.  Blindspot, The Blacklist, Scandal…those were all knock-off carbon copy Lost’s with different flavors.  The influence should be to create something cool and weird and unique and compelling that takes chances.  Take those swings to see what works and maybe you’ll set up your own island.  I’d watch.