Shows We All Wanted to Replace “Lost”

Lost’s six season run from 2004 to 2010 was the last great TV show everyone was obsessed with. Even though the ending was a huge let down that failed to tie up any storylines — up until the finale it was a television show that had everyone planted in their seat watching every single week. Sadly, there hasn’t been a show to fill its void. It had a mix of drama and science fiction that rarely succeeds on TV and usually ends with fast cancellations and non-endings. Below are some of the shows that could of been, should have been, and planned to be that great “Lost” replacement show, but were canceled.  Some too soon, some not soon enough. 

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The Show: Journeyman
Premiered:  September 2007
Canceled: April 2008

Journeyman premiered during at the height of Lost’s run, probably piggy backing on the new found popularity of science fiction infused shows. The series’ short but great run dealt with a man jumping back and forth through time for an unknown reason. By the end of the show’s 13 episode run Journeyman began to get a hold of his power and met other people who also bounced through time. The series ended with him disappearing, going on some unknown journey. Had the show been given a real chance, it could of had a great run, unfortunately NBC canceled it and now we’ll never know where Journeyman is.

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The Show: Flash Forward
Premiered: September 2009
Cancelled: May 2010

Based on a book of the same name, Flash Forward was aired on ABC as “Lost” was winding down. It lasted 22 episodes and was canceled after its first season. Flash Forward dealt with a global event where everyone on the planet blacked out for 137 seconds and saw glimpses their lives 6 months from the blackout date. The season dealt with figuring out why the blackout happened and determining the identity of one man who wasn’t affected by the blackout at all. By the end of the season, and series, most of the characters fates. as seen in the “flash forward” came true, but we were left to wonder, when would the next Flash Forward happen? The finale was shot before the show runners knew it wasn’t going to get picked up, so fans weren’t given any answers about what happened.

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The Show: Dollhouse
Premiered: February 2009
Cancelled January 2010

Originally airing in February 2009 on Fox, “Dollhouse” was created by fanboy God Joss Whedon. He’s now gone on to become a major player after directing the “Avengers” movie, but at this time he was just a writer and producer with a rabid cult following, stemming from his “Buffy the Vampire” and “Firefly” tv shows. Fox gave him a chance with “Dollhouse”, a show depicting an origination which rented out human beings to the rich to do what they wanted with them. The rented “dolls” would then have their memories wiped and reimplanted with whatever the clients wanted. The show lasted two seasons on Fox, mainly because the company was afraid what Whedon’s fans would do if they cancelled it right away. The show dealt with post apocalyptic flash forwards and in the finale was able to tie up some loose ends.

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The Show: V
Premiered: November 2009
Cancelled: March 2011

“V” originally aired as a TV movie and then series in the mid 80’s with a good deal of success. ABC decided to go back to the well and “re-imagine” the series and reboot it for 2009, using “Lost” as its lead in. It’s the same story as it was back in the 80’s – Lizard people come to earth to steal our resources under the guise of helping us. It even featured a former “Lost” cast member as the star. It ended up lasting 2 seasons and 22 episodes. What you may remember it best for is the god damn annoying count down clock graphic that showed up during the Lost episodes preceding it. The second season originally had 13 episodes planned, but was knocked down to 10 before ABC decided to shit can it.

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The Show: The Event
Premiered: September 2010
Cancelled: May 2011

NBC pushed “The Event” in a big way leading up to its September 2010 debut. It got huge praise at Comic Con a few months before and drew comparisons to “Lost”. The premier pulled in about 11 million people but that’s where the good news ended. It got picked up for a full season, featured assassination attempts, plane crashes, flash backs and flash forwards and weird alien CIA cover ups. Maybe it was all too much for the viewing public because by the end of its one season on the air, the show was down to about 3 million people watching per episode, which prompted NBC to pull the plug. You may remember the twitter campaign to save it – #savetheevent.

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The Show:  Terra Nova
Premiered: September 2011
Cancelled: March 2012

“Terra Nova” premiered on Fox in September 2011 with Steven Spielberg attached as a producer of the series. It dealt with a future Earth stripped of all its resources and sending humans back into a alternate universe pre-historic past to restart civilization. This series even had its own version of the Others, which they called the Sixers (though Allen Iverson was nowhere to be seen). It got canceled after only 11 episodes mainly due to low viewership and a high budget since they were CGI-ing dinosaurs left and right on the show. Probably not the best idea for an experimental series since it would of required huge viewership to stay afloat.

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The Show: Alcatraz
Premiered:  January 2012
Cancelled: May 2012

JJ Abrams next foray into television after “Lost”,  was as executive producer of Alacatraz. The show was about the disappearance of all the guards and inmates of Alcatraz prison in 1963 and their transportation to modern day. Shady government agent Sam Neil enlists Hurley from “Lost”, to track all the inmates down. The show only lasted 13 episodes before cancellation with nothing being tied up at all. When will we ever find out why those prisoners were transported forward through time? The answer is never.

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The Show:  Revolution
Premiered: September 2012
Cancelled:  Probably Sometime in 2013

This another JJ Abrams produced show currently airing on NBC. It takes place 15 years after all the power on the planet goes out and never comes back on. It deals with the family of a man who may be able to turn the power back on and the conditions of the former United States post-blackout. The second season is set to start March 25th. It hasn’t gotten the best reviews from critics and if by going by past science fiction TV series, Revolution won’t be lasting too much longer. Our guess as to why the power went out? Either aliens, lizard people, or hybrid human/lizard people from the future.