LOST essentially changed TV far more than a lot of people might have thought. Their use of different techniques and the cast they had, not to mention the wide assortment of ideas that were seen throughout the show, made this something that had never been seen before and as a result it became a quickly growing phenomenon that people simply had to talk about and share around the water cooler or wherever else they congregated. The funny thing about this is that the people who don’t watch Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, or any other supposedly nerdy shows nowadays are the same ones that probably watched LOST and spoke in the same broken sentences with one another about what was happening so often that the people that didn’t get into the show couldn’t possibly keep up. And yet the people watching GoT and ST are the weirdos.
Oh things change so quickly… Anyway, here’s a few reasons why LOST managed to successfully change the landscape of the TV shows that would come later on.
It was a risky investment.
At that point the network that was responsible for LOST was a huge chance to bring ABC back into the running as far as ratings were concerned. A lot of people didn’t think that it would last or even be successful past its pilot. The show was costing millions to produce and as a result was making a lot of people at ABC nervous because there was still a lot to lose if the show failed to perform. Nowadays the money they put into the show initially isn’t that impressive since some shows spend millions per episode. But back then it was a huge risk. Thankfully it paid off.
The cast was quite diverse.
The cast of LOST grew to be absolutely huge in scope no matter if some people were killed off or somehow disappeared as per the script. It was also highly diverse as it featured people from all around the globe. The show also didn’t focus on well-known actors that had been around the bend a few times, though there were several familiar faces that people could see and relate to within the cast. Those that hadn’t done much in their career however got a serious boost from this film. One of the best parts is that the female characters had a very important and far more equal role in the show and were never seen as a hindrance as they were just as essential to the survival of the group as anyone.
It was made for the internet age.
The internet was around back then but it was still getting the kinks worked out of certain programs while social media wasn’t yet a big thing like it is now. Podcasts were the way to go back then, and people would be tuning in for them as much as possible and grabbing up every bit of information on the show they could. In short, LOST really started getting people involved in the show, and that was a big bonus that allowed people to feel as though they were actually invested in the experience.
Since then, everyone’s been trying to copy this act in their own way.
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