Revisiting ABC’s Lost — Is it Worthy of a Reboot?

Before Game of Thrones took the top spot for the most divisive finale on TV, ABC’s famous series Lost left audiences with more questions than answers when it concluded back in 2010.

Now, considering that the outrage over the Thrones finale led to a whopping 1,729,600 signatures on a Change.org petition for a remake of the 8th season, is a Lost remake all that farfetched? Read on to find out if Lost is really worthy of a reboot!

Is a Reboot Possible?

Recently, there have been countless shows that have seen remakes and reboots — a wider trend that has had its effect on the big screen, too. However, the last episode of Lost hit the screens close to a decade ago, so the first question that needs to be answered is: Is a reboot even possible?

If it’s all just a matter of the time elapsed since the finale, then shows such as Veronica Mars are proof that 9 years isn’t actually that long. The show, which premiered in 2004 and supposedly ended in 2009, has been famously difficult to keep out of the public consciousness as the demand for a reboot, released just last July, is unsurprisingly high.

What’s more, the network is certainly open to it. According to ABC’s programming chief Karey Burke, she would be very interested in seeing a Lost reboot or remake. However, the show’s executive producer Carlton Cuse was a little less enthusiastic about the prospect, stating, “It was really the first network show where we sort of dictated our own end date. We told the story we wanted to tell.” He further explains that to this day, there hasn’t been any effort or formal plans to do anything else with Lost. However, he was quick to point out that if someone else wanted to do something with the universe they created, he would be more than okay with it.

Fan Interest

Lost has racked up a slew of hardcore fans over the years, as the show has become something of a cultural phenomenon. Fans have meticulously and lovingly pored over every detail — so much so that many even played the numbers used by Hugo “Hurley” Reyes that won him $114M on the show’s version of the Mega Millions lottery. Amazingly, an article by Lottoland reports that these same numbers proved successful for the show’s fans who played the real-life American Mega Millions, with four of the six Lost lottery numbers drawn on January 5, 2011. But it doesn’t stop there. Renewed interest in the show has been found in the most unlikely of places. Forbes claims that many players of the popular online game Fortnite have taken a somewhat obsessive interest in an unbreakable hatch in the middle of a jungle in the game. For the most part, it reminded them of a certain other unbreakable hatch appearing in the middle of a jungle that took almost an entire season to open on Lost.

Now, does this mean fans want a reboot? The short answer is probably yes. But even if they don’t, shows like The Good Place, whose creator Mike Schur says was inspired heavily by Lost, ensure that a high-concept show has a good shot of succeeding — even if it may come after a 9-year hiatus