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''Lost'' is an American
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...
drama television series created by
Jeffrey Lieber Jeffrey Michael Lieber is an American screenwriter for both television and film. He is credited as a co-creator of the television series '' Lost''. In addition to writing for television and film, Lieber also blogs at the website dailykos. His b ...
,
J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' Fo ...
, and
Damon Lindelof Damon Laurence Lindelof (born April 24, 1973) is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, and producer. Among his accolades, he received three Primetime Emmy Awards, from twelve nominations. In 2010, '' Time'' magazine named him one of the ...
that aired on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
from September 22, 2004, to May 23, 2010, over six seasons, comprising a total of 121 episodes. The show contains elements of
supernatural fiction Supernatural fiction or supernaturalist fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that exploits or is centered on supernatural themes, often contradicting naturalist assumptions of the real world. Description In its broadest definition, super ...
, and follows the survivors of a commercial
jet airliner A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (passenger jet aircraft). Airliners usually have two or four jet engines; three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Airliners are commonly c ...
flying between
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...
and
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, after the plane crashes on a mysterious
island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
somewhere in the
South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþ ...
. Episodes typically feature a primary storyline set on the island, augmented by flashback or
flashforward A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...
sequences which provide additional insight into the involved characters. Lindelof and
Carlton Cuse Arthur Carlton Cuse (born March 22, 1959) is a screenwriter, showrunner, producer, and director, best known for the American television series '' Lost'', for which he made the ''Time'' list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 201 ...
serve as
showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
s and are executive producers along with Abrams and
Bryan Burk Bryan Burk (born December 30, 1968) is an American film and television producer. He is mostly known for producing movies in collaboration with J. J. Abrams, including the ''Star Trek'' reboot series, the ''Mission: Impossible'' films '' Gho ...
. Inspired by the 2000
Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
film ''
Cast Away ''Cast Away'' is a 2000 American survival drama film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Nick Searcy. Hanks plays a FedEx troubleshooter stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes in t ...
'', the show is told in a heavily serialized manner. Due to its large
ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast t ...
and the cost of filming primarily on location in
Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...
, Hawaii, the series was one of the most expensive on television, with the pilot alone costing over $14 million. The
fictional universe A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes ma ...
and mythology of ''Lost'' were expanded upon by a number of related media, most importantly, a series of short mini-episodes called '' Missing Pieces'', and a 12-minute
epilogue An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the w ...
titled " The New Man in Charge". ''Lost'' has regularly been ranked by critics as one of the greatest television series of all time. The first season had an estimated average of 16 million viewers per episode on ABC. During its sixth and final season, the show averaged over 11 million U.S. viewers per episode. ''Lost'' was the recipient of hundreds of industry award nominations throughout its run and won numerous of these awards, including the
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for Outstanding Drama Series in 2005, Best American Import at the British Academy Television Awards in 2005, the
Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...
for Best Drama in 2006, and a
Screen Actors Guild Award Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...
for Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series.


Episodes


Overview


Season 1

Season 1 begins with the aftermath of a plane crash, which leaves the surviving passengers of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 on what seems to be an uninhabited tropical island.
Jack Shephard Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ABC television series '' Lost'', played by Matthew Fox. ''Lost'' follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to sur ...
, a spinal surgeon, becomes their leader. Their survival is threatened by a number of mysterious entities, including polar bears, an unseen creature that roams the jungle (the "Smoke Monster"), and the island's malevolent inhabitants known as "The Others". They encounter a French woman named
Danielle Rousseau Danielle Rousseau is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series '' Lost'', which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. Croatian actress Mira Furlan p ...
, who was shipwrecked on the island 16 years before the main story and is desperate for news of her daughter, Alex. They also find a mysterious metal hatch buried in the ground. While two survivors, Locke and Boone, try to force the hatch open, four others, Michael, Jin, Walt, and Sawyer attempt to leave on a raft that they have built. Meanwhile, flashbacks center on details of the individual survivors' lives prior to the plane crash.


Season 2

Season 2 follows the growing conflict between the survivors and the Others and continues the theme of the clash between faith and science, while resolving old mysteries and posing new ones. The four survivors in the raft are ambushed by the Others, and they take
Walt Walt is a masculine given name, generally a short form of Walter, and occasionally a surname. Notable people with the name include: People Given name * Walt Arfons (1916-2013), American drag racer and competition land speed record racer * Walt B ...
, Michael's son. The survivors are forced to return to the island, where they find the tail-section survivors (the "Tailies"). A power struggle between Jack and
John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism". Considered one of ...
over control of the guns and medicine located in the hatch develops, resolved in " The Long Con" by Sawyer when he gains control of them. The hatch is revealed to be a research station built some thirty years earlier by the
Dharma Initiative The Dharma Initiative, also written DHARMA (Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications), is a fictional research project and organization featured in the television series '' Lost''. It was introduced in the second season epi ...
, a scientific research project that involved conducting experiments on the island. A man named
Desmond Hume Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Lost'' portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had bee ...
had been living in the hatch for three years, activating a computer program every 108 minutes to prevent an unknown catastrophic event from occurring. To recover his son, Michael betrays the survivors, and Jack, Sawyer, and
Kate Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American aut ...
are captured. Michael is given a boat and leaves the island with his son, while John destroys the computer in the hatch, whereupon an electromagnetic event shakes the island. This causes the island to be detected by scientists working for Penelope Widmore, and it is revealed that a similar event caused the breakup of the plane.


Season 3

In Season 3, the crash survivors learn more about the Others and their long history on the mysterious island, along with the fate of the Dharma Initiative. The leader of the Others,
Benjamin Linus Benjamin Linus is a fictional character portrayed by Michael Emerson on the ABC television series '' Lost''. Ben was the leader of a group of island natives called the Others and was initially known as Henry Gale to the survivors of Oceanic Flig ...
, is introduced as well and defections from both sides pave the way for conflict between the two.
Time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...
elements also begin to appear in the series, as Desmond is forced to turn the fail-safe key in the hatch to stop the electromagnetic event, and this sends his mind eight years to the past. When he returns to the present, he is able to see the future. Kate and Sawyer escape the Others, while Jack stays after Ben promises that Jack will be able to leave the island in a submarine if he operates on Ben, who has cancer. Jack does, but the submarine is destroyed by John. Jack is left behind with
Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist R ...
, an Other, who also seeks to leave the island, while John joins the Others. A helicopter carrying Naomi crashes near the island. Naomi says her freighter, ''Kahana'', is near and was sent by Penelope Widmore, Desmond's ex-girlfriend. Desmond has a vision in which Charlie will drown after shutting down a signal that prevents communication with the exterior world. His vision comes true, but Charlie speaks with Penelope, who says she does not know any Naomi. Before drowning, Charlie writes on his hand "Not Penny's Boat" so Desmond can read it. Meanwhile, the survivors make contact with a rescue team aboard the freighter. In the season's finale, apparent flashbacks show a depressed Jack going to an unknown person's funeral. In the final scene, these are revealed to be "flash forwards", and Kate and Jack are revealed to have escaped the island. Jack, however, is desperate to go back.


Season 4

Season 4 focuses on the survivors dealing with the arrival of people from the freighter, who have been sent to the island to reclaim it from Benjamin. "Flash forwards" continue, in which it is seen how six survivors, dubbed the "Oceanic Six", live their lives after escaping the island. The "Oceanic Six" are Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun, and Aaron. In the present, four members of the freighter arrive and team up with the survivors to escape the island, since the crew of the freighter have orders to kill everyone who stays. Meanwhile, Ben travels with John to see
Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
, the island's leader. John enters his house but finds Jack's dead father,
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...
, who says he can speak on Jacob's behalf, and orders John to "move" the island. Ben takes John to an underground station in which time travel was researched. John becomes the new leader of the Others, while Ben moves the island by turning a giant frozen wheel, after which he is transported to the
Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...
. The six survivors escape in a helicopter as they watch the island disappear and are subsequently rescued by Penelope. It is then, that Desmond and Penelope reunite for the first time in a long while. In the season finale, it is revealed that the funeral Jack went to in the "flash forwards" was that of John Locke, who had been seeking out the Oceanic Six in his efforts to convince them to return to the island.


