Lost is an ABC television series that has aired since 22 September 2004. The show was created by J. J. Abrams, Jeffrey Lieber, and Damon Lindelof; the current executive producers are Lindelof, Abrams, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz and Carlton Cuse.
Stephen King is a self-professed fan of the show, making reference to it in his recent works.
The Pop of King[]
- In the 11 Nov 2004 edition of his Entertainment Weekly column, "A Dozen Thanks," King wrote: "I'm thankful for Lost. Of course, I'm jealous that ABC has a hit show with a strong suspense element after mine flopped last season, but Lost is pretty great. If I'm lyin', I'm dyin'."
- In the 21 July 2005 edition of his column, "Poppin' Fresh," King wrote: "I haven't written about Lost yet, but I will because Lost is also very cool. Thank God for Hurley, who made it all right to say "dude" again."
- In the 2 Sept 2005 edition of his column, "Lost's Soul," King issued a challenge to Abrams, Lindelof, and Carlton Cuse: "when a story is perfectly told, it's time to fade to black. ... End it any way you want, but when it's time for closure, provide it." Lost producers subsequently took King's advice in the hiatus between Season 3 and Season 4, announcing that Lost would end in 2010 after its sixth season.
- In the 21 Oct 2005 edition of his column, "The Fright Stuff," King wrote: "I really saw nothing in ... that could match up to the divinely satisfying opening shots of Lost's second season: the strangeness of that out-of-date computer gear and the extreme close-up of the record needle coming down on an old Mama Cass album. Lost and Invasion back-to-back on ABC should be all the TV ramp-up to Halloween you need."
- In the 13 Jan 2006 edition of his column, "Just Askin'," King wrote: "If people don't watch NASCAR on the tube to see crashes, why do they watch? As Lost's Hurley might say, "Dude, it's just take a left and go fast, take a left and go fast, take a left and go fast...for like two and a half hours."" He wrote further: "Some questions, even the tough ones, do have answers. Is Elvis still the King of rock & roll? Yes. Will Lost eventually come to a satisfying conclusion? Yes. Will the conclusion satisfy everyone? Don't be naive — the geek factor in Lost's fan base is too high."
- In the 24 March 2006 edition of his column, "Confessions of a TV Slut," King wrote: "It's simply the best thing on network TV, okay? Mysterious story, beautiful location, attractive cast. The only trouble lately has been the puzzling paucity of new episodes. What's in danger of getting lost is any sense of forward motion. (I get it on network TV, week by week.)" He further wrote that the reimagined Battlestar Galactica was "not quite as good as Lost."
- In the 13 Dec 2007 edition of his column, "Best of `07: Movies and TV," King ranked Lost #1, writing: "Still the best. I rewatched the entire third season to make sure, and — yes — still the best. Heroes just doesn't have its mythic grandeur. People are reaching for the stars here. And maybe beyond. Really, there's never been anything like it."
Novels[]
- In the 2006 novel Lisey's Story, Lisey Landon describes some of her husband's writing as "stuff that had pleased regular people – people stuck on airplanes between L.A. and Sydney."
- In the 2008 novel Duma Key, Edgar Freemantle describes Jack Cantori's lack of disbelief regarding the happenings on Duma Key as a result of his being "a young man ... that had been raised on shows like The X-Files and Lost."
- In the 2009 novel Under the Dome, Rusty Everett considers: "What did the Scottish guy say on Lost? "Don't mistake coincidence for fate?" Maybe that had been it. Maybe it had. But Lost had been a long time ago. The Scottish guy could have said Don't mistake fate for coincidence." Second Selectman Andrea Grinnell is also said to be a fan of a television series called "The Hunted Ones (a clever sequel to Lost)."
Reciprocation[]
In return for his support, the writers of Lost have made several references to King:
- Ben Linus asked John Locke if the Oceanic 815 survivors had any Stephen King novels with them.
- Henry Gale's hot-air balloon bore a sticker for Nozz-A-La Cola.
