As the guide stated:
IS LOST A GENRE SHOW?
We'd prefer to brand it as an "Adventure Show."
Our mandate is to give LOST the same treatment as a Michael Crichton novel. Every time we introduce an element of the fantastic, we approach it from a real place. If we do it right, the "paranormal" will always be coupled with a logical explanation to remind the audience that this is the real world.
The moment our characters stop being amazed by amazing things, the show becomes inaccessible to a broader audience. As "Close Encounters" treated alien visitation in a real·and grounded way
(real-life characters in a constant state of wonder as to what was happening around them), we hope to have the same respect for the seemingly supernatural on "Lost."
More importantly, there will be entire episodes that are grounded entirely in reality and have no "elements of the fantastic" whatsoever. The island itself is a strange and mysterious place, but it also
poses the same threats as any normal island. Not to mention the almost limitless permutations of character conflict that can drive an episode over a single issue (i.e. electing a leader).
If we do our jobs right, we can walk that fine line and never be branded as "Sci-Fi."
There are several key elements in this section of the guide. First, the producers are comparing the series to Crichton's novels, which were heavily based on highly technical and scientific facts.
His literary works are usually based on the action genre and heavily feature technology. His novels epitomize the techno-thriller genre of literature, often exploring technology and failures of human interaction with it, especially resulting in catastrophes with biotechnology. Many of his future history novels have medical or scientific underpinnings, reflecting his medical training and science background. He was the author of, among others, The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, Congo, Travels, Sphere, Rising Sun, Disclosure, The Lost World, Airframe, Timeline, Prey, and State of Fear.
Second, the promise was made that each inclusion of a fantasy or paranormal element to the story "would be coupled with a logical explanation" so the audience still believes the island and show is set in the real world. The comparison to Spielberg's E.T. as the basis for introducing supernatural things to normal people, the show's characters, but with the caveat that things would be grounded entirely in reality. The island would remain a normal island, but with strange permutations and mysteries.
Third, conflict would be driven by the characters themselves, usually by entanglement over a single issue such as electing a leader of their group. Because of that, the producers did not want the show to be seen as a science fiction drama.
When the series was aired, I never read or saw LOST being compared to a Crichton novel. It seems that TPTB may have took the complex subject matter of a Crichton novel, such as scientific research stations, and thrown the element in the island to raise a mystery; a question why their is a hatch in the middle of the jungle?
The idea that the characters would be grounded in reality lost course by the midpoint of the series. The writers began to pile on supernatural subject matter such as unique electromagnetic properties, time travel, conscious time travel, "constants," island moving faster than rockets, island invisibility, the frozen donkey wheel teleportation, an unknown infection, and characters like Alpert who never aged a day. The massive amount of scientific references, mostly postulated in current science circles as theories such as quantum physics, put LOST clearly into the sci-fi camp. But the problem with sci-fi shows, and TPTB realized this, is that those shows are not mainstream or long lasting. It is niche programming, something the network probably did not want.
And the characters lacked "the wonder" to find out what was really happening around them. They never questioned their captors, or demanded simple explanations for what was happening around them. And many of the centric character conflicts appear juvenile in comparison to the guide's own comparisons - - - school yard issues of trust, sophomoric romance overtures, follow the leader, etc.
It seems that the original focus was going to closely center on the 48 or so survivors of the plane crash. This beach camp tribe would have to sort through their own personal issues in order to forge an orderly society in order to survive. It is interesting to note that the guide mentions clearly the conflict "to elect" a leader, that was never done on the show. The beach campers went as they chose, freely flipping back and forth from fractional splits like staying on the beach or moving to the caves; building a rescue raft or settling down in the beach huts waiting for rescue.
It seems the initial premise of a grand adventure story incorporating known elements from highly popular franchises like Crichton novels or Spielberg movies became overwhelming and impossible to contain or explain to viewers. It was a self-fulfilling writer's pyramid scheme by adding more questions and mysteries to allow past unsolved mysteries to fade from collective memory. There was no conscious effort to provide a real world basis to explain the major mysteries of the island. The writers painted themselves into a corner where no grand unified explanation would satisfy the legions of die-hard fans commenting on the community web sites. So they did not try. Instead, they did a U-turn towards a happy ending scenario with the sideways world arc.