Season 5

Season 5 follows two timelines. The first timeline takes place on the island where the survivors who were left behind erratically jump forward and backward through time. In one of these time periods, John speaks with
Richard Alpert Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert; April 6, 1931 – December 22, 2019), also known as Baba Ram Dass, was an American spiritual teacher, guru of modern yoga, psychologist, and author. His best-selling 1971 book '' Be Here Now'', which has been d ...
, one of the Others, who says that to save the island, he must bring everyone back. John goes to the same underground station Ben went to. After moving the wheel himself, John is transported to the Sahara in 2007, as the time shifts on the island stop and the survivors are stranded with the
Dharma Initiative The Dharma Initiative, also written DHARMA (Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications), is a fictional research project and organization featured in the television series '' Lost''. It was introduced in the second season epi ...
in 1974. In 2007, John contacts the Oceanic Six, but no one wants to return. The last one of the Oceanic Six he finds is a depressed Jack. John tells Jack his father is alive on the island. This seriously affects Jack, and he begins taking flights, hoping to crash on the island again. Ben finds John and kills him. After John's death, the Oceanic Six are told to board the Ajira Airways Flight 316 to return to the island and in order to go back, they have to take John Locke's body in the plane. They take the flight, but some land in 1977, where they meet with the other survivors who are now part of the Dharma Initiative, and others land in 2007. The survivors in 1977 are told by
Daniel Faraday Dr. Daniel Faraday is a fictional character on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Lost (TV series), Lost'' played by Jeremy Davies. Faraday is introduced in the Lost (season 4), Season 4 The Beginning of the End (Lost), pr ...
that if they detonate a nuclear bomb at the hatch's construction site, the electromagnetic energy below it will be negated; as a result, the hatch would never be built and their future could be changed. In 2007, John Locke apparently comes back to life. He instructs Richard Alpert to speak with a time-traveling John and tell him that he must bring everyone back to the island. After this, he goes to speak with Jacob. The season finale reveals that John Locke is still dead and another entity has taken over his form to manipulate Ben into killing Jacob. In 1977, Juliet detonates the fission core taken from the hydrogen bomb.


Season 6

Season 6, the final season, follows two timelines. In the first timeline, the survivors are sent to the present day, as the death of Jacob allows his brother, the Man in Black, the human alter-ego of the Smoke Monster, to take over the island. Having assumed the form of John Locke, the Smoke Monster seeks to escape the island and forces a final war between the forces of good and evil. The second timeline, called the "flash-sideways" narrative, follows the lives of the main characters in a setting where Oceanic 815 never crashed, though additional changes are revealed as other characters are shown living completely different lives than they did. In the final episodes, a flashback to the distant past shows the origins of the island's power and of the conflict between Jacob and the Man in Black, who are revealed to be twin brothers, with Jacob desperate to keep his brother from leaving the island after he is transmogrified by the power of the island and becomes the Smoke Monster. In this season, Jacob's machinations are revealed: everyone was pushed by fate and his manipulation to be on the Oceanic flight as many of the members of the flight were deemed "candidates" by Jacob to be the new protector of the island after his passing. The Man in Black's mission since the beginning of the series: kill all of the candidates, thereby allowing him to leave the island once and for all. The ghost of Jacob appears to the last-of-the-surviving candidates, and Jack is appointed as the new protector. Jack catches up with The Man In Black, who says that he wants to go to the "heart of the island" to turn it off and, therefore, finally leave the island. They reach the place, but after doing this, The Man In Black becomes mortal. The Man In Black is killed by Kate, but Jack is seriously injured.
Hurley Hurley may refer to: Places ;In the United Kingdom: * Hurley, Berkshire * Hurley, Warwickshire * Hurley Common, Warwickshire ;In the United States: * Hurley, Alabama * Hurley, Mississippi * Hurley, Missouri * Hurley, New Mexico * Hurley ...
, one of the survivors, becomes the new caretaker of the island. Several of the survivors die in the conflict or stay on the island, and the remaining escape in the Ajira Plane once and for all. Jack returns to the "heart of the island" and turns it on again, saving it. Hurley, as the new protector, asks Ben to help him in his new job, which he agrees to do. Having saved the island, Jack dies peacefully in the same place in which he woke up when he arrived on the island. The
series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, or ...
reveals that the flash-sideways timeline is actually a form of
limbo In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Eur ...
in the afterlife, where some of the survivors and other characters from the island are reunited after death. In the last scene, the survivors are all reunited in a church where they "move on" together.


Mythology and interpretations

Episodes of ''Lost'' include a number of mysterious elements ascribed to science fiction or supernatural phenomena. The creators of the series refer to these elements as composing the
mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
of the series, and they formed the basis of fan speculation. The show's mythological elements include a "Smoke Monster" that roams the island, a mysterious group of inhabitants whom the survivors called " The Others", a scientific organization called the
Dharma Initiative The Dharma Initiative, also written DHARMA (Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications), is a fictional research project and organization featured in the television series '' Lost''. It was introduced in the second season epi ...
that placed several research stations on the island, a sequence of numbers that frequently appears in the lives of the characters in the past, present, and future, and personal connections (
synchronicity Synchronicity (german: Synchronizität) is a concept first introduced by analytical psychologist Carl G. Jung "to describe circumstances that appear meaningfully related yet lack a causal connection." In contemporary research, synchronicity ...
) between the characters of which they are often unaware. At the heart of the series is a complex and cryptic storyline, which spawned numerous questions and discussions among viewers. Encouraged by ''Lost''s writers and stars, who often interacted with fans online, viewers and TV critics alike took to widespread theorizing in an attempt to unravel the mysteries. Theories mainly concerned the nature of the island, the origins of the "Monster" and the "Others", the meaning of the numbers, and the reasons for both the crash and the survival of some passengers. Several of the more common fan theories were discussed and rejected by the show's creators, the most common being that the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 are dead and in
purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgator ...
. Lindelof rejected speculation that spaceships or aliens influenced the events on the island or that everything seen was a fictional reality taking place in someone's mind. Carlton Cuse dismissed the theory that the island was a reality TV show and the castaways unwitting housemates, and Lindelof many times denied the theory that the "Monster" was a
nanobot Nanoid robotics, or for short, nanorobotics or nanobotics, is an emerging technology field creating machines or robots whose components are at or near the scale of a nanometer (10−9 meters). More specifically, nanorobotics (as opposed to mi ...
cloud similar to the one featured in
Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...
's novel ''
Prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (wh ...
'' (which happened to share the protagonist's name, Jack).


Recurring elements

There are several recurring elements and motifs on ''Lost'', which generally have no direct effect on the story itself but expand the show's literary and philosophical
subtext Subtext is any content of a creative work, which is not announced explicitly (by characters or author), but is implicit, or becomes something understood by the audience. Subtext has been used historically to imply controversial subjects without ...
. These elements include frequent appearances of black and white, which reflect the dualism within characters and situations; as well as rebellion in almost all characters, especially Kate;
dysfunctional family A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often child neglect or abuse and sometimes even all of the above on the part of individual parents occur continuously and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such ...
situations (especially ones that revolve around the fathers of many characters), as portrayed in the lives of nearly all the main characters; apocalyptic references, including Desmond's pushing the button to forestall the end of the world; coincidence versus fate, revealed most apparently through the juxtaposition of the characters Locke and Mr. Eko; conflict between science and faith, embodied by the leadership tug-of-war between Jack and Locke and their stark disagreements on subjects such as the hatch, the button, and leaving the island; the struggle between good and evil, shown by the relationship between Jacob and the Man in Black, several times by Locke using symbols such as his backgammon set, also the white and black rocks that the Man in Black referred to as an "inside joke"; and references to numerous works of literature, including mentions and discussions of particular novels. One notable reference to a novel is
John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...
's ''
Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job ...
'', usually when Sawyer is seen reading it or referencing it. There are also many allusions in characters' names to famous historical thinkers and writers, such as
Ben Linus Benjamin Linus is a fictional character portrayed by Michael Emerson on the ABC television series '' Lost''. Ben was the leader of a group of island natives called the Others and was initially known as Henry Gale to the survivors of Oceanic Fli ...
(after chemist
Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific to ...
), John Locke (after the
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
) and his alias
Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...
(after the
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
),
Danielle Rousseau Danielle Rousseau is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series '' Lost'', which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. Croatian actress Mira Furlan p ...
(after philosopher
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revol ...
), Desmond David Hume (after philosopher
David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" '' Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment phil ...
), Juliet's ex-husband (after philosopher
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
),
Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary ...
(after the anarchist philosopher), Daniel Faraday (after physicist
Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic induction, ...
), Eloise Hawking (after physicist Stephen Hawking), George Minkowski (after mathematician
Hermann Minkowski Hermann Minkowski (; ; 22 June 1864 – 12 January 1909) was a German mathematician and professor at Königsberg, Zürich and Göttingen. He created and developed the geometry of numbers and used geometrical methods to solve problems in number ...
),
Richard Alpert Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert; April 6, 1931 – December 22, 2019), also known as Baba Ram Dass, was an American spiritual teacher, guru of modern yoga, psychologist, and author. His best-selling 1971 book '' Be Here Now'', which has been d ...
(the birth name of spiritual teacher
Ram Dass Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert; April 6, 1931 – December 22, 2019), also known as Baba Ram Dass, was an American spiritual teacher, guru of modern yoga, psychologist, and author. His best-selling 1971 book '' Be Here Now'', which has been d ...
), Boone Carlyle (after pioneer
Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...
and philosopher
Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...
), and Charlotte Staples Lewis (after author Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis).