- The Others' book club read King's novel Carrie in September of 2004.
- Ben Linus showed Sawyer a white rabbit with a black eight painted on its back, a specific image referenced in King's nonfiction book On Writing.
- The story-arc involving the excavation of The Hatch is similar to Bobbi Anderson's excavation of the alien ship in The Tommyknockers. Several images in the Lost storyline were strongly reminiscent of the 1993 Tommyknockers miniseries.
- The plot of the episode "Exposé" is similar in many ways to the plot of King's short story "Autopsy Room Four."
Episode Guide[]
Season 1[]
- "Pilot" (Part 1)
- "Pilot" (Part 2)
- "Tabula Rasa"
- "Walkabout"
- "White Rabbit"
- "House of the Rising Sun"
- "The Moth"
- "Confidence Man"
- "Solitary"
- "Raised by Another"
- "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues"
- "Whatever the Case May Be"
- "Hearts and Minds"
- "Special"
- "Homecoming"
- "Outlaws"
- "...In Translation"
- "Numbers"
- "Deus Ex Machina"
- "Do No Harm"
- "The Greater Good"
- "Born to Run"
- "Exodus" (Part 1)
- "Exodus" (Part 2)
Season 2[]
- "Man of Science, Man of Faith"
- "Adrift"
- "Orientation"
- "Everybody Hates Hugo"
- "...And Found"
- "Abandoned"
- "The Other 48 Days"
- "Collision"
- "What Kate Did"
- "The 23rd Psalm"
- "The Hunting Party"
- "Fire + Water"
- "The Long Con
- "One of Them"
- "Maternity Leave"
- "The Whole Truth"
- "Lockdown"
- "Dave"
- "S.O.S."
- "Two for the Road"
- "?"
- "Three Minutes"
- "Live Together, Die Alone" (Part 1)
- "Live Together, Die Alone" (Part 2)
Season 3[]
- "A Tale of Two Cities"
- "The Glass Ballerina"
- "Further Instructions"
- "Every Man For Himself"
- "The Cost of Living"
- "I Do"
- "Not in Portland"
- "Flashes Before Your Eyes"
- "Stranger in a Strange Land"
- "Tricia Tanaka is Dead"
- "Enter 77"
- "Par Avion"
- "The Man From Tallahassee"
- "Exposé"
- "Left Behind"
- "One of Us"
- "Catch-22"
- "D.O.C."
- "The Brig"
- "The Man Behind the Curtain"
- "Greatest Hits"
- "Through the Looking Glass" (Part 1)
- "Through the Looking Glass" (Part 2)
Season 4[]
- "The Beginning of the End"
- "Confirmed Dead"
- "The Economist"
- "Eggtown"
- "The Constant"
- "The Other Woman"
- "Ji Yeon"
- "Meet Kevin Johnson"
- "The Shape of Things to Come"
- "Something Nice Back Home"
- "Cabin Fever"
- "There's No Place Like Home" (Part 1)
- "There's No Place Like Home" (Part 2)
- "There's No Place Like Home" (Part 3)
Season 5[]
- "Because You Left"
- "The Lie"
- "Jughead"
- "The Little Prince"
- "This Place is Death"
- "316"
- "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"
- "LaFleur"
- "Namaste"
- "He's Our You"
- "Whatever Happened, Happened"
- "Dead is Dead"
- "Some Like it Hoth"
- "The Variable"
- "Follow the Leader"
- "The Incident" (Part 1)
- "The Incident" (Part 2)
Season 6[]
- "LA X" (Part 1)
- "LA X" (Part 2)
- "What Kate Does"
- "The Substitute"
- "Lighthouse"
- "Sundown"
- "Dr. Linus"
- "Recon"
- "Ab Aeterno"
- "The Package"
- "Happily Ever After"
- "Everybody Loves Hugo"
- "The Last Recruit"
- "The Package"
- "Across the Sea"
- "What They Died For"
- "The End" (Part 1)
- "The End" (Part 2)