This is an accepted version of this page Lost is an American science fiction adventure drama television series created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams, and Damon Lindelof that aired on ABC from September 22, 2004, to May 23, 2010, with a total of 121 episodes over six seasons.

It contains elements of supernatural fiction, and follows the survivors of a commercial jet airliner flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, after the plane crashes on a mysterious island somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean.

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".

Time travel 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 in the past.

The survivors in 1977 are told by Daniel Faraday that if they detonate a hydrogen bomb at the Swan construction site, the electromagnetic energy below it will be destroyed; as a result, the hatch would never be built, and the plane would not crash.

[32] In season three, two actors were promoted from recurring to starring roles: Henry Ian Cusick as former Scottish soldier Desmond Hume; and Michael Emerson as the manipulative leader of the Others, Ben Linus.

In addition, three new actors joined the regular cast: Elizabeth Mitchell, as fertility doctor and Other Juliet Burke; and Kiele Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro as background survivor couple Nikki Fernandez and Paulo.

[36] Along with Perrineau, additional new actors—Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday, a nervous physicist who takes a scientific interest in the island; Ken Leung as Miles Straume, a sarcastic supposed ghost whisperer; and Rebecca Mader as Charlotte Staples Lewis, a hard-headed and determined anthropologist and successful academic—joined the cast.

[40] These included Néstor Carbonell as mysterious, age-less Other Richard Alpert; Jeff Fahey as pilot Frank Lapidus;[41] and Zuleikha Robinson as Ajira Airways Flight 316 survivor Ilana Verdansky.

Additionally, former cast members Ian Somerhalder, Dominic Monaghan, Rebecca Mader, Jeremy Davies, Elizabeth Mitchell, Maggie Grace,[42] Michelle Rodriguez,[43] Harold Perrineau, and Cynthia Watros[44] made return appearances.

The second season also introduces Dr. Pierre Chang (Francois Chau), a member of the mysterious Dharma Initiative who appears in the orientation films for its numerous stations located throughout the island.

[40] 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 film Cast Away, crossed with elements of the popular reality show Survivor.

[55][56] He withdrew from production of Lost partway through the first season to direct Mission: Impossible III,[57] leaving Lindelof and new executive producer Carlton Cuse to develop much of the overall mythology of the series themselves.

[62] ABC's parent company Disney fired Braun before Lost's broadcast debut, partly because of low ratings at the network and also because he had greenlighted such an expensive and risky project.

[64] 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.

[68] Various urban areas in and around Honolulu are used as stand-ins for locations around the world, including California, New York, Iowa, Miami, South Korea, Iraq, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Paris, Thailand, Berlin, Maldives, and Australia.

For example, scenes set in a Sydney Airport were filmed at the Hawaii Convention Center, while a World War II-era bunker was used as both an Iraqi Republican Guard installation and a Dharma Initiative research station.

Lost features an orchestral score performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra and composed by Michael Giacchino, incorporating many recurring themes for subjects, such as events, locations, and characters.

In May 2023, Maureen Ryan's book Burn It Down: Power, Complicity and a Call For Change in Hollywood cited claims made by cast member Harold Perrineau and writers Monica Owusu-Breen and Melinda Hsu Taylor of an alleged toxic and racist environment fostered by Lindelof and Cuse.

USA Today 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.

"[99] 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, Tom Gliatto of People Weekly, Charlie McCollum of the San Jose Mercury News, and Robert Bianco of USA Today.

[85] Variety 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.

"[121] The New York Times 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.

These include appearances on television, such as on the series Fringe, Will & Grace, Curb Your Enthusiasm, 30 Rock,[173] Scrubs, Modern Family, Orange Is the New Black, Community, The Office, Family Guy, American Dad!, The Simpsons, Futurama, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (under the sketch parody title "Late"), and The Venture Bros..[174] Lost is also featured as an Easter egg in several video games, including Dead Island, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Fallout 3, World of Warcraft, Just Cause 2, Batman: Arkham City, Grand Theft Auto V, and Singularity.

For example, many items found in the Lost universe, such as Apollo candy bars, Oceanic Airlines, Ajira Airways, the TV series Exposé and MacCutcheon Whisky can be seen in Once Upon a Time.

[192] Both during and after Lost's run on ABC, its success led to dozens of new shows attempting to enter the same "mystery-driven sci-fi" genre as networks sought to cater to viewers' evolved affinity and demonstrated loyalty to this specific subset of drama.

[202] In April 2006, Disney announced that Lost would be available for free online in streaming format, with advertising, on ABC's website, as part of a two-month experiment of future distribution strategies.

Additionally, Hyperion published a metafictional book titled Bad Twin (ISBN 1-4013-0276-9), written by Laurence Shames,[221] and credited to fictitious author "Gary Troup", who ABC's marketing department claimed was a passenger on Oceanic Flight 815.

[226] Short mini-episodes ("mobisodes") called the Lost Video Diaries were scheduled for viewing by Verizon Wireless subscribers via its V-Cast system but were delayed by contract disputes.

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.