possibility of a spinoff series? (spoilers thru 5x07)

[Temis the Vorta]

Now that it's been confirmed there are many places on Earth that are "like the island" (as transporters? in other ways?) do the odds of a spinoff series seem more likely/workable?

I used to be dead set against the idea, but now I'm warming up to it. I'll bet ABC would love it. Even if the ratings have slipped, everything is doing so poorly overall that ABC shouldn't turn their noses up at any dedicated fanbase.

No jungle island or plane crashes. Some setting and premise that is completely different, but involves one or more of those "other places." All new characters and only very limited guest appearances by Lost characters. I like the idea of the newer ones showing up. Juliet, Miles, Faraday. The original Lost characters should have definitive endings to their stories, either via death (Ben, probably also Sayid and several others including Jack or Sawyer or both), returning to normal life (Jin and Sun definitely, Hurley too), or vanishing forever with the island (Locke).

 

[Gertch]

You mean an After LOST?

I suppose Hurley, Jack, Juliette, Locke, Kate, along with the person always messing up their plans, Ben, could shift in time and have to fight off threats to the Island over the millenia.

Of course Christian will give Locke the new assignment each week. We will have to resist calling them Christian's Angels of course. When they really get in trouble they can summon Lostzilla but his role has been reduced to a Charlie-sized dust devil due to budget constraints.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Okay, first stipulation: It Should Not Suck.

 

[Gertch]

If the present creative team is working on it, I'm sure it wont. But of course people will want to move on to other projects and we'll get a new team.

I'll be interested in other people thoughts.

 

[Starbreaker]

As soon as the last episode of Season 6 airs, I want to be able to wrap it up in a neat little bow and treasure it. Any kind of sequels or books or comics will only undermine the awesomeness that this show is.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

As soon as the last episode of Season 6 airs, I want to be able to wrap it up in a neat little bow and treasure it.

I'll do that for a while. Then I'm gonna want more.

Here are some rules:

1. Same creative team. If not - forget the whole thing.

2. Avoid any "obvious" approach to the material, namely - anyone trying to "take down" the big bad "company" (Widmore, Dharma, etc) behind the whole thing. Or a show focusing on the insiders of the "company." Or any X-Files ripoff approach with government/official "investigators" of odd phenomena. Avoid law enforcement approaches in general (way too many sci fi cop shows nowadays).

3. What might be interesting - the series ends with a "clean slate" - Widmore, Dharma, etc. destroyed and no longer a factor or rendered innocuous (Dharma exists but the parts of it that knew what was really going on are obliterated). Focus on one character who stumbles across "something strange." Not anyone previously connected to the story. A Hurley-type innocuous character, not anything close to a Mulder/Scully type. Build out from there.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I agree that it could within the parameters that you have defined.

I would see it less as a sequel or spin-off and more as a show with whole new characters but based in the same universe. The only characters that could possibly return are Faraday and his mother, since they aren't main characters but are vital to the knowledge of these special places. If all this fuss is going on over the island, there must be other places that have been explored (or at least attempts were made) for their similar characteristics.

I think that with new characters this could be an awesome show. It obviously can't start out the same way that Lost did, with the characters and us not knowing anything about what was going on. The slow discovery process that the characters then go through would be too agonizing for the viewer. It would need to begin with at least one main character knowing what's going on, if not every detail then at least that the area he's exploring has supernatural properties. Basically, the same thing that we as the audience would know. Other characters can discover over time, but at least one main Jack-like character has to be on our level. And by Jack-like I mean, the main character, the "leader," not the same personality type necessarily.

I see this main character trying to track down Faraday's mother or Faraday himself for more information. Then they sort of "team up" with some other people who are just learning what's going on and with Faraday/his mom to try and get to the location or understand something important about it. The mysteries would still exist, both in the characters' personal lives and with the location. Because it will be an entirely new setting with a different history, there would be just as much to learn about it as we did with the island. Except this time, we will go in knowing that freaky shit will happen.

I don't think that any of the Others, Dharma, or the Losties should be on the show, except maybe in very small background roles. Much the same way that characters on Lost are tied together by little coincidences (or not), the new show's cast could have some links to the Losties as well. For instance, someone is in a coffee shop and Claire is their server. Something like that is the only thing that I could see working.

 

[Mallet]

I think you would have to include Dharma or the Hanso Foundation as a major part of any spin-off series otherwise what would be the point of making the show a spin-off? They might as well just get the creative team together and make a brand new series/world without worrying about continuity, crossovers, etc... They are obviously all good at writing and brainstorming up ideas, so they might as well work on something brand new if the new series isn't going to take the whole Lost Mythology further.

 

[Starbreaker]

I'd rather see Cuse and Lindelof and Bender and some of the other guys work on something new. They'd almost be guaranteed a set number of seasons to work with since Lost has been so successful. We might be able to get a great series with no filler episodes.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The only characters that could possibly return are Faraday and his mother

Faraday might be a good choice for a main character on a new show. After the end of next season, he is utterly traumatized by what I expect will be a spectacular blow-out episode. The island should be irrevocably out of the picture, but that's not the end of the "stuff" out there. Faraday has had it and wants nothing but a quiet life.

But the main character - someone completely new to the story - somehow discovers that Faraday knows interesting things. Maybe the main character is just Faraday's neighbor or otherwise stumbles into this via this weird, reclusive guy. Because of their friendship, Faraday tries to stop this person from going any further, but it's hard to be convincing when he can't actually say why he's concerned.

It's common to see a show where the audience follows along with some clueless everyman type character who is discovering "strange things." But usually the audience is just as clueless as the main character. Might be fun for the audience to be ahead of the lead character for a change (and aware of why he/she shouldn't be delving into dangerous things).

 

[biotech]

No spin offs, Frazier was the exception, not the rule, remember Crusade, Joey?

 

[Mallet]

But then also remember Angel & Deep Space 9.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

But then also remember Angel & Deep Space 9.

And DS9 (my previous favorite series before Lost) was better than the original, so why wouldn't a Lost spinoff be better than Lost?

 

[Mallet]

I agree. That's why I brought DS9 and Angel up. Both were better then the original shows that they spun off from.

 

[Roshi]

No spinoff, please. Sometimes it's good to remember that good things have an end and don't return.

 

[biotech]

Both of those spun off from a series that was still on the air, name me a sucsesful spin off that came on after the parent show had ended, Frazier not withstanding.

 

[Mallet]

Why would/does it matter if the parent show has already ended? If the creative team is still together, and it's not a network cash grab (like so many spin-offs are) it shouldn't matter.

Also, who's to say a spin-off wouldn't happen during 2010, while Lost was still on the air in it's final season?

 

[Starbreaker]

I'm to say. There will be no Lost spin-off. Ever. Bank on it.

 

[Mallet]

I'm to say. There will be no Lost spin-off. Ever. Bank on it.

I tend to agree. I highly doubt they would ever do it (unless ABC is desperate enough for a hit then they might do it without any of the original creators involved, since they own the show).

on the other hand, a series of (well written) novels that continue/flush out the Lost universe would be cool, as long as they wern't mass produced crap like pretty much all other book series licensed from TV show and movies.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Both of those spun off from a series that was still on the air, name me a sucsesful spin off that came on after the parent show had ended, Frazier not withstanding.

They could put the spinoff on next season, or extend Lost for another season to overlap. Problem solved. If it is a problem, which it isn't. More along the lines of a nonsensical "argument."

I'm to say. There will be no Lost spin-off. Ever. Bank on it.

I have a feeling you're right, but it's not because it wouldn't work.