Cast and characters

Of the 324 people on board
Oceanic Flight 815 Oceanic Airlines, and less frequently, Oceanic Airways, is the name of a fictional airline used in several films, television programs, and comic books—typically works that feature plane crashes and other aviation disasters, with which a real a ...
, there are 70 initial survivors (as well as one dog) spread across the three sections of the plane crash. Although a large cast made ''Lost'' more expensive to produce, the writers benefited from added flexibility in story decisions. According to series executive producer Bryan Burk, "You can have more interactions between characters and create more diverse characters, more back stories, more
love triangle A love triangle or eternal triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with ...
s." ''Lost'' was planned as a multicultural show with an international cast. The initial season had 14 regular speaking roles that received star billing.
Matthew Fox Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on '' Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned hi ...
played the protagonist, a troubled surgeon named
Jack Shephard Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ABC television series '' Lost'', played by Matthew Fox. ''Lost'' follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to sur ...
.
Evangeline Lilly Nicole Evangeline Lilly (born 3 August 1979) is a Canadian actress and author. She is the recipient of various accolades including a Screen Actors Guild Award and an MTV Movie Award. She has also received nominations for a Golden Globe Award, a ...
portrayed fugitive
Kate Austen Katherine Anne Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Lost'', played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. Character biography Prior to the crash Born in 1977 and raised in Iowa, Kate is the daughter of diner worker Dia ...
.
Jorge Garcia Jorge Garcia (born April 28, 1973) is an American actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show '' Becker'', but subsequently became best known for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurle ...
played
Hugo "Hurley" Reyes Hugo "Hurley" Reyes is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Lost'', played by Jorge Garcia. For most of the show's run, Hurley served as the show's comic relief, but occasionally, and most notably in the final season, he was show ...
, an unlucky lottery winner.
Josh Holloway Josh Lee Holloway (born July 20, 1969) is an American actor best known for his roles as James "Sawyer" Ford on the television show '' Lost'' and as Will Bowman on the science fiction drama ''Colony''. Most recently he had a recurring role in s ...
played a con man,
James "Sawyer" Ford James Ford, better known by the alias "Sawyer" () and later as "Jim LaFleur", is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Lost'', portrayed by Josh Holloway. Created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, he first app ...
.
Ian Somerhalder Ian Joseph Somerhalder (born December 8, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama '' Lost'', Damon Salvatore in The CW's supernatural drama ''The Vampire Diaries'', and Dr. Luther Swann in Netflix's sc ...
played
Boone Carlyle Boone Carlyle is a fictional character who was played by Ian Somerhalder on the ABC drama television series '' Lost'', which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the south Pacific. Boone is introduced in the pilot episod ...
, chief operating officer of his mother's wedding business.
Maggie Grace Margaret Grace Denig (born ) is an American actress and model. She is known for playing Shannon Rutherford on the ABC television series '' Lost'' (2004–2006; 2010), Kim Mills in the '' Taken'' trilogy (2008–2014), Irina in ''The Twilight ...
played his stepsister Shannon Rutherford, a former dance teacher.
Harold Perrineau Harold Perrineau (born August 7, 1963) is an American actor best known for his roles as Michael Dawson in the ABC television series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), Augustus Hill in the HBO television series '' Oz'' (1997–2003), Sheriff Boyd Stev ...
portrayed construction worker and aspiring artist Michael Dawson, while
Malcolm David Kelley Malcolm David Kelley (born May 12, 1992), sometimes credited as just Malcolm Kelley, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and actor best known for portraying the character Walt Lloyd on the ABC series '' Lost'' and as one half of the pop ...
played his young son,
Walt Lloyd Walter "Walt" Lloyd is a fictional character portrayed by Malcolm David Kelley in the American ABC television series ''Lost''. The series follows the lives of over forty survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Walt is introduced in the pil ...
.
Terry O'Quinn Terrance Quinn (born July 15, 1952), known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He played John Locke on the TV series '' Lost'', the title role in '' The Stepfather'' and ''Stepfather II'', and Peter Watts in ''Millennium'', ...
played the mysterious
John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism". Considered one of ...
.
Naveen Andrews Naveen William Sidney Andrews (born 17 January 1969) is a British-American actor. He is best known for his role as Sayid Jarrah in the television series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Primeti ...
portrayed former
Iraqi Republican Guard Iraqi or Iraqis (in plural) means from Iraq, a country in the Middle East, and may refer to: * Iraqi people or Iraqis, people from Iraq or of Iraqi descent * A citizen of Iraq, see demographics of Iraq * Iraqi or Araghi ( fa, عراقی), someone o ...
Sayid Jarrah Sayid Hassan Jarrah ( ar, سَعِيد حَسَّان جَرَّاح, ''Sa‘īd Ḥassān Jarrāḥ'') is a fictional character from the ABC show '' Lost'' portrayed by Naveen Andrews. Appearances Prior to the crash Sayid originally served as ...
.
Emilie de Ravin Emilie de Ravin (; born 27 December 1981) is an Australian actress. She starred as Tess Harding on '' Roswell'' (2000–2002), Claire Littleton on the ABC drama '' Lost'' (2004–2008, 2010), and as Belle on the ABC drama ''Once Upon a Time ...
played a young Australian mother-to-be,
Claire Littleton Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series '' Lost'', which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a ...
.
Yunjin Kim Yunjin Kim (Hangul: 김윤진), also known as Kim Yun-Jin (born November 7, 1973) is a South Korean-American film and theater actress. She is best known for her role as Sun-Hwa Kwon on the American television series '' Lost'', and as the North ...
played Sun-Hwa Kwon, the daughter of a powerful and incredibly wealthy Korean businessman and mobster, with
Daniel Dae Kim Daniel Dae Kim (born Kim Dae-hyun ( ko, 김대현); August 4, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jin-Soo Kwon in '' Lost'', Chin Ho Kelly in '' Hawaii Five-0'', Gavin Park in ''Angel'', and Johnny Gat in the ''Saints R ...
as her husband and father's enforcer
Jin-Soo Kwon Jin-Soo Kwon, better known as "Jin," is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Lost'' played by Daniel Dae Kim. Character biography Prior to the crash Jin-Soo Kwon was born on 27 November 1974 in Namhae, South Korea, to a ...
.
Dominic Monaghan Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan (born 8 December 1976) is a British actor. He is best known for playing Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck in Peter Jackson's film trilogy ''The Lord of the Rings'' (2001–2003), and Charlie Pace on J. J. Abrams ...
played English ex-rock star drug addict
Charlie Pace Charlie Pace is a fictional character on ABC's '' Lost'', a television series chronicling the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island. Played by Dominic Monaghan, Charlie was a regular character in the first three seasons ...
.


Seasons 1 and 2

During the first two seasons, some characters were written out, while new characters with new stories were added. Boone Carlyle was written out near the end of season one, and Walt became an intermittent character, making occasional appearances throughout season two after he is captured by The Others in the season one finale. Shannon's departure eight episodes into season two made way for newcomers Mr. Eko, a former Nigerian militia leader and fake Catholic priest played by
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (, ; born 22 August 1967) is an English actor, director, and former fashion model known for his roles as Lock-Nah in '' The Mummy Returns'', Nykwana Wombosi in '' The Bourne Identity'', Heavy Duty in '' G.I. Joe: The ...
;
Ana Lucia Cortez Ana Lucia Cortez is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Lost'', played by Michelle Rodriguez. Ana Lucia made her first appearance as a guest star in the first season finale, and became part of the main cast for season two. Af ...
, an airport TSA guard and former
LAPD The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along t ...
police officer played by
Michelle Rodriguez Mayte Michelle Rodriguez (born July 12, 1978) is an American actress. Rodriguez began her career in 2000, playing a troubled boxer in the independent sports drama film '' Girlfight'' (2000), where she won the Independent Spirit Award and Go ...
; and Libby Smith, a purported clinical psychologist and formerly mentally ill woman portrayed by
Cynthia Watros Cynthia Michele Watros (born September 2, 1968) is an American actress recognized for her roles in both daytime and primetime television. In 1994, she was cast in the regular role of Annie Dutton on ''Guiding Light'', which earned her the D ...
. Ana Lucia and Libby were written out of the series toward the end of season two after being shot by Michael, who then left the island along with his son.


