Open Forum Friday: Is a Lost Spin-Off a Bad Idea?

Posted by on January 15th, 2010   Filed under: Open Forum Friday, Sci-fi, TV
Source: io9

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The first episode of the final season of Lost is only a few weeks away now, and like any good sci-fi nerd, I’m dying to see what J.J. Abrams and Co. have in store for us. I’m sure many of you out there are just as anxious. Will all of our questions be answered, and, more importantly, will those answers be satisfying? One thing’s for sure, when this season wraps up, ABC is going to be left with a pretty big hole in their schedule and they’re going to be looking for ways to keep all the Lost fans around for years to come. If they can’t get people hooked on new shows like FlashForward, they may have to resort to something else… like a Lost spin-off, perhaps!

Although Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have said they want nothing to do with any continuations, the network has been seriously considering moving on without them: “Damon and Carlton laid such groundwork, it’s going to be a challenge for us, and we have to rise to the occasion… We have to find different, creative and innovative ways to keep the fans happy and to keep the franchise healthy.”

The great thing about the mystery of Lost is that there is an end in sight, and there is a method to the madness (or so we’ve been told). If the show continues beyond its initial plans, won’t it run the risk of undermining the entire thing? That is not to say that spin-offs in general can’t work. The Battlestar Galactica spin-off Caprica premieres next week and seems to be getting some good reviews. What do you think? Should this season be the definitive end for Lost? Would you like to see the show continue in other ways (as a movie franchise, perhaps)? Would you watch a spin-off if the original creative team wasn’t involved? Give us your thoughts here on Open Forum Friday.



  • pcch7

    end it.. A spin-off won´t be as good.. But then again, that´s not what the studio cares about

  • I’ve been a loyal LOST fan for 5 years now and have personally been looking forward to the end. Not because I’m tired of the show, but because I want closure. I can’t really say that I’m interested in a spin-off. There’s always a chance that one could be good, but I’m willing to bet that it wouldn’t be.

  • Marc

    Is a Lost Spin-Off a Bad Idea? HELL YES!

    Nuff said!

  • Mike

    Here’s my Spin-Off idea – but they can’t do it right away… It’s: “LOST – 2025!” Aaron Littleton, Ji Yeon Kwon, grown-up Walt Dawson and little Charlie Hume (along with a slew of new characters) all make it back to The Island and trace the paths of their parents to take care of unfinished business, with all new adventures and mysteries.
    But seriously – can we let it end for a decade or two? Jeez!

  • bullet3

    Wow, did they really ripoff the Battlestar Galactica poster with everyone posed like in the last supper?!

  • Mr Robot

    I’m a huge fan of LOST but I don’t think a spinoff is the way to go. The BSG spinoff is not that good. It is basically a family drama set in a scifi universe, which is not that appealing to me. It has none of the military stuff or the battles that BSG did, it is an entirely different show. LOST can maybe do a movie 3-4yrs from now which sounds like a saner idea. Besides, even if they wanted to a spinoff what would it be about? I can’t see what they could possibly do.

  • Goon

    I enjoyed the BSG spinoff movie, it reminds me of Gattaca

    I just dont see a Lost spinoff capturing the same magic

  • jspam

    bullet3: BSG wasn’t the first series to create a promo poster emulating The Last Supper. The Sopranos did it prior to BSG, and as far as I can tell so did House.

  • bullet3

    My bad then, I was misinformed. That’s still highly unoriginal of them (Although now I kinda wish 24 would do one, that would be pretty hilarious).

  • Nate

    LOST is, to me, the best show on television these days. They have caught lightning in a bottle. In an age where reality tv is becoming more and more popular and people like Conan are being removed from the air, it seems to me that shows like LOST will become an even rarer breed. Certainly, it seems unlikely that a show like LOST will ever be as popular as LOST. So of course I’m skeptical that a reboot/spin-off/sequel would ever be as good as the original, especially without the people who made it good. But whatever. Disney can do what they want. If they make something awful with the LOST franchise, that’s fine. It won’t tarnish the current series. I’m forever grateful to them for giving me LOST in the first place.

  • Matt

    As a huge fan of lost, I am pretty much against a continuation of the franchise. I like the idea that Lost is a focused self-contained story that will have a beginning, middle and end. I have a feeling that expanding on the mythology of the series in a spin-off will likely have an effect of diluting the mystery and magic of the show.

    Sometimes I like to use a analogy of Boba Fett. Remember how cool of a character Boba Fett was when you first saw him in the original trilogy? Remember how your imagination ran wild thinking of a back story, and origins of this character. Then do you remember how there were hundreds of books, comics, and games where boba fett appeared in. We even got to see little baby boba in episode 2. Didn’t this kind of diminish the mystique of the character?

    I think that more lost material will have the same effect on the series. This is especially true if the Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are not involved which they probably wont. That being said if there was a Lost spin-off I would watch it out curiosity but wouldn’t get my hopes up of it being great.

  • RaphNL

    Please no spin-offs. Lost is the greatest thing on network television so let’s keep it that way. I can’t even see in what way a spin-off would work/make sense, especially without Damon & Carlton.

