Attention all LOST fans: JJ Abrams Producing Two New Pilots
By Adrian Burke | Feb 28th, 2011
Remember that little TV show you used to watch? The one that was kind of hard to follow, but you loved every cliffhanger it threw at you? The one where that plane crashed on that island and everyone ran around the woods yelled at each other about destiny?
If you do remember, that show was LOST, and whether you loved the show up until the very end, or bailed on it because of increasingly convoluted writing, it revolutionized serialized television drama. When LOST ended, it left a gaping hole not only in ABC’s lineup but also in network television. Since LOST’s departure, and even during its run, networks have struggled to produce a show of comparable quality. This scrambling to create the next LOST has left a string of deplorable television in its wake (see The Event, Happy Town, V, and Heroes after Season 1).
JJ Abrams | Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia user Gage Skidmore
But chin up, folks. There’s still hope for all you hardcore LOST- ies who are looking for a good serialized drama to replace the island mystery. JJ Abrams, Hollywood’s resident sci-fi darling and co-creator and executive producer of LOST , is shooting not one, but two pilots for the 2011 fall slate. Abrams is no stranger to success in television and film. Among his producing credits are Alias, Felicity, the superb Fringe, and the recent Star Trek reboot.
The first pilot Abrams is producing may sound a bit familiar. The series is called Alcatraz. It’s a serialized drama starring LOST alum Jorge Garcia set on an island revolving around the island’s mysterious qualities. No, really. The similarities to LOST are notable, but this series will revolve around the famous island prison of Alcatraz, following a team of FBI agents trying to figure out why a group of inmates and guards who mysteriously disappeared from Alcatraz years ago have suddenly shown up again on the grid in the present day. The pilot was written by Elizabeth Sarnoff, another LOST alum and executive producer. Along with Jorge Garcia, Alcatraz will star Sarah Jones of Sons of Anarchy, and Jurassic Park’s Sam Neill. FOX has given Abrams the pilot order, but it remains to be seen whether Alcatraz will make it to air (though Abrams’s status in Hollywood definitely bodes well for the show).
In addition to Alcatraz, Abrams is reuniting with LOST fan-favorite and all-around awesome actor Michael Emerson (a.k.a. Benjamin Linus) on the CBS pilot Person of Interest. Emerson plays a mysterious billionaire who hires a former CIA agent to help him fight crime in New York City. The premise may sound a bit worn (and bears a striking resemblance to the story arc on LOST when Ben hires Sayid to hunt down and kill all of Charles Widmore’s men), but there is much more promise in this pilot than meets the eye. Why? The writer. Person of Interest was penned by Jonah Nolan, the brother of Inception director Christopher Nolan, and co-writer of Christopher Nolan films like The Dark Knight and The Prestige, who also wrote the short story that Christopher Nolan adapted into the phenomenal Memento. Person of Interest looks very promising, and will also help to diminish CBS’s reputation of being a network predicated on pleasing old people.
Hey dude, you didn’t get all the info correct on Alcatraz. It was written by Liz Sarnoff and two other up and comers Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt. In fact, the cool ass concept was their idea. So report the whole story next time.
I think it’s no coincedence that both these works play on Abrams other works. As a big Abrams fan, I often see nods to things over and over again. For instance Julie Emmeric in Felicity and John Locke in LOST both are adopted children with some real problems, whom both have an oppertunity to donate a kidney to their sick fathers. Locke does, but his dad used him and tries to kill him, Emmeric choices to not and her father dies.
If you watch FRINGE this past Friday (Subject 13), then some may have seen little Olivia with oh-so fimilar dark blocks…Sydney Bristowe had some too–both kids are sleeper agents. (cortixifan verses project Christmas). Not to mention Peter’s little toy plane making us all think of Kate and childhood best friend, Tom Brennon…Not to mention yet again Olivia in the 1983 tape burned another Dr. Brennon!
It’s fun being this sort of fan!