Seasons 3 and 4

In season three, two actors were promoted from recurring to starring roles:
Henry Ian Cusick Henry Ian Cusick (born 17 April 1967) is a Peruvian-Scottish actor of television, film, and theatre and a television director. He is best known for his role as Desmond Hume in the ABC television series '' Lost'', for which he received a Pri ...
as former Scottish soldier
Desmond Hume Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Lost'' portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had bee ...
; and
Michael Emerson Michael Emerson (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor who is best known for his roles as serial killer William Hinks on ''The Practice'', Benjamin Linus on ''Lost'', Zep Hindle in the first ''Saw'' film, Cayden James on ''Arrow'', and ...
as the manipulative leader of the Others,
Ben Linus Benjamin Linus is a fictional character portrayed by Michael Emerson on the ABC television series '' Lost''. Ben was the leader of a group of island natives called the Others and was initially known as Henry Gale to the survivors of Oceanic Fli ...
. In addition, three new actors joined the regular cast:
Elizabeth Mitchell Elizabeth Mitchell (born Elizabeth Joanna Robertson) is an American actress known for her lead role as Juliet Burke on the ABC drama mystery series ''Lost'' (2006–2010). Mitchell also had lead roles on the television series '' V'' (2009–2 ...
, as fertility doctor and Other
Juliet Burke Dr. Juliet Burke (née Carlson) is a character on the ABC television series '' Lost'', portrayed by Elizabeth Mitchell. Created by J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, the character was introduced in the third season as a member of the hostile grou ...
; and
Kiele Sanchez Kiele Michelle Sanchez ( ; born October 13, 1977) is an American actress who starred in the A&E Network drama '' The Glades''. Previously, she had starred as Anne Sorelli in The WB comedy-drama ''Related'' and as Nikki Fernandez on the main cast ...
and
Rodrigo Santoro Rodrigo Junqueira Reis Santoro (; born 22 August 1975) is a Brazilian actor. He is most known for his portrayal of Persian King Xerxes in the movie ''300'' (2006) and its sequel '' 300: Rise of an Empire'' (2014). Other famous movies include ' ...
as background survivor couple Nikki Fernandez and
Paulo Paulo is a Portuguese, Spanish, Swiss, and Italian masculine given name equivalent to English Paul. Notable people with the name include: * Paulo Jr. * Paulo Jr. (footballer) * Paulo Almeida, Brazilian footballer * Paulo André Cren Benini (born ...
. Several characters died in the season: Eko was killed off when Akinnuoye-Agbaje did not wish to continue on the show, Nikki and Paulo were buried alive mid-season after poor fan response, and in the third-season finale, Charlie dies a hero. In season four, Harold Perrineau rejoined the main cast to reprise the role of Michael, now
suicidal Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...
and on a desperate redemptive journey to atone for his previous crimes. Along with Perrineau, additional new actors—
Jeremy Davies Jeremy Davies (né Boring; born October 8, 1969) is an American film and television actor. He is known for playing Ray Aibelli in '' Spanking the Monkey'' (1994), Corporal Upham in ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998), Snow in '' Solaris'' (2002), B ...
as
Daniel Faraday Dr. Daniel Faraday is a fictional character on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Lost (TV series), Lost'' played by Jeremy Davies. Faraday is introduced in the Lost (season 4), Season 4 The Beginning of the End (Lost), pr ...
, a nervous physicist who takes a scientific interest in the island;
Ken Leung Kenneth Leung (; born January 21, 1970) is an American actor. His roles include Sang in ''Rush Hour'', Miles Straume in '' Lost'', Admiral Statura in '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'', and Eric Tao in HBO's '' Industry''. Early life Leung wa ...
as
Miles Straume Miles Straume is a fictional character played by Ken Leung on the ABC television series '' Lost''. Miles is introduced early in the fourth season as a hotheaded and sarcastic medium as a crew member aboard the freighter called the ''Kahana'' th ...
, a sarcastic supposed ghost whisperer; and Rebecca Mader as Charlotte Staples Lewis, a hard-headed and determined anthropologist and successful academic—joined the cast. Michael was written out in the fourth-season finale. Claire, who mysteriously disappears with her dead father near the end of the season, did not return as a series regular for the fifth season but returned for the sixth and final season.


Seasons 5 and 6

In season five, no new characters joined the main cast; however, several characters exited the show: Charlotte was written out early in the season in episode five, with Daniel being written out later in the antepenultimate episode. Season six saw several cast changes: Juliet was written out in the season premiere while three previous recurring characters were upgraded to starring status. These included Néstor Carbonell as mysterious, age-less Other
Richard Alpert Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert; April 6, 1931 – December 22, 2019), also known as Baba Ram Dass, was an American spiritual teacher, guru of modern yoga, psychologist, and author. His best-selling 1971 book '' Be Here Now'', which has been d ...
;
Jeff Fahey Jeffrey David Fahey (, born November 29, 1952) is an American film and television actor. He has portrayed Captain Frank Lapidus on the ABC series '' Lost'' and the title role of Deputy Marshal Winston MacBride on '' The Marshal''. Early lif ...
as pilot Frank Lapidus; and
Zuleikha Robinson Zuleikha Robinson (born 29 June 1977) is a British actress. She first came to attention as Yves Adele Harlow, a mysterious thief on the 2001 series ''The Lone Gunmen''. She has appeared in the films ''Hidalgo'' (2004), ''The Merchant of Venice' ...
as Ajira Airways Flight 316 survivor Ilana Verdansky. Additionally, former cast members Ian Somerhalder, Dominic Monaghan, Rebecca Mader, Jeremy Davies, Elizabeth Mitchell, Maggie Grace, Michelle Rodriguez, Harold Perrineau, and Cynthia Watros made return appearances.


Supporting characters

Numerous supporting characters have been given expansive and recurring appearances in the progressive storyline.
Danielle Rousseau Danielle Rousseau is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series '' Lost'', which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. Croatian actress Mira Furlan p ...
(
Mira Furlan Mira Furlan (7 September 1955 – 20 January 2021) was a Croatian actress and singer. Internationally, she was best known for her roles as the Minbari Ambassador Delenn in the science fiction television series ''Babylon 5'' (1993–1998), and as ...
)—a French member of an earlier scientific expedition to the island, first encountered as a voice recording in the pilot episode—appears throughout the series. She is searching for her daughter, who later turns up in the form of Alex Rousseau (
Tania Raymonde Tania Raymonde Helen Katz, is an American actress and artist. Her career first caught traction when she played the recurring character of Cynthia Sanders on the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' between 2000 and 2002, followed by the role of ...
). Alex has been kidnapped by Ben Linus and brought to the Others where she was raised. Cindy (
Kimberley Joseph Kimberley Joseph (born August 30, 1973) is a Canadian Australian actress who is based in the United States. Joseph was born in Canada, brought up on the Gold Coast in Australia and educated in Switzerland. After returning to Australia, she beg ...
), an Oceanic flight attendant who first appeared in the pilot, survived the crash and, subsequently, became one of the Others. In the second season, married couple Rose Nadler ( L. Scott Caldwell) and Bernard Nadler (
Sam Anderson Sam Anderson (born April 2, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his character roles such as Sam Gorpley on '' Perfect Strangers'', Holland Manners on ''Angel'', dentist Bernard Nadler on '' Lost'' and in film, as the principal in ' ...
), separated on opposite sides of the island (she with the main characters, he with the tail section survivors), were featured in a flashback episode after being reunited. The second season also introduces Dr. Pierre Chang ( Francois Chau), a member of the mysterious
Dharma Initiative The Dharma Initiative, also written DHARMA (Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications), is a fictional research project and organization featured in the television series '' Lost''. It was introduced in the second season epi ...
who appears in the orientation films for its numerous stations located throughout the island. Corporate magnate Charles Widmore ( Alan Dale) has connections to both Ben and Desmond. Desmond is in love with Widmore's daughter Penelope "Penny" Widmore ( Sonya Walger). Eloise Hawking (
Fionnula Flanagan Fionnghuala Manon "Fionnula" Flanagan (born 10 December 1941) is an Irish stage, television, and film actress. For her contributions to the entertainment industry, she was given the IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. Flanagan is known f ...
), introduced in the third season, is Daniel Faraday's mother and also has connections with Desmond. The introduction of the Others featured
Tom Friendly Tom Friendly, often referred to as Tom, Mr. Friendly, or Zeke by Sawyer is a fictional character portrayed by M. C. Gainey on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television series '' Lost''. The series follows the lives of around forty surv ...
( M. C. Gainey), and
Ethan Rom Dr. Ethan Goodspeed, also known as Ethan Rom, is a fictional character portrayed by William Mapother on the ABC television show '' Lost''. Introduced in the first season as the main antagonist, Ethan is the surgeon for the antagonistic and myst ...
(
William Mapother William Reibert Mapother Jr. (; born April 17, 1965) is an American actor, known for his role as Ethan Rom on the television series '' Lost'' and starring in the film ''In the Bedroom''. He is also known for the film '' Another Earth''. Personal ...
), all of whom have been shown in both flashbacks and the ongoing story. Jack's father
Christian Shephard Dr. Christian Shephard is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Lost'' played by John Terry. He is the father of lead characters Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), who becomes the de facto leader of the survivors of Oceanic 815 after ...
(
John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the ass ...
) has appeared in multiple flashbacks of various characters. In the third season, Naomi Dorrit (
Marsha Thomason Marsha Lisa Thomason Sykes (born 19 January 1976) is a British television and film actress who is best known for playing Sara Evers in Disney's '' The Haunted Mansion'', Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series ''Las Vegas'', Naomi ...
), the team leader of a group hired by Widmore to find Ben Linus, parachutes onto the island. One member of her team includes the ruthless mercenary Martin Keamy (
Kevin Durand Kevin Serge Durand (born January 14, 1974) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for portraying Vasiliy Fet in '' The Strain'', Joshua in '' Dark Angel'', Martin Keamy in '' Lost'', Fred J. Dukes / The Blob in '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'', Ba ...
). In the finale episode " The End", recurring guest stars
Sam Anderson Sam Anderson (born April 2, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his character roles such as Sam Gorpley on '' Perfect Strangers'', Holland Manners on ''Angel'', dentist Bernard Nadler on '' Lost'' and in film, as the principal in ' ...
; L. Scott Caldwell; Francois Chau;
Fionnula Flanagan Fionnghuala Manon "Fionnula" Flanagan (born 10 December 1941) is an Irish stage, television, and film actress. For her contributions to the entertainment industry, she was given the IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. Flanagan is known f ...
; Sonya Walger; and
John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the ass ...
were credited under the "starring" rubric alongside the principal cast. The mysterious black smoke cloud-like entity, known as " the Monster", appeared in human form during season five and six as a middle-aged man dressed in black robes, who was played by
Titus Welliver Titus B. Welliver (born March 12, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of the Man in Black in '' Lost'', Silas Adams in '' Deadwood'', Jimmy O’Phelan in ''Sons of Anarchy'', and the title role in the television ser ...
, and in season six, it appears in the form of John Locke played by O'Quinn in a
dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...
. His rival,
Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
, was played by
Mark Pellegrino Mark Ross Pellegrino (born April 9, 1965) is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work as Lucifer in ''Supernatural'', Paul Bennett in ''Dexter'', Jacob in '' Lost'', James Bishop in '' Being Human'', Clayton Haas ...
.


