Cult Television 4/26/11 | Week 14 Cult TV Series of the Week: Lost Required Reading: Dolan, ECTVR 149 Recommended Reading: Unlocking the Meaning of Lost

Cult TelevisionCult Television

4/26/11 | Week 14Cult TV Series of the Week: LostRequired Reading: Dolan, ECTVR 149Recommended Reading: Unlocking the Meaning of Lost (2nd Edition); Lost's Buried Treasures (3rd Edition) (RCD)

Lost (2004-2010)

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The Genesis of Lost

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Lloyd Braun: ABC executive who first pitched the idea that lead to Lost.


Lloyd Braun (played first by Peter Keleghan [top] then by Matt McCoy [bottom]): A childhood friend of George's, Estelle Costanza would badger George with "Why can't you be more like Lloyd Braun?" In "The Non-Fat Yogurt", Lloyd worked for David Dinkins until he passed along Elaine's suggestion that everyone in New York City wear name tags. Dinkins lost the race and Braun had a nervous breakdown. After spending time in a mental institution, Lloyd helped Kramer gain historical status for a movie theater, in "The Gum". In "The Serenity Now," Braun worked for a short time for George's father, Frank Costanza, allegedly selling computers (although the phone line he was "using" wasn't connected). Larry David named the Lloyd Braun character after the real-life Lloyd Braun, who was David's lawyer and manager. –from Wikipedia


Jeffrey Lieber. Wrote original draft of pilot; still credited as a producer of the show; wrote Tuck Everlasting.


J. J. Abrams (1966- ). Lost episodes written/co-written: “Pilot” (1), “Pilot” (2), “A Tale of Two Cities.” In addition to authoring/co-authoring such films as Taking Care of Business, Regarding Henry, Forever Young, Gone Fishin’, and Armageddon has also written episodes of Alias and Felicity. Directed Lost’s Pilot, Mission Impossible 3, Star Trek (2009)


“I'm not sure how the process works in me . . . but I know that when I'm writing, there'll be moments that will occur to me inspired by a premise, and then the premise changes inspired by moments. Then moments change and new ones appear because of what the premise is telling you. Then another idea occurs to you, but that means the premise will change. It's sort of writing as nanotechnology, creating something from nothing. There is no tried-and-true method. It just sort of happens in the weird way it happens, and you hope at the end of the day that the piece works as a whole and you can't quite tell which idea inspired which.” --J. J. Abrams (Dilmore 21; my emphasis)

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Milo Rambaldi

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Damon Lindelof (1973- ). Lost episodes written/co-written: “Pilot (1),” “Pilot (2),” “Tabula Rasa,” “Confidence Man,” “Whatever the Case May Be,” “Homecoming,” “Deus Ex Machina,” “Exodus (I),” “Exodus (II),” “Man of Science, Man of Faith,” “. . . And Found,” “The Other 48 Days,” “The 23rd Psalm,” “One of Them,” “Lockdown,” “?,” “Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1,” “Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2,” “A Tale of Two Cities,” “I Do,” “Flashes Before Your Eyes,” “Enter 77,” “Left Behind,” “The Brig,” “Through the Looking Glass,” “The Beginning of the End,” “The Constant,” “There’s No Place Like Home” (Parts I, II, and III), “Because You Left,” “LA X,” “Lighthouse,” “”Happily Ever After,” “Across the Sea,” “The End.” Has also written episodes of Crossing Jordan, Nash Bridges and will be writing the second movie of the rebooted Star Trek franchise.


“I write because I can’t help but make things up.I write because I love to tell stories.I write because my imagination compels me to do so.I write because if I didn’t, I’d be branded a pathological liar. Oh, and also because I’m still trying to make my dead father proud of me.But that’s none of your goddamn business.”Damon Lindelof, “Why We Write”


Todd Gitlin (Inside Prime Time [1985]) uses a genetics metaphor when he speaks of the rise of “recombinant programming” in the 1980s.


Lavery, David. “The Island’s Greatest Mystery: Is Lost Science Fiction?” The Essential Science Fiction TV Reader. Edited by J. P. Telotte. Lexington: U P of Kentucky, 2008: 283-298.