  • phannah

    to me lost is the best show to ever be on television. while i would be entirely skeptical of a spinoff, especially without darlton & co. i think there are ways to do it that would be complimentary & honorable to the show and respectful of the fans. a show ditching all of the current characters of 815 would a must. but part of what makes lost so darn intruiging is the island, which has been around for a long time and has had many interesting visitors. today when i read tons of internet rumors of this spinoff my husband and i talked about what it could or should be about. he thought that a series about the black rock would be cool. im like obsessed with the dharma initiative. id love to see a series about them, maybe even from the point of view of an other. im assuming the others have been there for quite some time & im sure they will tell us lot about them this season. in any case there are bound to be some unanswered questions, darlton has already said not every question will be answered, as long as there are unanswered questions there is going to be an interest in and opening for a sequel. i love lost and will miss it dearly when its gone. i am fearful i will be disappointed with the end, but i am without a doubt going to be watching every week. the same will apply to any sequels, though i may not be happy with any sequels im gonna give it a chance.

  • RaphNL

    They better not come up with a spin-off about a second island, that would be LAME.

  • Rusty James

    I’m gonna go against the consensus and say a Desmond spin off could be pretty cool.

  • During the Summer I was privileged enough to meet Lindelof and Cuse. From their idea (like you wrote) stood their ground that there would never been anything after the finale. Not even a small comic book series. They said that they have decided what should be told by the end and that shall be all. They said that it will end with mysteries untold but I can promise you there will be nothing after the finale.

  • J.G.

    Lost doesn’t need a spin-off or any tie-ins. When it ends, let it end. Hopefully the ending will be satisfying enough that we will have a really strong complete series. I would rather have one good series than a bunch of diluted also-rans. I don’t think Lost is like Star Trek or Star Wars that take place in big open universes and can have multiple shows. The universe in Lost revolves around is the island, and supposedly that story is coming to a close this year.
    If ABC really wants to hold on to the eyeballs of Lost fans they need to create another awesome show. Get their best writers, crew, and actors and give them free reign to try something new. I think Lost was successful because it has been so unpredictable and entertaining. The creators and producers of Lost had a passion for the stories and characters. Put that energy into a new show.

  • J.G.

    Also look what happened to the sequel to Donnie Darko. When you cut out out the original creators and try to continue a series that shouldn’t really continue, you get something really crappy. Something you can’t unwatch, and ends up bringing down the legacy of the original show you liked.

  • Justice

    I stopped watching this show 2/3s of the way through the second season, but I heard it found its way again around the fourth year. I want to restart it again and finish it off, but it seems like a lot of work.

    Anyways, a spin off sounds like a terrible idea, unless they do a “crooks on the run doing good deeds for people” show with Kate and Sawyer haha.

  • Hugo

    thought this show went off the air four years ago.

  • Nuno

    Its strange how these studio execs like to label anything successful as “a franchise”. I doubt that any Lost project without the collaboration or support of the original creative team, would ever materialize into anything. If it did, the ensuing backlash would ensure a quick demise.

  • Drewsifer

    This is possible only after we see what happens for season 6, it could explain everything, negating the need for a spin off that might rehash stuff already told. A few things cab be explored but last season tied up all the dharma stuff and this one will tie up the others stuff. What would be cool is a Littlest Hobo type spinoff with the dog.

  • I started watching from Season 1 about two months ago and I am now mid way through Season 3 and trying to catch up before the new season comes out. I love the show so far and think it is probably one of the best TV series I have watched. With that said, the idea of a spin-off is probably a bad idea. What we really need is another show that is as interesting, but is completely new and unique. TV has gotten a lot better over the last decade or so and I am interested to see what comes up next. A spin-off just really seems like a cop out and would take away from an already excellent series.

  • burgus

    Sandra Bullock, Robert Downey jr, The Hangover, James Cameron.. The golden globes must be on crack

  • hamsani

    i hope it ended like The Sopranos,ha ha ha,
    then the spin off will be mandatory

  • Rosie

    If they can’t get people hooked on new shows like FlashForward, they may have to resort to something else… like a Lost spin-off, perhaps!

    WTF??? I’d rather watch FLASHFORWARD, thank you very much. Hell, I’d rather watch FLASHFORWARD over the last season of LOST. The latter hasn’t enjoyed good ratings in quite a while, you know.

  • Locke Fan

    Lost… I have loved it since the beginning and always will. If they made a spin off then, even without the original writers, they would for sure need the original actors, and I don’t know if that would happen. It would be very difficult to make a spin off, the best choice would be to just continue on to season 7 instead. I want Lost to end, just not yet.

    Flashforward is cool, but never could it be as good as lost, never. Lost has the perfect recipe for amazingness and no one could mimic it.

  • I miss locke

    I would love to see them continue Lost. But then again have we learned nothing from the new “Scrubs” and “After M*A*S*H*”? The way I see it a spin off of Lost could be either completely AWESOME or horribly awful. Either way I would love to see them continue the series.

  • I avoided this discussion previously because I felt it best for the series to end before even discussing something like this.

    Now that the series is over I would enjoy watching a spin-off of Hurley and Ben on the island and see what came of that. I’m done with the old mysteries about the island and would really want the show to start it’s own adventures. Hurley was never the best actor on the series so he’d have to step up but I can see him doing well. He really needs to lose some weight though, otherwise the spin-off won’t last that long.