Production

''Lost'' was produced by ABC Studios, Bad Robot Productions, and Grass Skirt Productions. Throughout its run, the executive producers of the series were
Damon Lindelof Damon Laurence Lindelof (born April 24, 1973) is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, and producer. Among his accolades, he received three Primetime Emmy Awards, from twelve nominations. In 2010, '' Time'' magazine named him one of the ...
,
J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' Fo ...
,
Bryan Burk Bryan Burk (born December 30, 1968) is an American film and television producer. He is mostly known for producing movies in collaboration with J. J. Abrams, including the ''Star Trek'' reboot series, the ''Mission: Impossible'' films '' Gho ...
,
Carlton Cuse Arthur Carlton Cuse (born March 22, 1959) is a screenwriter, showrunner, producer, and director, best known for the American television series '' Lost'', for which he made the ''Time'' list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 201 ...
,
Jack Bender Jack Bender (born September 25, 1949) is an American television and film director, television producer and former actor best known for his work as a director on '' Lost'', ''The Sopranos'' and ''Game of Thrones''. Biography Bender grew up in a ...
,
Jeff Pinkner Jeff Pinkner (born November 16, 1964) is an American television and movie writer and producer. Life and career Born to a Jewish family,Edward Kitsis Edward Lawrence Kitsis (born February 4, 1971) is an American television writer and producer, best known for his work with his writing partner Adam Horowitz on the popular ABC drama series '' Lost'' and ''Once Upon a Time''. Early life and educ ...
, Adam Horowitz, Jean Higgins, and
Elizabeth Sarnoff Elizabeth "Liz" Sarnoff is an American television writer and producer. She has written episodes of ''NYPD Blue'', ''Crossing Jordan'', '' Deadwood'' and '' Lost''. She is the co-creator of the Fox crime/ mystery series ''Alcatraz''. Career Sarn ...
, with Lindelof and Cuse serving as
showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
s.


Conception

The series was conceived by Lloyd Braun, head of ABC at the time, while he was on vacation in Hawaii during 2003 as a television adaptation of the 2000
Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
film ''Cast Away'', crossed with elements of the popular reality show '' Survivor''. Braun later pitched his ideas for ''Cast Away – The Series'' at the network's gathering of executives at the
Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa (also known as the Grand Californian) is a hotel located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. The hotel was constructed as part of a major expansion of the Disneyland Resort in 2001. It was c ...
in Anaheim, California, describing the concept as "parts ''Cast Away'', ''Survivor'', and ''
Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells. It aired f ...
'', with a ''
Lord of the Flies ''Lord of the Flies'' is a 1954 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves. Themes ...
'' element." Many found the idea laughable, but senior vice president Thom Sherman saw potential and decided to order an initial script from
Spelling Television Spelling Television Inc. was an American television production company that went through several name changes. It was originally called Aaron Spelling Productions, then Spelling Entertainment Inc. and eventually part of Spelling Entertainment Gro ...
. Spelling producer Ted Gold turned to writer
Jeffrey Lieber Jeffrey Michael Lieber is an American screenwriter for both television and film. He is credited as a co-creator of the television series '' Lost''. In addition to writing for television and film, Lieber also blogs at the website dailykos. His b ...
, who presented a pitch to ABC in September 2003 titled ''Nowhere'', which Sherman approved. Unhappy with the eventual script by Lieber and a subsequent rewrite, in January 2004, Braun contacted J. J. Abrams, who had developed the TV series '' Alias'' for ABC, to write a new pilot script. Lieber would later receive a story credit for the ''Lost'' pilot and, subsequently, shared the "created by" credit with Abrams and Lindelof, after a request for
arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...
at the
Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gui ...
. The one inviolable edict Braun made to Abrams was that the show's title must be ''Lost'', having conceived of the title and being angry at its change to ''Nowhere'' by Lieber. Although initially hesitant, Abrams warmed to the idea on the condition that the series would have a
supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
angle to it and if he had a writing partner. ABC executive Heather Kadin sent him
Damon Lindelof Damon Laurence Lindelof (born April 24, 1973) is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, and producer. Among his accolades, he received three Primetime Emmy Awards, from twelve nominations. In 2010, '' Time'' magazine named him one of the ...
, who had long intended to meet Abrams as he wished to write for ''Alias''. Together, Abrams and Lindelof created the series' style and characters and also wrote a series bible that conceived and detailed the major
mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
ideas and plot points for an ideal four-to-five-season run for the show. The novel idea of a story arc spanning several years was inspired by '' Babylon 5.'' Because ABC felt that ''Alias'' was too serialized, Lindelof and Abrams assured the network in the bible that the show would be self-contained: "We promise ... that ach episoderequires NO knowledge of the episode(s) that preceded it ... there is no 'Ultimate Mystery' which requires solving." While such statements contradicted their true plans, the ruse succeeded in persuading ABC to purchase the show. The game ''
Myst ''Myst'' is a graphic adventure/puzzle video game designed by the Miller brothers, Robyn and Rand. It was developed by Cyan, Inc., published by Broderbund, and initially released for the Macintosh in 1993. In the game, the player's characte ...
'', also set in a tropical island, was noted as an influence by Lindelof, as in its narrative, "No one told you what the rules were. You just had to walk around and explore these environments and gradually a story was told." Abrams created the sound opening of the show and its title card being inspired by ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, ...
''. He withdrew from production of ''Lost'' partway through the first season to direct '' Mission: Impossible III'', leaving Lindelof and new executive producer Carlton Cuse to develop much of the overall mythology of the series themselves. However, Abrams briefly returned to help co-write the third-season premiere along with Lindelof. The development of the show was constrained by tight deadlines, as it had been commissioned late in the 2004 season's development cycle. Despite the short schedule, the creative team remained flexible enough to modify or create characters to fit actors they wished to cast.Abrams, J. J and Lloyd Braun, ''Lost Season 1 DVD'' (extras), Buena Vista Home Entertainment, September 6, 2005. ''Lost''s two-part pilot episode was the most expensive in the network's history, reportedly costing between US$10 and $14 million, compared to the average cost of an hour-long pilot in 2005 of $4 million. The world premiere of the pilot episode was on July 24, 2004, at
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
. ABC's parent company
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
fired Braun before ''Lost''s broadcast debut, partly because of low ratings at the network and also because he had
greenlight To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...
ed such an expensive and risky project. The series debuted on September 22, 2004, becoming one of the biggest critical and commercial successes of the 2004 television season. Along with fellow new series ''
Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...
'' and ''
Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into ...
'', ''Lost'' helped to reverse the flagging fortunes of ABC, and its great success likely caused the network to ignore that the show almost immediately broke Lindelof and Abrams' promises to it regarding ''Lost''s plots.