We'd prefer to brand it as an "Adventure Show."
Our mandate is to give LOST the same treatment as a Michael Crichton novel. Every time we introduce an element of the fantastic, we approach it from a real place. If we do it right, the "paranormal" will always be coupled with a logical explanation to remind the audience that this is the real world.
The moment our characters stop being amazed by amazing things, the show becomes inaccessible to a broader audience. As "Close Encounters" treated alien visitation in a real·and grounded way
(real-life characters in a constant state of wonder as to what was happening around them), we hope to have the same respect for the seemingly supernatural on "Lost."
More importantly, there will be entire episodes that are grounded entirely in reality and have no "elements of the fantastic" whatsoever. The island itself is a strange and mysterious place, but it also
poses the same threats as any normal island. Not to mention the almost limitless permutations of character conflict that can drive an episode over a single issue (i.e. electing a leader).
If we do our jobs right, we can walk that fine line and never be branded as "Sci-Fi."
There are several key elements in this section of the guide. First, the producers are comparing the series to Crichton's novels, which were heavily based on highly technical and scientific facts.
His literary works are usually based on the action genre and heavily feature technology. His novels epitomize the techno-thriller genre of literature, often exploring technology and failures of human interaction with it, especially resulting in catastrophes with biotechnology. Many of his future history novels have medical or scientific underpinnings, reflecting his medical training and science background. He was the author of, among others, The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, Congo, Travels, Sphere, Rising Sun, Disclosure, The Lost World, Airframe, Timeline, Prey, and State of Fear.
Second, the promise was made that each inclusion of a fantasy or paranormal element to the story "would be coupled with a logical explanation" so the audience still believes the island and show is set in the real world. The comparison to Spielberg's E.T. as the basis for introducing supernatural things to normal people, the show's characters, but with the caveat that things would be grounded entirely in reality. The island would remain a normal island, but with strange permutations and mysteries.
Third, conflict would be driven by the characters themselves, usually by entanglement over a single issue such as electing a leader of their group. Because of that, the producers did not want the show to be seen as a science fiction drama.
When the series was aired, I never read or saw LOST being compared to a Crichton novel. It seems that TPTB may have took the complex subject matter of a Crichton novel, such as scientific research stations, and thrown the element in the island to raise a mystery; a question why their is a hatch in the middle of the jungle?
The idea that the characters would be grounded in reality lost course by the midpoint of the series. The writers began to pile on supernatural subject matter such as unique electromagnetic properties, time travel, conscious time travel, "constants," island moving faster than rockets, island invisibility, the frozen donkey wheel teleportation, an unknown infection, and characters like Alpert who never aged a day. The massive amount of scientific references, mostly postulated in current science circles as theories such as quantum physics, put LOST clearly into the sci-fi camp. But the problem with sci-fi shows, and TPTB realized this, is that those shows are not mainstream or long lasting. It is niche programming, something the network probably did not want.
And the characters lacked "the wonder" to find out what was really happening around them. They never questioned their captors, or demanded simple explanations for what was happening around them. And many of the centric character conflicts appear juvenile in comparison to the guide's own comparisons - - - school yard issues of trust, sophomoric romance overtures, follow the leader, etc.
It seems that the original focus was going to closely center on the 48 or so survivors of the plane crash. This beach camp tribe would have to sort through their own personal issues in order to forge an orderly society in order to survive. It is interesting to note that the guide mentions clearly the conflict "to elect" a leader, that was never done on the show. The beach campers went as they chose, freely flipping back and forth from fractional splits like staying on the beach or moving to the caves; building a rescue raft or settling down in the beach huts waiting for rescue.
It seems the initial premise of a grand adventure story incorporating known elements from highly popular franchises like Crichton novels or Spielberg movies became overwhelming and impossible to contain or explain to viewers. It was a self-fulfilling writer's pyramid scheme by adding more questions and mysteries to allow past unsolved mysteries to fade from collective memory. There was no conscious effort to provide a real world basis to explain the major mysteries of the island. The writers painted themselves into a corner where no grand unified explanation would satisfy the legions of die-hard fans commenting on the community web sites. So they did not try. Instead, they did a U-turn towards a happy ending scenario with the sideways world arc.