Carlton Cuse (1959- ). Lost episodes written/co-written: “Hearts & Minds,” “Deus Ex Machina,” “Exodus (I),” “Exodus (II),” “. . . And Found,” “The Other 48 Days,” “The 23rd Psalm,” “One of Them,” “Lockdown,” “?,” “Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1,” “Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2,” “Further Instructions,” “I Do,” “Not in Portland,” “Enter 77,” “One of Us,” “The Brig,” “Through the Looking Glass,” “The Beginning of the End,” “The Constant,” “There’s No Place Like Home” (Parts I, II, and III), “Because You Left,” “LA X,” “Lighthouse,” “”Happily Ever After,” “Across the Sea,” “The End.” Has also written episodes of Nash Bridges, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., Crime Story.


Carlton Cuse& DamonLindelof

(aka “Darlton”)


Jack Bender. Lost Episodes Directed: “Tabula Rasa,” “Walkabout,” “The Moth,” “Whatever the Case May Be,” “Outlaws,” “Exodus (I),” “Exodus (II),” “Man of Science, Man of Faith,” “Orientation,” “Fire + Water,” “Maternity Leave,” “Dave,” “Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1,” “Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2,” “A Tale of Two Cities,” “The Cost of Living,” “Flashes Before Your Eyes,” “The Man from Tallahassee,” “One of Us,” “Through the Looking Glass,” “The Beginning of the End,” “The Economist,” “The Constant,” “The Shape of Things to Come,” “There’s No Place Like Home” (Parts I and III), “The Lie.” Has also directed episodes of The Sopranos, Carnivale, Carnivale, Joan of Arcadia, Judging Amy, Ally McBeal, Felicity, Profiler, Beverly Hills 90210, The Paper Chase.


David Fury (1959- ). Lost episodes written/co-written: “Walkabout,” “Solitary,” “Special.” Has also written episodes of 24, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Pinky and the Brain, Dream On. Sang the mustard song in the Buffy musical “Once More with Feeling.”

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Javier Grillo-Marxuach (1969- ). Lost episodes written/co-written: “House of the Rising Sun,” “All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues,” “. . . In Translation,” “Born to Run,” “Orientation,” “Collision.” Has also written episodes of Medium, Jake 2.0, Boomstown, Dead Zone, Law & Order Special Victims Unit, Charmed, Pretender.


Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz: Lost episodes written/co-written: “Born to Run,” “Everybody Hates Hugo,” “Fire + Water,” “Dave,” “Three Minutes,” “Every Man for Himself,” “Trisha Tanaka is Dead,” “Exposé,” “D.O.C,” “Greatest Hits,” “The Economist,” “Something Nice Back Home,” “The Lie,” “This Place is Death.” Have also written episodes of Birds of Prey, Felicity, and Popular.

Kitsis (with Elizabeth Sarnoff (above); Horowitz (on the left, right)


Drew Goddard (1975- ). Lost episodes written/co-written: “Outlaws,” “The Glass Ballerina,” “Flashes Before Your Eyes,” “The Man from Tallahassee,” “One of Us,” “The Man Behind the Curtain,” “Meet Kevin Johnson,” “The Shape of Things to Come.” Has also written episodes of Alias, Angel, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the movie Cloverfield.


Brian K. Vaughan. Prolific graphic novelist (Ave Maria, Doctor Strange, Ex Machina, The Last Man, Pride of Baghdad, Runaways). Lost episode written/co-written: “Catch-22” (his first television script), “Meet Kevin Johnson,” “The Shape of Things to Come,” “The Little Prince.”


Liz Sarnoff. Lost episodes written/co-written: “Abandoned,” The Hunting Party,” “Further Instructions,” “Stranger in a Strange Land,” “Left Behind,” “The Man Behind the Curtain,” “Eggtown,” “Meet Kevin Johnson,” Cabin Fever,” “Jughead.” Has also written episodes of Deadwood, Crossing Jordan, and NYPD Blue.


Documents

Cult Television 4/26/11 | Week 14 Cult TV Series of the Week: Lost Required Reading: Dolan, ECTVR 149 Recommended Reading: Unlocking the Meaning of Lost