Casting

Many of the first season roles were a result of the executive producers' liking of various actors. The main character Jack was going to die in the pilot, and the role was planned for
Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in '' Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in ''Beetlejuice'' ...
. However, ABC executives were adamant that Jack live. Before it was decided that Jack would live, Kate was to emerge as the leader of the survivors; she was conceived as a middle-aged businesswoman whose husband had apparently died in the crash, a role later fulfilled by the recurring character Rose. Dominic Monaghan auditioned for the role of Sawyer, who at the time was supposed to be a slick suit-wearing city con man. The producers enjoyed Monaghan's performance and changed the character of Charlie, an over-the-hill former rock star, to fit him. Jorge Garcia also auditioned for Sawyer, and the part of Hurley was written for him. When Josh Holloway auditioned for Sawyer, the producers liked the edge he brought to the character (he reportedly kicked a chair when he forgot his lines and got angry in the audition) and his southern accent, so they changed Sawyer to fit Holloway's acting. Yunjin Kim auditioned for Kate, but the producers wrote the character of Sun for her and the character of Jin, portrayed by Daniel Dae Kim, to be her husband. Sayid, played by Naveen Andrews, was also not in the original script. Locke and Michael were written with their actors in mind. Emilie de Ravin, who played Claire, was cast in what was supposed to be a recurring role. In the second season, Michael Emerson was contracted to play Ben ("Henry Gale") for three episodes. His role was extended to eight episodes because of his acting skills and eventually, for the whole of season three and later seasons.


Filming

''Lost'' was filmed on
Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses duri ...
35 mm cameras almost entirely on the Hawaiian island of
Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...
given the easily accessible, wide diversity of filming locations. The original island scenes for the pilot were filmed at Mokulē'ia Beach, near the northwest tip of the island. Later beach scenes take place in secluded spots of the famous North Shore. Cave scenes in the first season were filmed on a
sound stage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a soundproof, large structure, building, or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or ...
built at a
Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from Sta ...
parts warehouse, which had been empty since an employee mass shooting took place there in 1999. In 2006, the sound-stage and production offices moved to the Hawaii Film Office-operated Hawaii Film Studio, where the sets depicting Season 2's "Swan Station" and Season 3's "Hydra Station" interiors were built. Various urban areas in and around
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
are used as stand-ins for locations around the world, including California, New York,
Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to ...
, Miami, South Korea,
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Paris,
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
, Berlin, Maldives, and Australia. For example, scenes set in a
Sydney Airport Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (colloquially Mascot Airport, Kingsford Smith Airport, or Sydney Airport; ; ) is an international airport in Sydney, Australia, located 8 km (5 mi) south of the Sydney central business district, in the ...
were filmed at the
Hawaii Convention Center The Hawai‘i Convention Center is a convention and exhibition center in Hawaii, located in Honolulu on the island of Oahu. The Hawaii Convention Center is the largest exhibition center of its type in the state. It is located directly to the ...
, while a World War II-era bunker was used as both an
Iraqi Republican Guard Iraqi or Iraqis (in plural) means from Iraq, a country in the Middle East, and may refer to: * Iraqi people or Iraqis, people from Iraq or of Iraqi descent * A citizen of Iraq, see demographics of Iraq * Iraqi or Araghi ( fa, عراقی), someone o ...
installation and a
Dharma Initiative The Dharma Initiative, also written DHARMA (Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications), is a fictional research project and organization featured in the television series '' Lost''. It was introduced in the second season epi ...
research station. Scenes set in Germany during the winter were filmed on Merchant St., with crushed ice scattered everywhere to create snow and Russian store and automobile signs on the street. Several scenes in the Season 3 finale, "
Through the Looking Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...
", were shot in Los Angeles, including a hospital set borrowed from ''Grey's Anatomy''. Two scenes during season four were filmed in London because Alan Dale, who portrays Widmore, was at the time performing in the musical ''
Spamalot ''Spamalot'' (also known as ''Monty Python's Spamalot'') is a musical comedy with music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, and lyrics and book by Idle. It is adapted from the 1975 film ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. Like the motion pictur ...
'' and was unable to travel to Hawaii. Extensive archives of filming locations are tracked at a repository at the ''Lost'' Virtual Tour.


Promotion

During its six years of broadcasting, ''Lost'' developed an extensive collection of promotional tools ranging from the traditional promotions of the TV show made by the channel, to the creation of alternate reality games, such as the '' Lost Experience''. ''Lost'' showed innovation in the use of new advertising strategies in the sector and the transformation of the conventional devices used previously.


Music

''Lost'' features an orchestral score performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra and composed by
Michael Giacchino Michael Giacchino (; born October 10, 1967) is an American composer of music for films, television and video games. He has also served as a director for television. He has received many awards, including an Oscar for his work on '' Up'' (2009), a ...
, incorporating many recurring themes for subjects, such as events, locations, and characters. Giacchino achieved some of the sounds for the score using unusual instruments, such as striking suspended pieces of the plane's
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft ...
. On March 21, 2006, the record label
Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer ...
released the original television soundtrack for ''Lost''s first season. The soundtrack included select full-length versions of the most popular themes of the season and the main title, which was composed by series creator J. J. Abrams. Varèse Sarabande released a soundtrack featuring music from season 2 of ''Lost'' on October 3, 2006. The soundtrack for season 3 was released on May 6, 2008; the soundtrack for season 4 was released on May 11, 2009; the soundtrack for season 5 was released on May 11, 2010; and the soundtrack for the final season was released on September 14, 2010. A final soundtrack, featuring music from series finale, was released on October 11, 2010. The series uses pop culture songs sparingly, and has a mainly orchestral score (consisting usually of divided strings, percussion, harp, and three trombones). When it features pop songs, they often originate from a
diegetic Diegesis (; from the Greek from , "to narrate") is a style of fiction storytelling that presents an interior view of a world in which: # Details about the world itself and the experiences of its characters are revealed explicitly through narra ...
source. Examples include the various songs played on Hurley's portable CD player throughout the first season (until its batteries died in the episode " ...In Translation", which featured Damien Rice's "Delicate") or the use of the record player in the second season, which included
Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Mama Cass and later on as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group bro ...
's " Make Your Own Kind of Music" and
Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...
's "
Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...
" in the second and third-season premieres respectively. Two episodes show Charlie on a street corner playing guitar and singing the
Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
song " Wonderwall". In the third season's finale, Jack drives down the street listening to
Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
's "Scentless Apprentice", right before he arrives to the Hoffs/Drawlar Funeral Parlor, and in the parallel scene in the fourth season's finale, he arrives listening to "
Gouge Away Gouge Away is an American hardcore punk band based in Florida that formed in 2012. The band is influenced by post-hardcore and noise rock bands such as The Jesus Lizard, Fugazi, Unwound, The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower and Nirvana. Gouge A ...
" by
Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas aro ...
. The third season also used
Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael All ...
's " Shambala" on two occasions in the van. The only two pop songs that have ever been used without an on-screen source (i.e., non-
diegetic Diegesis (; from the Greek from , "to narrate") is a style of fiction storytelling that presents an interior view of a world in which: # Details about the world itself and the experiences of its characters are revealed explicitly through narra ...
) are
Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret. She is known for her roles in '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' ...
's "Slowly", in the episode " I Do" and "I Shall Not Walk Alone", written by Ben Harper and covered by
The Blind Boys of Alabama The Blind Boys of Alabama, also billed as The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, and Clarence Fountain and the Blind Boys of Alabama, is an American gospel group. The group was founded in 1939 in Talladega, Alabama, and has featured a changing roster ...
in the episode " Confidence Man." Alternate music is used in several international broadcasts. For example, in the Japanese broadcast of ''Lost'', the
theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances a ...
used varies by season: season one uses "Here I Am" by
Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, propertie ...
, season two uses " Losin'" by Yuna Ito, and season three uses "Lonely Girl" by
Crystal Kay is a Japanese singer, songwriter, actress and radio host. After releasing her first single, "Eternal Memories" (1999), Crystal Kay gained fame for her third studio album, ''Almost Seventeen'' (2002), which debuted at number 2 on the Japanese O ...
.


Reception and impact


Critical reception

''Lost'' has been described by numerous critics as being among the greatest television series of all time. Bill Carter, television reporter of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', defined ''Lost'' as "the show with perhaps the most compelling continuing story line in television history." ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...
'' put the show on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Name another network drama that can so wondrously turn a ? into a !" In 2012, ''Entertainment Weekly'' also listed the show at #10 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years", with a hot-and-cold description: "''Lost'' was initially celebrated as a moving character-driven drama with a broad humanistic worldview that also presented itself as dramatic cryptography that demanded to be solved. The appeal narrowed as seasons progressed and the mythology became more complex, culminating in a still-debated finale that was deeply meaningful to some and dissatisfying poppycock to others." In 2007,
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporate ...
ranked ''Lost'' as the #5 cult show. In 2013, TV Guide ranked it as the #5 sci-fi show and the #36 best series of all time. In September 2019, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...
'' ranked the show 71st on its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century.


