It’s the show of the year, the latest from “Alias” creator J.J. Abrams, a sci-fi adventure drama about 48 plane crash survivors forging a new society on a very strange (if seemingly deserted) South Pacific island.
I drives me a bit crazy that ABC is airing the “Lost” pilot over two different Wednesdays. This means while most of you are getting your first looks at this fascinating new series, I have to wait till Oct. 6 to see what happens next. Dang.
Kindly watch this show and break the rhyme-y “Herc Curse.” I know 98 percent of new shows never make it to a second season, but the last two I championed as season’s best, “Firefly” and “Wonderfalls,” met particularly sudden, brutal cancellations. And they were such cool shows. Much like this one!
Hercules the Strong gives it five stars (out of five) and says:
Kindly watch this show and break the rhyme-y “Herc Curse.” I know 98 percent of new shows never make it to a second season, but the last two I championed as season’s best, “Firefly” and “Wonderfalls,” met particularly sudden, brutal cancellations. And they were such cool shows. Much like this one!
Hercules the Strong gives it five stars (out of five) and says:
… the fall’s best new show … What’s great? The characters, the action, the mysteries, the pacing, the comedy, the many grisly mishaps, the special effects, the twist endings. The huge and unprecedented number of crash survivors, which should make for some fascinating drama as this strange new society is forged. The three harrowing, and I mean harrowing, planebound flashbacks, which should give many a frequent flyer nightmares for years. The cast generally, and [Jorge] Garcia’s repeated use of the noun “dude” in particular. The many fascinating loose ends, so certain to leave audiences craving more (just as the loose ends left by the “Alias” pilot did three years ago).
Variety says:
expensive, intriguing … More than any of the current shows lensing in Hawaii, "Lost" makes sumptuous use of its tropical surroundings … Abrams (who co-wrote and directed the pilot) also does a nice job layering on the tension … Abrams' misspent youth serves him well tapping into various sci-fi conventions, as he has to some extent with the spy world on "Alias"
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… a rollicking good adventure drama, starting with a pilot episode that plants the seeds from which inviting stories should sprout … The adventure component is above average for the small screen, but what seals this deal are the intriguing survivors. … Despite the hurry-up schedule under which the pilot was shot, thought was obviously given to creating scenes of suspense, conflict and physical attraction. …
Entertainment Weekly gives it an “A” and says:
Fall’s best new drama … I was tempted to hedge on my final grade because Lost is the kind of show that could go anywhere. Then I realized that’s exactly why I should commit to the ride.
TV Guide says:
… Abrams has done it again, bringing a thrilling, sensational urgency to the hokiest of premises. Relentlessly suspenseful, lavishly produced and terrifically cast with a large ensemble … Lost is a real find. If viewers discover it, they’ll want to come back.
The Los Angeles Times says:
… "Lost" was not yet 10 minutes old, and I was already prepared to declare it the most exciting new show of the fall season. … There are flashbacks to the plane, which serve to reveal secrets about our cast members. These scenes are disturbing — the reliving, again and again, of that dreaded moment on a plane before it crashes, when it's just hurtling, out of control, to the ground. "Lost" is very comprehensible this way, lucid — 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.
USA Today gives it four stars (out of four) and says:
Oh, the joy of losing yourself in Lost. … Alias' J.J. Abrams has fashioned a totally original, fabulously enjoyable lost-at-sea series. Once again, he has taken an outlandish Saturday-serial setup and imbued it with real characters and honest emotions, without sacrificing any of the old-fashioned fun. …
8 p.m. Wednesday. ABC.
Read Herc’s complete spoiler-happy review of the “Lost” pilot here!
Want more hints of what's to come? Read Herc’s lengthy interview with “Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof here!