Season 1

The first season received critical acclaim. ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' said a "totally original, fabulously enjoyable lost-at-sea series, ''Lost'' had taken "an outlandish Saturday-serial setup and imbued it with real characters and honest emotions, without sacrificing any of the old-fashioned fun." The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' praised the production values and said "it knows the buttons it wants to push (fear of flying, fear of abandonment, fear of the unknown) and pushes them, repeatedly, like a kid playing a video game." IGN noted that the first season "succeeded first and foremost in character development." ''Lost'' season one was ranked number one in the "Best of 2005 TV Coverage: Critic Top Ten Lists" by Matthew Gilbert of ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'', Tom Gliatto of ''
People Weekly ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the la ...
'', Charlie McCollum of the ''
San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...
'', and Robert Bianco of ''USA Today''.


Season 2

The second season received favorable reviews, but it was noted that the season "stumbled with some storylines going nowhere and some characters underutilized."
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa dist ...
also noted the addition of
Desmond Hume Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Lost'' portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had bee ...
as a standout new character. The ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The p ...
'' called Season 2 an "extended, mostly unsatisfying foray into deeper mythology with very little payoff." After winning "Best Drama Series" for season one, ''Lost'' was snubbed by the Emmy Awards in Season 2. Nearing the end of the second season, ''USA Today'' listed the most popular fan theories during Season 2—the island as a psychological experiment, that the hatch had electromagnetic properties, string theory of time, and that everyone on the island had developed a "collective consciousness" that allowed them to appear in each other's past. One fan interview by ''USA Today'' said that "Real suspense comes from answers, not questions. Suspense comes not from wondering what's going on but from wondering what happens next. If you withhold answers, it becomes impossible to satisfy."


Season 3

The first block of episodes of the third season was criticized for raising too many mysteries and not providing enough answers. Complaints were also made about the limited screen time for many of the main characters in the first block. Locke, played by Terry O'Quinn, who had tied for the highest second-season episode count, appeared in only 13 of 23 episodes in the third season—only two more than guest star M.C. Gainey, who played Tom. Reaction to two new characters, Nikki and Paulo, was generally negative, and Lindelof even acknowledged that the couple was "universally despised" by fans. The decision to split the season and the American time-slot switch after the hiatus were also criticized. Cuse acknowledged that, "No one was happy with the six-episode run." The second block of episodes was critically acclaimed, however, with the crew dealing with problems from the first block. More answers were written into the show, and Nikki and Paulo were
killed off The killing off of a character is a device in fiction, whereby a character dies, but the story continues. The term, frequently applied to television, film, video game, anime, manga and chronological series, often denotes an untimely or unexpected ...
. It was also announced that the series would end three seasons after the third season, which Cuse hoped would tell the audience that the writers knew where the story was going.


Season 4

The fourth season opened to praise not seen since the first season. ''Metacritic'' gave season four a weighted average of 87 based on the impressions of a select twelve critical reviews, earning the second highest Metascore in the 2007–2008 television season after the fifth and final season of
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...
's ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2, ...
''. For the first time since season one, ''Lost'' received an Emmy nomination for 'Outstanding Drama Series'. Tim Goodman of the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' said that the Season 4 episodes were "roller coasters of fast action and revelation" and that series was "back on track." In a survey conducted by ''TVWeek'' of professional critics, ''Lost'' was voted the best show on television in the first half of 2008 "by a wide margin", apparently "crack ngthe top five on nearly every critic's submission" and receiving "nothing but praise." ''The New York Times'' said the show reveled in critiques of capitalism, using the fictional Mittelos Bioscience and the "malevolent British industrialist" character of Charles Widmore as examples. The critic also said that the show was "in the dark business of exploring just how futile the modern search for peace, knowledge, recovery or profit really is." The critic did go on to say that the series was not as "philosophically refined" as ''
The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...
'' or ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2, ...
'' but that it "has maximized the potential of narrative uncertainty and made it a beguiling constant."


Season 5

The fifth season once again received mostly positive critical reception. Season 5 was given a weighted average of 78 out of 100 by
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc D ...
. ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film) ...
'' said that "The ABC series remains one of primetime's most uncompromising efforts, and this year's latest wrinkle on flashbacks, flash-forwards and island-disappearing flashes of light does nothing to alter that perception." Alan Sepinwall of ''
The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...
'' said that season 5 may finally be "a day of reckoning between those viewers who embrace the show's science-fiction trappings, and those who prefer not to think about them." Sepinwall also related that "I loved every minute. But I'm also a geek who read
Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and ...
and
Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (1 ...
growing up." Heather Havrilesky of Salon.com criticized the use of time travel, saying that "when a narrator brings magic or time travel or an act of God into the picture, then uses it without restraint, the story loses its anchor to real life." The critic also asked "Why does it matter what Locke and Richard Alpert and Daniel Faraday or anyone else does, when they all seem as clueless and unfettered from reality as we are as viewers? How can these characters have any concrete agenda or strategic approach or philosophical perspective on anything when the rug is pulled out from under them by another Act of God every few seconds?" ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' also commented that "what has been most dispiriting about the current season is the show's willingness to abandon many of the larger and more compelling themes that grounded the elaborate plot: the struggles between faith and reason; the indictments of extreme capitalism, the futility of recovery. All that remains is the reductively limned battle between fate and free will largely playing out, now, in Jack Shephard's belief that returning to the island is his Destiny." ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...
'' said of the fifth-season finale, "Me? I found the ending frustrating, but in a good way. This finale was entertaining as all get-out to me, and despite the occasional groaner moment, I think this may be Lost's most purposeful, surprising finale."


Season 6

Season six opened to much hype and curiosity. ''The A.V. Club'' asked, "I'm guessing that one of the biggest fears of Lost fans as we ride out this sixth and final season—bumps and all—is that we're going to come to the end and find a big nothing in return for all we've invested in these characters. We don't just need answers, we need justifications. Why has whatever happened, happened? Who has called this particular meeting to order, and does it really matter who showed up?" The episodes " Dr. Linus", "
Ab Aeterno "Ab Aeterno" is the ninth television episode of the American Broadcasting Company's sixth season of the serial drama television series '' Lost'' and 112th episode overall. The episode aired on March 23, 2010. In an extended flashback, after the ...
", " Happily Ever After", and " The Candidate" opened to highly positive critical reception while the third-to-last episode " Across the Sea" was the episode with the most negative reception. The time spent at the Others' temple was criticized. E! Online described the show as "lightning in a bottle" and picked it as "Top TV Drama of 2010."


Series finale

The series finale opened to highly polarized critical and fan reception. According to the web site
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc D ...
, "The End" received "generally favorable reviews" with a Metascore—a weighted average based on the impressions of 31 critical reviews—of 74 out of 100. ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa dist ...
'' reviewer Chris Carbot gave the finale a 10/10, tying it with the initial review of " Pilot, Part 1", "
Through the Looking Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...
", " The Constant", and " There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3" as the best-reviewed episode of ''Lost''. He described it as "one of the most enthralling, entertaining and satisfying conclusions I could have hoped for." Carbot also noted that the discussions about the episode may never end, saying "''Lost'' may be gone, but it will hardly be forgotten." Eric Deggans of the ''
St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...
'' also gave the finale a perfect score, stating "Sunday's show was an emotional, funny, expertly measured reminder of what Lost has really centered on since its first moments on the prime time TV landscape: faith, hope, romance and the power of redemption through belief in the best of what moves mankind." Robert Bianco of ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' rated the episode perfect as well, deeming the finale "can stand with the best any series has produced." Hal Boedeker of ''
Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune ...
'' cited the finale being "a stunner." ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...
'' and ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' both reported that "The End" had received negative reviews and disappointed its viewers. Alan Sepinwall of '' Star-Ledger'' was less enthusiastic of the finale, stating "I'm still wrestling with my feelings about 'The End'... I thought most of it worked like gangbusters. ... But as someone who did spend at least part of the last six years dwelling on the questions that were unanswered—be they little things like the outrigger shootout or why The Others left Dharma in charge of the Swan station after the purge, or bigger ones like Walt—I can't say I found 'The End' wholly satisfying, either as closure for this season or the series. ... There are narrative dead ends in every season of 'Lost,' but it felt like season six had more than usual." Mike Hale of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' gave "The End" a mixed review, as the episode showed that the series was "shaky on the big picture—on organizing the welter of mythic-religious-philosophical material it insisted on incorporating into its plot—but highly skilled at the small one, the moment to moment business of telling an exciting story. Rendered insignificant ... were the particulars of what they had done on the island."
David Zurawik David Lee Zurawik (born October 26, 1949) is an American journalist, author, and professor. He has been the TV and media critic at ''The Baltimore Sun'' since 1989 and is an assistant professor of communications and media studies at Goucher Colleg ...
of the ''
Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...
'' gave the episode a highly negative review, writing "If this is supposed to be such a smart and wise show, unlike anything else on network TV (blah, blah, blah), why such a wimpy, phony, quasi-religious, white-light, huggy-bear ending. ... Once Jack stepped into the church it looked like he was walking into a Hollywood wrap party without food or music—just a bunch of actors grinning idiotically for 10 minutes and hugging one another."


Ratings

''Lost'' aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) from September 22, 2004, to May 23, 2010. The pilot episode had 18.6 million viewers, easily winning its 9:00 pm timeslot, and giving ABC its strongest ratings since 2000 when ''
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and ...
'' was initially aired—beaten only the following month by the premiere of ''
Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...
''. According to ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film) ...
'', "ABC sure could use a breakout drama success, as it hasn't had a real hit since ''
The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy in ...
''. ''Lost'' represents the network's best start for a drama with 18- to 49-year-olds since ''
Once and Again ''Once and Again'' is an American family drama television series that aired on ABC from September 21, 1999, to April 15, 2002. It depicts the family of a single mother and her romance with a single father. It was created by Marshall Herskovitz ...
'' in 1999, and in total viewers since '' Murder One'' in 1995." For its first season, ''Lost'' averaged 16 million viewers, ranking 14th in viewership among prime-time shows and 15th among the eighteen to forty-nine-year-old
demographic Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as ed ...
. Its second season fared equally well: again, ''Lost'' ranked 14th in viewership, with an average of 15.5 million viewers. However, it improved its rating with 18- to 49-year-olds, ranking eighth. The second-season premiere was even more viewed than the first, pulling in over 23 million viewers and setting a series record. The third-season premiere brought in 18.8 million viewers. The seventh episode of the season, back from a three-month hiatus, saw a drop to 14.5 million. Over the course of the spring season, ratings would plunge to as low as 11 million viewers before recovering to near 14 million for the season finale. The ratings drop was partially explained when Nielsen released DVR ratings, showing ''Lost'' as the most recorded series on television. However, despite overall ratings losses, ''Lost'' still won its hour in the crucial 18–49 demographic and put out the highest 18–49 numbers in the 10:00 p.m. time slot ahead of any show on any network that season. The fourth-season premiere saw an increase from the previous episode to 16.1 million viewers, though by the eighth episode, viewers had decreased to a series low of 11.461 million. A survey of 20 countries by ''Informa Telecoms and Media'' in 2006 concluded that ''Lost'' was the second most popular TV show in those countries, after '' CSI: Miami''. The sixth-season premiere was the first to climb in the ratings year-over-year since the second season, drawing 12.1 million viewers.


Awards and nominations

Capping its successful first season, ''Lost'' won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series and J. J. Abrams was awarded an Emmy in September 2005 for his work as the director of "Pilot." Terry O'Quinn and Naveen Andrews were nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category. ''Lost'' swept the guild awards in 2005, winning the
Writers Guild of America Awards 2005 The 58th Writers Guild of America Awards, given on February 4, 2006, honored the best film and television writers of 2005. Winners and nominees Film Adapted Screenplay ''Brokeback Mountain'' – Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana *'' Capote' ...
for Outstanding Achievement in Writing for a Dramatic Television Series, the 2005 Producers Guild Award for Best Production, the 2005 Director's Guild Award for Best Direction of a Dramatic Television Program, and the Screen Actors Guild Awards 2005 for Best Ensemble Cast. It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Drama Series three times (2005–2007), and it won the award in 2006. In 2006, Matthew Fox and Naveen Andrews received Golden Globe nominations for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Best Supporting Actor respectively, and in 2007, Evangeline Lilly received a nomination for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series. ''Lost'' was nominated for the 2005 British Academy of Film and Television Award for Best International. In 2006, Jorge Garcia and Michelle Rodriguez took home
ALMA Awards The American Latino Media Arts Award or ALMA Award, formerly known as Latin Oscars Award, is an award highlighting the best American Latino contributions to music, television, and film. The awards promote fair and accurate portrayals of Latino ...
for Best Supporting Actor and Actress, respectively, in a Television Series. It won the
Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...
for Best Television Series in both 2005 and 2006. In 2005, Terry O'Quinn won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in a television series, and in 2006, Matthew Fox won for Best Lead Actor. ''Lost'' won consecutive Television Critics Association Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Drama, for both its first and second seasons. Consecutively as well, it won in 2005 and 2006 the Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program. Malcolm David Kelley won a
Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...
for his performance as Walt in 2006. In 2005, ''Lost'' was voted ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...
''s Entertainer of the Year. The show won a 2005 Prism Award for Charlie's drug storyline in the episodes "Pilot", "House of the Rising Sun", and "The Moth." In 2007, ''Lost'' was listed as one of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-''TIME''." The series was nominated for but did not win a Writers Guild Award and Producers Guild Award again in 2007. In June 2007, ''Lost'' beat out over 20 nominated television shows from countries all over the globe to win the Best Drama award at the Monte Carlo Television Festival. In September 2007, both Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn were nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, the award going to O'Quinn. ''Lost'' was again nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the
60th Primetime Emmy Awards The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 21, 2008, at the newly opened Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California to honor the best in U.S. prime time television. The ceremony was hosted by Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mand ...
in 2008. The show also garnered seven other Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Michael Emerson. It won a
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
in 2008. In 2009, ''Lost'' was again nominated for Outstanding Drama Series, as well Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Michael Emerson at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, of which the latter won. In 2010, the sixth and final season was nominated for twelve Emmy Awards at the
62nd Primetime Emmy Awards The 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, were held on Sunday, August 29, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PDT (00:00 UTC; August 30). Come ...
, including Outstanding Drama Series; Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, for Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof for the show's series finale, "The End"; Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for Matthew Fox; Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, for Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn; and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, for Elizabeth Mitchell. It won only one Emmy (Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing) out of its twelve nominations for a series total of 11 wins and 55 nominations in its six-year run. In 2010,
Kristin dos Santos Kristin dos Santos (née Veitch; born February 24, 1975) is an American entertainment reporter, writer and host, specializing in the coverage of television, award shows and all things Hollywood. She is best known as E!’s resident TV (and award ...
of
E! Online E! (an initialism for Entertainment Television) is an American basic cable channel which primarily focuses on pop culture, celebrity focused reality shows, and movies, owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of NBCUnive ...
ranked ''Lost'' the best TV series of the past 20 years. In 2013, the
Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gui ...
ranked ''Lost'' No. 27 in its list of the 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time. In 2014, the series was nominated for the TCA Heritage Award. In 2016, ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cov ...
'' ranked it the fourteenth best science fiction television show ever.


Fandom and popular culture

As a mainstream cult television show, ''Lost'' has generated a dedicated and thriving international fan community. ''Lost'' fans, sometimes dubbed ''Lostaways'' or ''Losties'', have gathered at
Comic-Con International San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
and conventions organized by ABC but have also been active in developing many fan websites, including Lostpedia and forums dedicated to the program and its related incarnations. Because of the show's elaborate mythology, its fansites have focused on speculation and theorizing about the island's mysteries, as well as on more typical fan activities, such as producing
fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, sett ...
and videos, compiling episode transcripts,
shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ex ...
characters, and collecting memorabilia. Anticipating fan interest and trying to keep its audience engrossed, ABC embarked on various cross-media endeavors, often using new media. Fans of ''Lost'' have been able to explore ABC-produced tie-in websites, tie-in novels, an official forum sponsored by the creative team behind ''Lost'' ("The Fuselage"), "
mobisode {{Short pages monitor In addition to tie-in novels, several other products based on the series, such as toys and games, have been licensed for release. A video game, '' Lost: Via Domus'', was released to average reviews, developed by
Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include ''Assassin's Creed'', '' Far Cry'', ' ...
, for
game consoles A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a ...
and home computers, while
Gameloft Gameloft SE is a French video game publisher based in Paris, founded in December 1999 by Ubisoft co-founder Michel Guillemot. The company operates 18 development studios worldwide, and publishes games with a special focus on the mobile games ma ...
developed a ''Lost'' game for mobile phones and
iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes wa ...
s. Cardinal Games released a ''Lost'' board game on August 7, 2006. TDC Games created a series of four 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles ("The Hatch", "The Numbers", "The Others", and "Before the Crash"), which, when put together, reveal embedded clues to the overall mythology of ''Lost''. Inkworks has published three sets of ''Lost''
trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other ...
s, ''Season One'', ''Season Two'', and ''Revelations''. In May 2006,
McFarlane Toys McFarlane Toys is an American company founded by comic book creator Todd McFarlane which makes highly detailed model action figures of characters from films, comics, popular music, video games and various sporting genres. The company, a subsidiar ...
announced recurring lines of character
action figures An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are usually markete ...
and released the first series in November 2006, with the second series being released July 2007. Furthermore, ABC sold a myriad of ''Lost'' merchandise in their online store, including clothing, jewelry, and other collectibles. In October 2010,
DK Publishing Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media con ...
released a 400-page reference titled ''The Lost Encyclopedia'', written by Tara Bennett and Paul Terry. The book compiled information from the TV show producers "writers bible", listing nearly every character, chronological event, location, and plot detail of the series, filling in the gaps for die-hard fans.


References


External links

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